The EAA compliance deadline: a timeline

If you run a website or app that serves customers in the EU, there are two dates and one exemption you need to know. Here's the timeline, plainly stated.

What the EAA is

The European Accessibility Act is Directive (EU) 2019/882. It sets accessibility requirements for a range of products and services sold or offered in the EU, including many websites and apps, and it's enforced by each member state's own market surveillance authorities.

28 June 2025: enforcement began

EAA enforcement began on 28 June 2025. From that date, in-scope services are expected to meet the Act's accessibility requirements, and national authorities can act on non-compliance.

Who's covered, and the micro-enterprise exemption

The EAA applies broadly to businesses offering relevant products and services in the EU. There is a specific exemption for micro-enterprises: businesses with under 10 employees and under €2 million in turnover are exempt. If you're above either threshold, the exemption doesn't apply.

What about “until 2030”?

You may have heard that pre-existing services have until 28 June 2030. Be careful with that: the Act's transitional provisions are narrow — for example, certain service contracts signed before 28 June 2025 may continue for a limited period, and some self-service terminals have longer runways. There is no blanket five-year holiday for existing websites, and how the transition applies depends on your country's national law. Two developments make waiting risky regardless.

First, courts are already acting. In June 2026, a French court ordered a major retailer to make its site accessible under a daily-fine penalty — this followed the first French lawsuits against several major retailers in November 2025. Second, market surveillance is already active: Sweden and Denmark began active market surveillance in October 2025. Neither of these waited for the 2030 deadline.

What non-compliance can cost

Penalties are set by each member state, not the directive itself, so they vary widely. Reported figures reach tens of thousands of euros per infringement, and some countries (Italy, for example) tie penalties to a share of turnover. The exact figure depends on national transposition and the specifics of the case — treat any single number as illustrative, not a rule.

The three-step minimum response

Given active enforcement and a 2030 deadline that's closer than it looks, a reasonable minimum response has three steps. Scan your site against WCAG 2.1 A/AA and EN 301 549 to find out where you stand. Fix the highest-risk issues first — not everything is equally likely to trigger legal exposure. Then publish an accessibility statement and keep the evidence — scan reports, dates, and records of what was fixed — so you can show ongoing, good-faith effort if you're ever asked.

None of this requires a large budget to start. It requires starting.

This article is general information about EU accessibility law, not legal advice.