The European Accessibility Act: what US businesses selling into the EU should know
Since June 28, 2025, EU countries have been applying accessibility requirements to a set of products and services, including e-commerce. If you sell online to consumers in the EU, it may apply to you even if you're based in the US.
General information, not legal advice. Facts checked against EU and W3C sources as of October 23, 2026. Each EU country writes the Act into its own law and enforces it, so details differ by country; talk to a lawyer about your situation.
What the Act is
The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive, Directive (EU) 2019/882. EU countries had to turn it into national law by June 28, 2022 and apply it from June 28, 2025. It sets accessibility requirements for certain products and services sold to consumers in the EU.
What it covers
Products include computers and operating systems, smartphones, e-readers, payment terminals, ATMs and ticketing and check-in machines. Services include:
- E-commerce services: selling to consumers online, through websites and apps
- Consumer banking services
- E-books and the software used to read them
- Telephone services and access to audiovisual media services
- Websites, apps, e-tickets and information for air, bus, rail and water passenger transport
It doesn't apply to some content, including pre-recorded audio and video published before June 28, 2025, and website archives that aren't updated after that date.
Who is exempt
Microenterprises that provide services are excluded. A microenterprise is one with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or a balance sheet total of no more than €2 million. Microenterprises that make or sell covered products are not exempt, but have lighter paperwork duties.
Does it apply to a US business?
The Act is about services offered to consumers in the EU, not about where a company is based. A US online store that actively sells to EU consumers can fall within it. How each country enforces that varies, so if EU sales matter to your business, get local advice.
The technical standard
The Act itself sets functional requirements, not code-level rules. Meeting the harmonised European standard, EN 301 549, gives a presumption of conformity. As of this writing, the version cited for that purpose is EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021), whose web requirements are based on WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
A new version, EN 301 549 v4.1.1, was published in September 2026 and moves to WCAG 2.2. According to the EU's AccessibleEU centre, it isn't yet the legal reference until the European Commission cites it in the Official Journal. Aiming for WCAG 2.2 AA covers both.
EN 301 549 also includes some requirements beyond WCAG, so meeting WCAG alone isn't the whole picture.
Transition periods
- Service providers can keep using products they lawfully used before June 28, 2025 to provide similar services until June 28, 2030.
- Service contracts agreed before June 28, 2025 can continue unchanged until they expire, but no longer than five years from that date.
- Countries may let self-service terminals in use before June 28, 2025 keep running until the end of their useful life, up to 20 years.
These periods depend on each country's law. They don't generally give an online store extra time.
Practical takeaways
- Check whether you sell to EU consumers and whether you're above the microenterprise thresholds.
- Test your store's key journeys, like search, product pages, cart, checkout and account, against WCAG 2.1 AA at least, and preferably 2.2 AA.
- Publish accessibility information about your service, as the Act requires service providers to.
- Get advice for the specific countries you sell to.
How Scanpoof helps, and what it can't do
What Scanpoof does
- Checks pages every day against the WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 Level A and AA rules automated tools can test
- Keeps a dated record of what was found and fixed
What it can't do
- Tell you whether the Act applies to your business
- Test the EN 301 549 requirements that go beyond WCAG
- Replace manual testing of checkout and account flows
A free scan of one page shows where it stands against WCAG A and AA in about a minute.