It's high time for the private sector to get on board, too
In 2025, a new law will come into force extending accessibility compliance obligations
Monday, February 27, 2023
While compliance with accessibility rules currently applies to public service websites and apps, in two years' time the rule will be extended to many areas of the private sector. From June 2025, it will apply to the whole of the European Union, and all e-commerce services as well as sites and apps dedicated to mobility will be concerned, under certain conditions.
The European Accessibility Act, which has been transposed into Luxembourg law, goes beyond the framework currently limited to websites and apps to cover areas as varied as computers or smartphones and their operating systems, televisions and audiovisual media access services, electronic books and e-readers, electronic communication services, electronic ticketing and even banking services, including certain self-service terminals such as automatic teller machines (ATM).
On 28 June 2025, businesses will have to ensure that they comply with accessibility standards. In other words, the days are numbered. In the case of websites and mobile apps alone, it can take many months from the time a specification is drawn up to the time a new portal goes online. When it comes to future redesigns, accessibility is no longer an extra option. On the contrary, it must become an integral part of the design process from the earliest stages, thereby limiting any additional costs incurred by compliance. The Luxembourg law of 2019 considers a site to be compliant only when it achieves 100% compliance, which is no mean feat and which some sites have already achieved by 2022.
According to the European Commission, making these services and devices accessible to everyone will make life easier for at least 87 million people, or one in four European adults.
Potential financial penalties
The law transposing the European act also provides for the possibility of prohibiting a non-compliant product or service from being made available on the market, and lists administrative and criminal penalties, the latter of which can be up to €500,000 and €1 million in the event of a repeat offense. The fine is proportionate to the extent and seriousness of the non-compliance. To this end, a new body, the Office de la surveillance de l'accessibilité des produits et services (OSAPS), will be set up and will have, among other tasks, the role of accessibility watchdog. Anyone will be able to report non-compliant products to the OSAPS.
Certain public bodies covered by the first law on accessibility - that of 2019 - could also be affected by the new law, particularly in the area of mobility.
On the other hand, micro-businesses (fewer than ten employees, annual balance sheet not exceeding €2 million) would be exempt from the obligation to comply with accessibility requirements. Similarly, transitional measures provide for exemptions for self-service terminals, as well as for service providers who will be able to continue to supply these terminals using products considered non-compliant from 2025 onwards. Finally, it will also be possible to put forward the argument of a disproportionate burden in the face of the obligation to modify the product or service in depth. These transitional provisions are due to expire in 2030.
Despite these safeguards, this European Act is preparing for a paradigm shift throughout the European Union, with the ambition of seeing products and services on the market that are genuinely usable by everyone.
This article was updated on 29 March 2023.