The Accessibility Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council, the Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning the accessibility of products and services (EU Directive 2019/882), was adopted in March 2019 to make products and services more accessible in the European Union. The Accessibility Directive extends the scope of accessibility requirements from online services and mobile applications to physical products and other electronic services.
The Accessibility Act aims, among other things, to increase the accessibility and mobility of accessible products and services and to make them more accessible and thus more inclusive. In particular, the Act aims to promote accessibility for people with disabilities, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
With this directive, the boundary between accessibility in the physical world and accessibility online will be reduced.
The national laws need to be enforceable by June 28, 2025.
Accessibility requirements apply to public sector organisations and the private sector, i.e. anyone who produces or provides a product or service covered by the Act to consumers.
Examples of services governed by the Act include:
The Act must also be taken into account in the following areas: