European Accessibility Act (June 28, 2025)
The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) will mark a turning point in the design and development of digital applications. From June 28, 2025, it will be mandatory for apps to comply with accessibility standards to ensure that they are inclusive for everyone, including people with disabilities.
In this article, we explain what this law consists of, what it requires, and how to prepare your applications to comply with it.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
Approved in 2019, this law seeks to make essential products and services in the European Union accessible to people with disabilities. This includes apps for transportation, banking, online shopping, telecommunications, education, and more.
The law not only benefits people with disabilities, but also improves the user experience for a wider audience, including older people or those with specific temporary needs. It also strengthens the competitiveness of companies by encouraging a more inclusive design.
What does the European Accessibility Act require for applications?
As of June 28, 2025, apps must comply with the following requirements:
- Compatibility with assistive technologies
Apps must be fully functional with tools such as screen readers, voice input devices, or alternative keyboards. This includes the use of clear labels and descriptions for interactive elements. - Compliance with WCAG 2.1 (Level AA)
The most recognized accessibility standards, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), are mandatory. This includes:
Adequate contrast between text and background.
Text that can be enlarged without loss of functionality.
Inclusion of text alternatives for images and videos. - Clear and adaptive navigation
Apps must offer intuitive and functional navigation for all interaction methods, whether touch, keyboard, or voice. - Customization options
Users should be able to adjust settings such as text size, color contrast, and disable animations that may be distracting or inaccessible. - Ongoing testing and maintenance
Apps with assistive technologies must be tested before they are released and their accessibility maintained in future updates. - Complaint management
Companies must implement a system so that users can report accessibility issues and receive an appropriate response.
How to prepare your apps to comply with the law?
Complying with the European Accessibility Act not only avoids sanctions, but also reinforces your company’s reputation. Here are some key steps to achieve this:
- Perform an accessibility audit: Analyze your current apps to identify barriers and areas for improvement.
- Incorporate accessibility by design: Implement inclusive design principles from the beginning of development.
- Train your team: Make sure designers, developers, and testers are familiar with WCAG standards and testing tools.
- Test with real users: Work with people with disabilities to validate that the experience is truly inclusive.
Test to find out if you know if an app is accessible or not
Piensa y analiza por qué estos fragmentos de diseño son o no accesibles.
If you are interested in knowing why these design fragments are or are not accessible, check out this post with accessibility tips for apps.
Conclusion
The European Accessibility Act represents an important step towards a more inclusive digital environment. Although the deadline to comply with the regulation is June 28, 2025, companies must act now to adapt their applications and ensure that they are aligned with the standards. At Mobivery, we are committed to helping our clients comply with these regulations and create accessible and successful digital products. We can perform accessibility audits on your application, update or improve those points where your app is weak following this new law or guide you to incorporate everything you need to be in force next June 2025.
Ready to prepare your app for the European Accessibility Act? Contact us and let’s work together towards a digital future without barriers.
If you found this post interesting, you might like this other one on how to adapt to the new Apple and Google privacy policies.
