If your business has more than 10 employees or generates over €2 million in annual revenue, your website must comply with specific accessibility standards. This isn't a recommendation — it's EU law, and in Italy alone, fines can reach up to €40,000.
Yet months after the deadline, most small and medium businesses across Europe still haven't adapted. Many don't even know they're affected. In this article, I'll explain what the law requires, who's involved, what needs to happen in practice, and why shortcuts don't work.
What Is the European Accessibility Act
The European Accessibility Act (EAA), formally Directive (EU) 2019/882, was approved by the European Parliament in 2019. Its goal is to ensure that digital products and services are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
Each EU member state has transposed the directive into national law. In Italy, it was adopted through Legislative Decree 82/2022.
Since June 28, 2025, the regulation is fully enforceable: websites, mobile apps, and digital services launched or significantly updated after that date must comply with EN 301 549, the European standard based on WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
In practical terms, your website must be usable by anyone — people with visual, motor, or cognitive disabilities, but also users on limited devices, slow connections, or simply navigating one-handed on a phone.
Who Must Comply (and Who's Exempt)
There's a lot of confusion around this, so let's be precise.
You must comply if:
- Your business has 10 or more employees or an annual revenue above €2 million
- You operate in sectors like e-commerce, financial services, transport, electronic communications, or audiovisual media
- You offer digital services to consumers (website, app, booking platform, etc.)
You may be exempt if:
- You qualify as a micro-enterprise (fewer than 10 employees AND revenue under €2 million)
- You can demonstrate "disproportionate burden" — but be warned: this requires documented evidence, must be reviewed every 5 years, and in practice, it's cheaper to just comply
Important nuance
The regulation applies to websites and services launched or substantially modified after June 28, 2025. If your site predates the deadline and hasn't been touched, you might technically not fall under the obligation. But any significant update — a redesign, a new section, a CMS migration — would bring it within scope.
What "Accessible Website" Actually Means
WCAG 2.1 AA is built on four core principles, known by the acronym POUR:
Perceivable
All content must be presented in ways users can perceive:
- Every image has meaningful alt text
- Videos include captions
- Text-to-background contrast ratio is at least 4.5:1
- Content remains understandable without relying on color alone
Operable
The interface must work regardless of input method:
- The site is fully navigable by keyboard (no mouse required)
- Interactive elements have a visible focus indicator
- Click targets are at least 24×24 pixels (WCAG 2.2)
- No content causes seizures (flashing animations)
Understandable
Users must be able to understand both the content and the interface:
- The page language is declared in the HTML
- Form fields have labels properly associated
- Error messages are clear and suggest corrections
- Navigation is consistent across pages
Robust
The site must work reliably with assistive technologies:
- HTML is valid and semantic
- ARIA landmarks are used where appropriate
- The site works with screen readers (NVDA, VoiceOver, JAWS)
Why Automated Plugins Don't Work
I need to be direct here: the market is flooded with "one-click" solutions that promise instant accessibility. Overlays, widgets, magic plugins. They're cheap, install in five minutes, and make you feel like you've checked the box.
You haven't.
These tools cover 25–40% of actual issues at best. They can adjust contrast or enlarge text, but they cannot:
- Fix poorly structured HTML
- Add meaningful alt text to images
- Make a badly built navigation menu keyboard-accessible
- Fix forms without labels
- Ensure screen reader compatibility
Worse still, many overlays conflict with the assistive technologies that users with disabilities already rely on. Studies have shown they can actually degrade the experience rather than improve it.
A widget is not compliance. It's a band-aid on a broken bone.
The Accessibility Statement
The regulation also requires publishing an Accessibility Statement — a document that must be visible and easily reachable on your site.
It should include:
- The conformance status of the site (compliant, partially compliant, non-compliant)
- Any non-conformant areas and the reasons
- A feedback mechanism for users to report issues
- The measures taken to improve accessibility
- Technical details like the CMS used, publication and update dates
In Italy, the reference template is provided by AgID (Agency for Digital Italy). Other EU countries have their own oversight bodies, but the structure is similar across the union.
How Much Does It Cost
Let's talk real numbers, because that's the first question any business owner asks.
Costs vary significantly based on site complexity:
- Simple brochure site (5–10 pages): €500 to €2,000 for audit + fixes
- Mid-size e-commerce (product catalog, checkout, user area): €2,000 to €8,000
- Complex platform (webapp, portal with many features): €5,000+
The most important figure: building accessibility in from the start adds 10–20% to the cost, while retrofitting an existing site can cost 50–200% more than a redesign. If you're planning a site refresh anyway, this is the perfect time to bake accessibility into the design.
What a Proper Remediation Includes
A serious accessibility project looks like this:
- Initial audit — technical analysis using automated tools (Lighthouse, axe, WAVE) combined with manual testing (keyboard navigation, screen reader walkthrough)
- Issue report — detailed list of problems, classified by severity and priority
- Technical remediation — fixing HTML/CSS/JS, adding alt text, repairing forms, improving semantic structure
- Verification testing — post-fix check with tools and manual tests
- Accessibility statement — drafting and publishing the required document
- Ongoing monitoring — periodic checks to maintain compliance over time
The Penalties
For reference, here's what non-compliance can cost:
- EAA (Italian implementation): administrative fines up to €40,000
- Legge Stanca (for entities already subject): fines up to 5% of annual revenue
- Exclusion from public tenders and EU funding that require accessibility compliance
- Reputational damage — an inaccessible site signals carelessness and lack of professionalism
Penalty structures vary by member state, but the EAA sets a minimum enforcement floor across the EU. The direction is clear: this will only get stricter over time.
Accessibility as a Competitive Advantage
Beyond the legal obligation, an accessible website is simply a better website. The benefits are tangible:
- Better SEO — Google rewards sites with strong semantic structure, alt text, speed, and mobile usability. Many accessibility criteria overlap with ranking factors
- Larger audience — roughly 15% of the global population lives with some form of disability. An inaccessible site excludes a massive potential customer segment
- Better experience for everyone — captions, readable contrast, clear navigation, and generous tap targets improve the experience for all users, not just those with disabilities
- Higher conversions — a more usable site converts more. Period.
How I Can Help
I'm a fullstack developer with hands-on experience across Shopify e-commerce, WordPress sites, and custom web applications. I offer:
- Comprehensive accessibility audits (automated + manual testing)
- Technical remediation to meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards
- Accessibility statement drafting per regulatory requirements
- Consulting to integrate accessibility into new projects from the design phase
- Ongoing monitoring to maintain compliance over time
If you're unsure about your obligations or just want to know where your site stands, get in touch for an initial audit. It's the first step toward compliance — without stress and without waste. Send me an email at the address on the website or speak to the assistant and leave your contact information so they can get back to you.