How many days until all* websites in the EU need to be accessible?
202
- 29 weeks
- 143 working days gross (5 per week)
- 114 working days net (4 per week)
On the European Accessibility Act (EAA) comes into force. Websites of companies with more than 10 employees and more than 2 million EUR annual turnover must be accessible by then or websites that are published afterwards.
As far as the legal requirements. However, it is advisable for ALL Anbieter:innen to pay attention to accessibility. Because it is obvious: if the website of the competition can be used by more people, then... the website of the competition is probably also used by more people!
There is still time to generate a competitive advantage through accessibility by preparing your website now for different needs and making your offer machine-readable for different technologies. You should also prepare your content differently in images, text and sound.
In order to achieve this, you should now begin to sensitize yourself or your employees or service providers to the topic and train them in this area.
You won't be able to simply integrate a so-called overlay tool in websites in June 2025. On the one hand, these are often not themselves accessible to use and manipulate the presentation code (i.e. only the CSS) of a page with the help of additional scripts, and not the structure code (HTML) which must also meet certain requirements to be accessible for people with different disabilities.
You can start training your employees today. The barrier-fasting.com program offers a gentle start for front-end developers. Over a six-week period, each day looks at one line of code that is typically present on many websites. It is shown how this code can be made as barrier-free as possible. Includes background information and code examples.
Sources
It is worth taking a look at the preambles of the legislative text at the EU level to understand why this is necessary, right and important:
(2) The demand for accessible products and services is high and the number of persons with disabilities is projected to increase significantly. An environment where products and services are more accessible allows for a more inclusive society and facilitates independent living for persons with disabilities. [...]
(3) [...] The UN CRPD states that persons with disabilities ‘include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’. This Directive promotes full and effective equal participation by improving access to mainstream products and services that, through their initial design or subsequent adaptation, address the particular needs of persons with disabilities.
(4) Other persons who experience functional limitations, such as elderly persons, pregnant women or persons travelling with luggage, would also benefit from this Directive. The concept of ‘persons with functional limitations’, as referred to in this Directive, includes persons who have any physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments, age related impairments, or other human body performance related causes, permanent or temporary, which, in interaction with various barriers, result in their reduced access to products and services, leading to a situation that requires those products and services to be adapted to their particular needs.