The countdown is on: On the 28th June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) comes into effect, bringing new accessibility requirements to the European Union. This landmark law aims to ensure that people with disabilities can access products and services just as easily as anyone else. Whether you’re a business in the EU or outside it (yes, even UK companies serving EU customers!), the EAA could have big implications for how you operate online. In this post, we’ll break down what the EAA is, who needs to comply, the risks of ignoring it, and why building accessible websites is not just a legal duty but also a smart business move. We’ll also explain how The Pixel Room’s accessibility audit service can help you meet these standards – and why now is the time to act.

What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act is a new EU law designed to make a wide range of products and services accessible to people with disabilities. Approved in 2019, the EAA has given businesses a few years to prepare, and it officially kicks in on June 28, 2025. From that date forward, many everyday technologies and services must meet common accessibility standards across all EU member countries.

What does the EAA cover? The scope is broad. It includes digital services like websites, e-commerce platforms, mobile apps, and online banking, as well as physical tech such as computers, smartphones, ATMs, ticket machines, and more. For example, an online shop selling to EU customers will need to ensure its website and app can be used by people with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments. A banking service must ensure its ATM interfaces and website are usable by everyone. By setting one harmonised set of rules for all EU countries, the EAA aims to remove the patchwork of different national standards. This makes it easier for businesses to operate across Europe and gives consumers with disabilities more choices at better prices.

At its heart, the EAA is about “design for all.” It’s built on the idea that products and services should be usable by as many people as possible, regardless of ability, without need for special adaptation. In practice, this means following well-established accessibility principles – for websites and apps, that usually means adhering to guidelines that make content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for users with disabilities. In simpler terms, text should be readable by screen readers, videos should have captions, interfaces should work with keyboard-only navigation, and so on. The ultimate goal is equal access: over 100 million people in Europe live with some form of disability, and the EAA is a major step toward ensuring they aren’t left out of the digital world.

Does the EAA Apply to Your Business?

You might be thinking, “This is an EU law – does it affect me if my business isn’t in the EU?” The answer is likely yes if you have customers or users in the EU. The EAA doesn’t only apply to EU-based companies; it also applies to any business (anywhere in the world) that provides relevant products or services to EU consumers. In other words, if you’re a UK company, a US retailer, or any international brand selling into Europe or offering an app used by EU residents, you will need to comply with these accessibility requirements to continue serving those customers.

For UK businesses specifically, it’s important to note that while the UK is no longer in the EU (so the EAA won’t be a UK law), UK companies that cater to EU customers must still meet EAA standards. If you run an e-commerce site in Britain but ship to Europe or have a significant EU user base, you should treat the EAA’s rules as essential for your operations. The same goes for software or app providers accessible in EU countries. Essentially, being outside the EU is not a free pass – if your service crosses into the EU, so do the rules.

It’s also crucial to understand the timeline. The June 28, 2025 date is when the rules start to be enforced. This means any new product or service launched in the EU after that date must be accessible from day one, and existing offerings should be brought into compliance by then. Regulators in each EU country will oversee enforcement, and they have the power to investigate and act on non-compliant businesses. Don’t wait until the last minute: now is the time to audit your websites and digital products for accessibility gaps.

The Risks of Non-Compliance

Failing to comply with the EAA can lead to serious business consequences. Here are some of the major risks if your website or service isn’t accessible by the 2025 deadline:

• Legal Penalties: Each EU member state will impose penalties for companies that don’t meet the accessibility requirements. These could include hefty fines that add up per violation or per day until you fix the issues. In some cases, authorities could even bar non-compliant products or services from being sold. In short, ignoring the EAA could cost you a lot of money and force emergency retrofits – or worse, force you out of an EU market until you comply.

• Lost Market Access: The EU is a huge market of over 440 million consumers. Non-compliance means potentially losing access to this market. For example, if your app isn’t accessible, you might not be allowed in EU app stores, or you could lose contracts and distribution opportunities. Even beyond official sanctions, think about the customers you lose by default – if people with disabilities can’t use your site, that’s a significant audience segment (tens of millions of individuals across Europe) that competitors will happily scoop up. Being accessible keeps your customer base broad and open, whereas being inaccessible effectively locks out a portion of the population (and their spending power).

