The European Accessibility Act (EAA)

[@cherylsinclair-day5552]

As the UK is outside of the EU, will this be a requirement for UK businesses and organisations. Also, does the regulation apply to charities and other organisations only trading within the UK?

[@ExploringAccessibility]

Hi, yes the EAA applies to companies outside of the EU that wish to do business in the EU. A lot of other countries like America or Australia already have similar laws and so will be compliant if they comply to their requirements - usually WCAG 2/2.1. How likely though the EU is, to take action against a company in the UK is difficult to estimate. Charities, schools, goverment agencies have to comply with the same accessibility requirements, but they are covered by the earlier web accessibiliy directive in the EU, the UK was required to do this as well as it was before Brexit. The UK has its own accessibility requirements with the Equality Act of 2010. There are exemptions for businesses. If you can prove it is an undue burden, if it would completely change the nature of the product (hard to argue this for a website), or if your company earns less than 2 million in sales AND employs less tahn 10 people. Also any content that won't be changed after the middle of 2025 is also exempt. I hope this helps.

[@fairytale_melodies]

Does the European Accessibility Act cover SaaS? For example, the backend systems that content editors would use to manage their digital products?

[@ExploringAccessibility]

Hi and thanks for the comment. I can't find any direct mention of it in relation to the EAA, but I do find information about the WAD applying to things like intranets (at least once they under go substantial revision, see: www.ahead.ie/userfiles/files/The%20Web%20Accessibility%20Directive-digital.pdf). I'm not a lawyer (you should also ask your legal dept.), but I would say yes. For several reasons. First, if your BEs are inaccessible, you will not be hiring people with disabilities, which is also against the law. Second, unlike the WAD, the EAA appplies to private sector websites. This means if you buy your backend from a company, that company is required to make it accessible. You are their customers and any of your employees could probably report the BE app you are using for EAA violations. If it is a BE you make and their is no public access you might be able to argue that it doesn't need to be accessible (again check with your legal dept) but possibly employees could report it if it prevents them doing their work. I shall look into this subject some more and see if I can find out more information.