EAA: What roles do WCAG and EN 301 549 play in compliance?

Brace yourself for some acronym soup.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a directive adopted by the European Union (EU) to establish consistent accessibility requirements for a broad range of consumer-facing products and services, including websites and mobile applications, banking services, e-commerce, transport information systems and ATMs.

Though the EAA was adopted in 2019, its full enforcement just began and aims to remove digital barriers and support the full participation of people with disabilities in society. It was created in response to fragmented national accessibility laws across EU member states, which made it difficult for businesses to operate across borders and for individuals with disabilities to access products and services equally. By harmonizing these rules, the EAA is designed to promote a more inclusive digital economy and ensure greater market access for businesses that prioritize accessibility.

It’s important to note, however, that the EAA is not a regulation but a directive, meaning that each of the 27 EU member states must adopt it into their own national laws. As a result, implementation and enforcement may vary across countries, but the underlying requirements and goals remain consistent — to make digital and physical environments accessible, functional and inclusive for all.

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WCAG and EN 301 549 guidance

To help meet its requirements, businesses are encouraged to look to international accessibility standards like WCAG and EN 301 549. Although WCAG and EN 301 549 aren’t perfectly aligned with the EAA, they do provide a useful reference for working through some of the directive’s technical accessibility requirements.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), an internationally recognized accessibility standard for web access, defines digital accessibility success around four principles that state online content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (POUR).

Perceivable – Information and interface components must be presented in ways that users can perceive, regardless of which senses they do or do not have. Tips on making websites more perceivable include providing alt text for images, larger fonts, properly formatted hyperlinks and simpler layouts to make it easier for users to see and hear content. This also includes adding captions, transcripts and audio description to videos and audio files for users who are deaf or hard-of-hearing or blind or with low vision.
Operable – A website’s interface and navigation must be able to be used by everyone. This includes making all site functionality (navigation menus, open and close windows, tabbed content) available from a keyboard, making it easier and more intuitive for users to navigate the site.
Understandable – An understandable website is one in which the content and website functions are clear to all users. This means people should not only be able to understand the information on web pages, but also how to navigate the site to find the information they want.
Robust – A robust website is one that is compatible with different technologies, including assistive technologies like screen readers and text-to-speech software. This means that as technology evolves, the content must remain accessible.

EN 301 549 is a European digital access standard that provides technical guidelines for making Information & Communication Technology (ICT) products and services accessible. Like the EAA, EN 301 549 is not a law, but a set of guidelines developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute in collaboration with the European Commission to help businesses align with accessibility requirements.

The EAA uses EN 301 549 as a framework for businesses to follow. And though EN 301 549 is largely based on WCAG guidelines, it also includes additional requirements related to ICT, such as in the areas of hardware design and the accessibility of support documentation and call centers.

So, the TL:DR version:

The EAA integrates elements of EN 301 549 for accessibility.
EN 301 549 is based, in part, on WCAG for web and app accessibility.
Following WCAG certainly will help businesses meet EAA requirements for digital services but there are additional elements in the directive beyond the scope of WCAG.

Businesses also need to consider other best practices to achieve ongoing compliance with the law, including publishing accessibility statements to their websites, developing regular accessibility training for employees and monitoring digital accessibility to ensure that any problems are identified and handled in a timely fashion.

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Access for all

Since there still are some unknowns around what shape the EAA will take in different countries, WCAG and EN 301 549 provide concrete guidelines, documentation and best practices as a start and, for many businesses, a large step in the right direction. In the end, to truly get the most of the EAA, member states will need to focus on individual and user needs and act on what they’re learned from user feedback and review.

Verbit supports organizations at every stage of this process with advanced solutions for captioning, transcription, audio description and more. Whether you need to align with WCAG, meet EN 301 549 technical requirements, or build a long-term accessibility strategy, Verbit provides the expertise and technology to help you stay compliant and inclusive. Connect with one of our experts and start creating a digital experience that works for everyone.