How To Be EAA Compliant

In 2025, accessibility isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ - it’s a legal and commercial priority, and skipping it can result in tricky outcomes. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) now in force and digital inclusion in the spotlight, UK businesses should be doing enough to ensure that their products, services, and websites are accessible to everyone, regardless of ability.

We’re going to explain how UK businesses can align accessibility and UX design to meet the new EAA standards, as well as sharing our top tips on implementing these principles.

What Is the European Accessibility Act (EAA)?

The European Accessibility Act is a piece of EU legislation that came into effect on 28 June 2025. It has been put in place to set clear standards of accessibility, helping to ensure that products and services are usable by people with disabilities. The EAA covers a wide range of digital and physical products, including:

Websites and e-commerce platforms
Banking and financial services
E-books and e-readers
Ticketing and travel apps
Computers, smartphones, and other ICT products

To be fully EAA compliant, businesses must meet the accessibility standards set out in EN 301 549, which are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 Level AA).

Does the EAA apply to UK businesses?

Technically, the EAA is EU legislation, so it doesn’t automatically apply to companies that operate in the UK. However, there are several important caveats:

If your UK-based business sells to customers in the EU, then your digital services must be EAA compliant.
The UK Equality Act 2010 already requires all businesses to make “reasonable adjustments” for people with disabilities, including accessible websites.
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 remain in place, stating WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for public sector organisations.

Beyond this, commercial pressure is growing - inclusive design is fast becoming an industry standard, and accessibility is now seen as a mark of quality, catering to audiences of all abilities. In short: even if you’re not operating in an EU company, aligning with EAA guidelines ensures your digital presence is compliant, ethical, and future-proof.

The link between accessibility and UX design

When accessibility is treated as a bolt-on, it often leads to sub-standard outcomes, where no clear in-depth considerations have been made. Approaching accessibility in this way makes it a ‘box ticking’ exercise, rather than a set of meaningful decisions made for the benefit of your users. This is where UX design becomes the most valuable type of input.

Thinking about accessibility with a UX design lens at every stage of the design process will give your audiences (of all abilities) a clearer, simpler, more intuitive experience when using your app or website - here’s why:

Better long-term usability for everyone

Clear navigation, good contrast, and readable text with sufficient contrast against backgrounds will improve experiences for all users, not just those with disabilities.

Wider reach

Around 1 in 5 people in the UK have a disability, so by making these considerations during the design process, you’re catering to a huge portion of the market.

Legal and reputational credibility

Given the EAA legislation, and based on the caveats above, not catering to accessibility means your business isn’t compliant with legal standards. By doing so, you reduce the risk of complaints, and these efforts also signal your brand values.

Improved organic visibility

Accessible websites are often faster, cleaner, and better structured for search engines, as they’re built with significantly more consideration.

The core accessibility standards you need to be aware of

To meet the EAA standards, you’ll need to be familiar with these key frameworks:

WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

The international standard for digital accessibility, built on four principles:

Perceivable
Information must be available to the senses (e.g.,alt text and attributes for images, sufficient colour contrast).
Operable
Users must be able to navigate and interact using different input methods (keyboard, voice, assistive tech).
Understandable
Content and interactions should be clear and predictable.
Robust
Code must be compatible with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

EN 301 549

The European standard that translates WCAG into regulatory language for the EAA. It applies to ICT products, services, and digital content.

BS 8878 / ISO 30071-1

A UK-developed code of practice for embedding accessibility within organisations, which focuses on processes, governance, and accountability.

Steps your business can take to be EAA compliant

Becoming compliant doesn’t happen overnight. But by following a structured roadmap, you can make steady, measurable progress.

Audit & assess

Start with a full accessibility audit across your digital presence - whether it’s a website, app, or user portal and identify where you’re falling short of accessibility requirements. This is the kind of service that we’re here to help with.

It’s worth including here that accessibility isn’t ‘done’ once your site passes an audit - make sure you repeat these checks periodically.

Prioritise existing issues

Not all accessibility barriers are equal, and they’ll create varying kinds of impacts on your end user. Focus on high-impact issues first - navigation, keyboard access, and form usability are critical.

Iterate, test and redesign

Once you know the areas that can be improved, the next steps are to implement these changes. We work closely with clients that need this type of support, whether it involves redesigning a website or rethinking the layout of specific touchpoints.

Test with real users

Real-user feedback is invaluable, so where possible, test with users who rely on screen readers, magnifiers, voice control, or alternative input methods.

Train your own team

Accessibility isn’t a one-person job, and it shouldn’t end once the audit has been carried out. We provide training for teams, helping them to deepen their understanding of accessibility.

Publish an accessibility statement

By publishing an accessibility statement on your website, you’re making a commitment to transparency. Your accessibility statement should outline your level of WCAG compliance, acknowledge any known issues, and provide a contact method for accessibility feedback.

8 UX Tips for more accessible design

Here are 8 quickfire tips on accessibility from our UX design team:

Maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for text.
Ensure all core functionality is available from the main navigation menu.
Use clear and descriptive labels for forms and buttons.
Avoid relying on colour to convey meaning.
Add alt text for all images and icons.
Provide captions and transcripts for audio and video content.
Allow text resizing without breaking layouts.
Keep navigation consistent and predictable.

Create a responsive, accessible, engaging presence for all of your customers

Our approach to accessibility is that it should be seen as the foundation of any digital design, so it’s always our starting point. We’re working with our clients to help them to see accessibility as something more than just for compliance, avoiding fines, or ticking boxes - it’s about creating digital experiences that work for everyone.

We can help you to audit, redesign, and future-proof your digital presence for all users, just get in touch with us to find out more.

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