• Brand Damage and Trust Loss: In today’s socially conscious environment, being seen as a business that doesn’t care about inclusion can seriously harm your brand’s reputation. News of accessibility failures can spread quickly on social media. If customers or advocacy groups call out your site for excluding people with disabilities, others will take notice. Non-compliance doesn’t just risk a slap on the wrist legally; it tells the public that you’re not catering to everyone. This erodes trust and can drive away not only customers with disabilities but also allies, partners, and even employees who value inclusivity. On the flip side, companies that champion accessibility often earn positive PR and customer loyalty. So ask yourself: would you rather be known as the brand that opened its doors to everyone, or the one that left people stuck outside?

In short, ignoring the EAA is a gamble no serious business should take. The costs of compliance – typically investing in improvements to your site/app – are far outweighed by the potential costs (financial and reputational) of doing nothing.

How Inaccessible Websites Hurt People with Disabilities

We’ve talked about the business implications, but at the core of the EAA is a human issue: equal access. An inaccessible website is not just a technical glitch; it can have a profound negative impact on people with disabilities. To understand why this matters, imagine a few scenarios:

• Visual impairments: A customer who is blind uses a screen reader (software that reads aloud website content). If your online store’s images have no alternative text, or your site navigation isn’t coded for screen reader compatibility, that customer literally cannot understand your content or make a purchase. It’s like putting up a storefront sign that some people are not allowed to read. Frustrated, they’ll abandon your site – and feel excluded in the process.

• Hearing impairments: Someone who is deaf or hard of hearing watches a promotional video or tutorial on your site. If there are no captions or transcripts, they miss the message entirely. Important information or marketing content is lost on them. For that user, your multimedia content might as well not exist, and they’ll likely move on to a competitor who does provide captions.

• Motor and cognitive disabilities: Consider a user with a motor disability who cannot use a mouse and relies on keyboard navigation. If your website isn’t fully operable via keyboard (for example, if certain forms or menus can only be clicked with a mouse), this user is effectively locked out of parts of your site. Similarly, if someone has a cognitive impairment or even something like dyslexia and your site has a confusing layout or overly complex language, they might struggle to use it. Inaccessible design can turn a simple online task into an impossible challenge for these users.

These scenarios highlight a simple truth: when websites and apps aren’t built with accessibility in mind, they can unintentionally discriminate against a significant portion of the population. The result is that people with disabilities can’t shop online, can’t access services, or can’t consume content that others freely enjoy. This isn’t just an inconvenience – it affects people’s independence, job opportunities, education, and quality of life. For businesses, it means failing to serve many potential customers who genuinely want or need your product but can’t use it because of avoidable design barriers.

The EAA is trying to eliminate these barriers. But beyond legal compliance, making your digital services accessible is simply the right thing to do. It treats all users with respect and dignity. And many accessibility fixes are relatively straightforward (like adding alt text or captioning videos) but make an enormous difference in someone’s ability to participate online.

The Benefits of Accessible Websites (For Everyone)

Improving accessibility isn’t only about helping those with disabilities – it benefits all your users and your business as a whole. When you optimize your website to be accessible, you often end up with a better overall product. Here are some key benefits of having an accessible site:

• Better User Experience for All: Accessibility features like clear navigation menus, descriptive headings, good colour contrast, and readable font sizes make the site easier to use for everyone, not just people with disabilities. Many best practices for accessibility overlap with general user-friendly design. For instance, a clean layout and clear labels help a hurried customer find what they need faster. Captions on videos don’t only help the deaf; they let someone watch a video on mute (say, in a quiet office or on a noisy train) and still understand it. By making your site accessible, you’re often making it more convenient for every visitor, regardless of ability or situation.

• Wider Audience and Customer Base: Accessibility opens your business to a larger audience. Not only will the millions of Europeans with disabilities be able to use your site, but also other groups benefit – think of older people with age-related hearing or vision issues, or someone temporarily injured who can’t use a mouse for a while, or even a person with a slow internet connection who benefits from text alternatives to images. When your website is flexible and inclusive, more people can engage with it in more situations. This can translate into more customers and higher engagement. Why limit your reach when you can welcome everyone in?

