Maintenance

The June 28, 2025 in all EU member states, theEuropean Accessibility Act (EAA), the legislation that requires certain everyday products and services to be accessible to people with disabilities, including in the digital world.

This is an epoch-making measure that obliges private companies and public organizations (state and suburban) to provide technical solutions and develop their sites with inclusiveness in mind.

In this way, even weaker segments of the population (such as disabled users and the elderly) can easily enjoy the full potential offered by the Web and IT products/services.

Beyond regulatory obligations, the new accessibility requirements also represent an opportunity to broaden one’s target audience and win favor with new consumers.

It is important that already today Entities and companies involved in this process start to bring their websites into compliance.

In fact, only in this way is it possible to carry out a smooth implementation, since the steps to be followed are complex and can take a long time to implement.

Which websites need to be in compliance?

According to when established by the EAA, all companies (particularly PMs) must come into compliance, with the sole exclusion of microenterprises (i.e., those with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or annual balance sheet total not exceeding 2 million euros).

Accessible sites will be identified with the appropriate icon.

Companies operating in Italy that fail to comply with the new regulations may face administrative penalties of up to 40,000 euros.

Several non-EU countries have similar regulations in place, such as Britain’s Equality Act 2010 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of the United States.
However, the penalty regime often includes more of corrective measures and compliance obligations rather than direct financial penalties.
Only in cases where offending companies are sued and lose the case are they required to pay compensation commensurate with their turnover.

If your business is operating in countries outside the EU, it is therefore important to adapt your site to local regulations so that you do not run the risk of accumulating onerous penalties for noncompliance.

The Stanca Law and WCAG Standards

Italy has been a forerunner and trailblazer when it comes to rights for people with disabilities.

The first step toward digital accessibility was taken with the publication of the Law of 9 January 2004, no.
4 (also called Stanca Law, named after its proponent).
This law establishes guidelines for government entities to follow in order to make their services on a digital platform accessible to all individuals, without any preclusion.

In this context, accessibility is defined as “the ability of information systems including websites and mobile applications, in the forms and to the extent permitted by technological knowledge, to deliver services and provide information usable, without discrimination, even by those who due to disabilities require assistive technologies or special configurations.”

Like other similar European regulations, the Stanca Law referred to the WCAG standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), developed in collaboration with professionals and organizations around the world and published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

The current WCAG 2.2, published in October 2023, covers a wide range of disabilities (including visual, hearing, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological) and makes web content more accessible to older people with changing abilities due to aging.

They are defined by 13 guidelines, organized according to four principles:

• perceptible: users, regardless of their perceptual abilities, should be able to identify the content and navigation elements
• usable: all users should be able to use the interactive elements of a website or app.
  For example, not only by mouse, but also by keyboard or voice commands
• understandable: everyone should be able to understand the information and operation of the site or app
• robust: this principle refers to the sustainable accessibility of sites and apps, so that they are compatible with different software and hardware.

For each guideline there are testable success criteria, at three levels: A (the lowest), AA and AAA (the highest).
The success criteria are what determine “compliance” with WCAG.

The Stanca Law has also been updated several times in accordance with Directive (EU) 2016/2012 (WAD – Web Accessibility Directive), transposed by Legislative Decree.
August 10, 2018 no.
106, which aims to exclusively define the accessibility of websites and mobile apps of public entities and companies offering public services.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA)

Making the case today is Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 17, 2019, on accessibility requirements for products and services.

Unlike the WAD, with the transposition of the EAA, regulatory obligations related to digital accessibility are no longer intended only for public sector bodies: they are extended to all companies, except microenterprises.

The EAA was published and formally adopted by the European Commission in 2019 and was converted into national legislation by individual member states in 2022, to enter into force on June 28, 2025.

By that date, all new digital products and services offered by companies operating within the EU must fully comply with accessibility requirements.

Products and services already in use before that date may continue to function under certain conditions until they need to be replaced or until contracts expire.

EU Declaration of Conformity

According to the official website of the European Union, the EAA directive requires:

• A certification of compliance for each website and mobile app
• A feedback mechanism that allows users to report accessibility problems or request information published in content that is not accessible
• Regular monitoring of sites and apps by member states and reporting on results.