Viewing Accessibility Enhancement Act - Europe
Accessibility Enhancement Act - Europe
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User: Dirk V. 20 days ago
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The European Accessibility Act, approved in 2019, will come into effect on 28 June 2025, and will mark a significant shift in the EU market. The Act mandates that a range of products and services such as consumer electronics (TVs, smartphones, computers, gaming consoles, etc.), ticketing and vending machines, websites and mobile acts, among others, comply with accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities. See accessible-eu-centre.ec.europa.eu/content-corner/news/eaa-comes-effect-june-2025-are-you-ready-2025-01-31_en for more info. Failing to comply with the law could result in penalties including fines for European public-sector organisations. Germany (the country my websites are hosted in) is particularly harsh with this kind of thing: it's a given that specialized law firms will do nothing else but browse Germany-based websites for mistakes, errors and omissions and send their first threat letters to (especially) smaller companies within 24h. What is Everweb doing to help with that? All of us in Europe need a practical solution. There are ads around that promise "help by widget". by I am not really sure about this. Thanks for letting me and all other "Europeans" here know! Last edit 20 days ago |
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User: Paul-RAGESW 13 days ago
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Hi Dirk, Thank you for raising this important topic regarding the upcoming European Accessibility Act (EAA). We understand your concern and appreciate your proactive approach in preparing for these changes. The European Accessibility Act, approved in 2019, will come into effect on 28 June 2025. It introduces new accessibility requirements for a wide range of products and services offered in the EU, including websites and mobile applications. The goal is to ensure that people with disabilities can access digital services with equal ease. For an official overview of the EAA, please refer to: https://accessible-eu-centre.ec.europa.eu/content-corner/news/eaa-comes-effect-june-2025-are-you-ready-2025-01-31_en Additional summaries and breakdowns can be found here: - https://www.siteimprove.com/blog/european-accessibility-act-what-june-2025-deadline-means/ - https://kinsta.com/blog/european-accessibility-act/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EN_301_549 Who Is Affected by the EAA? The EAA applies to many businesses offering services to consumers within the European Union, regardless of where the business is physically located. It covers services such as: 1. E-commerce websites 2. Online banking 3. Ticketing and transportation services 4. Mobile apps 5. Consumer-facing websites in general There is an exemption for microenterprises (businesses with fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million), but specific enforcement and interpretation may vary by country. As you correctly pointed out, Germany is known for strict enforcement of these kinds of regulations. What Does Compliance Require? The EAA draws heavily on the international WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standard, as incorporated into the EU’s EN 301 549 standard. Some of the core requirements include: - Use of alternative (alt) text for all non-decorative images - Logical heading structure (H1, H2, H3, etc.) - Sufficient color contrast between text and background - Keyboard-accessible navigation and interactive elements - Clear and consistent navigation - Captions for videos and transcripts for audio content - Accessible form inputs with properly labeled fields How EverWeb Can Help While EverWeb does not automatically enforce accessibility compliance, it provides a number of tools to help you create more accessible websites. A particularly useful feature is the Check Page function, which can help identify accessibility issues before you publish your site. To use Check Page: 1. Open your project in EverWeb. 2. Select the page you want to review. 3. From the toolbar click the Check Page button. This feature will alert you to missing ALT text for images and other potential issues. In addition to using the Check Page feature, we recommend the following best practices within EverWeb: - Always add ALT text to images via the Shape Options > Description field. - Use proper heading tags (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) instead of just manually adjusting font size. This can be done by selecting any text and going to the Inspector -> Text Options -> HTML tag - Avoid using only color to convey information. You can use bold, underline or italic text as well - Ensure the contrast between text colors and background colors is high enough to avoid legibility issues - Use a clear and simple navigation bar. In EverWeb 4.4 you can mark the selected page using a different style with the new settings in the Navigation Bar Widget - Include an accessibility statement on your website and providing a way for users to contact you if they experience difficulty. Disclaimer EverWeb provides the tools to help you build an accessible website, but we cannot guarantee legal compliance with any specific regulation. Responsibility for accessibility compliance ultimately lies with the website owner and how the website is constructed. For specific legal or compliance advice, we recommend consulting an accessibility specialist or legal expert familiar with EU requirements. We are continuing to explore ways to make building accessible websites easier, and we welcome your suggestions as we improve future versions of EverWeb. Last edit 13 days ago ------------------------------- Paul EverWeb Developer |
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