• SEO Boost: It’s a happy coincidence that what’s good for accessibility is often good for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Search engines favour sites that are well-structured and easy to navigate. For example, providing alt text for images not only helps blind users but also helps Google understand what the image is about, potentially improving your search rankings. Fast load times, proper heading structure, and transcripts for multimedia are all accessibility considerations that can also improve how search engines crawl and rank your site. In short, an accessible site can rank higher in search results, helping more people find your business.

• Stronger Brand Reputation: Committing to accessibility signals that your company values inclusion, diversity, and social responsibility. This can strengthen your brand image. Customers today appreciate and remain loyal to businesses that show they care about all their users. By contrast, ignoring accessibility can be seen as negligent or uncaring. By proactively making your site accessible, you’re sending a positive message about your brand’s values. It’s not just compliance – it’s good business ethics. And that can set you apart from competitors.

Ultimately, accessible design is just good design. Many of the innovations we take for granted (like voice control on smartphones or curb cuts on sidewalks) were originally meant to assist people with disabilities but ended up benefiting everyone. The same applies online: investing in accessibility will improve your site’s overall quality, which is a win-win for your users and your business.

How The Pixel Room Can Help with EAA Compliance

Feeling overwhelmed by the new requirements? Don’t worry – The Pixel Room is here to help. We understand that the technical details of accessibility can seem complex, and the 2025 deadline is approaching fast. That’s exactly why we offer a comprehensive accessibility audit service for websites and digital products, designed to take the guesswork out of compliance.

What does an accessibility audit involve? Think of it as a thorough health check for your website. Our team will review your site from top to bottom, testing how it performs for users with different disabilities and against known standards (like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which underpin the EAA requirements for digital content). We identify where your site currently falls short – for example, missing image alt tags, poor colour contrast, lack of keyboard navigation support, form fields without labels, etc. – and we provide clear recommendations on how to fix these issues. You’ll get a detailed report in plain language, highlighting both quick wins and any bigger changes needed to achieve compliance.

Beyond just finding issues, The Pixel Room can also guide you in fixing them. Our expertise in inclusive design means we can work with your development team (or handle the changes for you) to implement solutions that make your site user-friendly for everyone. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all checklist; we collaborate with you to find the best way to bring your website up to standard while respecting your brand and user experience. The end result is a site that not only meets the EAA legal requirements but is also better for all your users.

By investing in an accessibility audit now, you’re being proactive. You’ll avoid the last-minute scramble as the deadline looms, and instead have a solid plan to achieve compliance well before June 2025. Moreover, you’ll likely discover that many accessibility improvements align with other business goals (better mobile usability, clearer content, improved conversion rates – it’s all connected!). Accessibility is not just about avoiding penalties; it’s about unlocking your website’s full potential.

At The Pixel Room, we’ve always championed the importance of accessible and inclusive design. We’re excited to help businesses turn the EAA’s requirements into an opportunity – an opportunity to modernise your site, reach more customers, and stand out as a leader who cares about every visitor. Our team stays up-to-date with the latest accessibility standards and best practices, so you don’t have to worry about interpreting legal jargon or technical specs. We’ll translate it into actionable steps and guide you through the process, start to finish.

Ready to Embrace Accessibility? Book a Discovery Call Today

The European Accessibility Act is coming fast, and it’s going to change the digital landscape in the EU for the better. The key question is: Will your business be ready? Now is the time to act. Ensuring your website is accessible and compliant by 2025 will protect your business from legal risks, expand your reach, and most importantly, make your customers happy. It’s a move that combines good ethics with smart business strategy.

Don’t wait until the last minute. The good news is that you don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Book a free discovery call with The Pixel Room today to discuss your website’s accessibility needs. In this no-obligation call, we’ll chat about your current situation, the challenges you’re facing, and how we can help get your site EAA-compliant. We’re friendly, we speak in plain English (no tech gobbledygook), and we’re passionate about helping businesses like yours succeed in this new era of accessibility.

Take the first step toward compliance and inclusion – get in touch with us to schedule your discovery call. Together, let’s make your website welcoming to everyone and ensure your business thrives in 2025 and beyond. Your future customers (and your future self) will thank you for it!