Web Accessibility Directive:
Frequently Asked Questions

These are frequently asked questions and answers on the EU Web Accessibility Directive.

The objective of this website is to support the implementation of the Directive and to provide reliable information and resources to those involved in buying, designing and monitoring websites or mobile applications, as well as users. This website is maintained by the Web Accessibility Initiative - Communities of Practice (WAI-CooP) Project.

1. What is the EU Web Accessibility Directive?

The EU Web Accessibility Directive is a piece of EU law that applies in all EU countries, as well as in countries of the European Economic Area. This Directive is often referred to as the ‘Web Directive’ or ‘Web Accessibility Directive’. Its full name is ‘Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies’.

This directive aims to make public sector websites and mobile applications more accessible, and to harmonise standards within the EU, reducing barriers for developers of accessibility-related products and services and providing persons with disabilities with better access to online public services.

The directive requires public sector bodies to take the necessary measures to make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making content ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’.

The directive requires websites and apps of public sector bodies to meet specific technical requirements set out in web accessibility standards.

The directive includes a limited number of exemptions.

The directive requires:

There is a detailed summary of the provisions in the Web Accessibility Directive on the European Commission’s website.

The full text of the Web Accessibility Directive is available in all EU languages. It was transposed into national law in all EU member states; you can check the full list of national transposition measures.

Three additional texts called ‘implementing decisions’ support the implementation of the directive; these texts are adopted by the European Commission and can be updated separately from the directive:

2. What are the benefits of accessibility?

Accessibility is essential for persons with disabilities and useful for all. Watch these videos exploring the impact and benefits of accessibility for people in a variety of situations.

Implementing accessibility has tangible and intangible benefits. Read about the business case for accessibility and find out about distinctions and overlaps between accessibility, usability, and inclusive design.

Designing products that are easier for older people to use is similar to designing for persons with disabilities. Find out more about the overlaps between accessible design and design for older people.

3. What are the accessibility rights of persons with disabilities?

The rights of persons with disabilities are enshrined in the United Nations Convention for the right of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD).

Several articles in the UNCRPD relate to accessibility rights, including:

The UNCRPD was ratified by the European Union, as well as all EU member states. They therefore committed to taking appropriate measures to:

State Parties have also undertaken to refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the UNCRPD and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with it.

In the EU, the Web Accessibility Directive sets out what public sector bodies must do to ensure that their websites and mobile applications are accessible. The European Commission provides more information about the Web Accessibility Directive on their website.

4. Can you provide examples of accessible websites and apps?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to provide a list of examples. While a website or an app may be accessible at some point, we cannot guarantee that they will not be later changed in a way that makes them inaccessible.

5. How can I do simple checks on web accessibility myself?

You don't have to be an expert to make some easy checks on the accessibility of a website: try some simple checks to assess the accessibility of a web page and learn to spot common accessibility issues.

6. What is the European Accessibility Act and how does it relate to the Web Accessibility Directive?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a new piece of EU law. Its objective is to remove accessibility barriers to a range of goods and services traded in the internal market. It will make it easier for persons with disabilities to find accessible products and services.

The EAA sets new EU-wide minimum accessibility requirements for a range of products and services. It is a directive, which means that it sets binding accessibility goals for EU Member States, who can decide how they achieve these goals.

The EAA is aligned with and complements other EU legislation tackling accessibility, such as the Web Accessibility Directive. While the Web Accessibility Directive applies to websites and apps of public sector bodies, the EAA applies to the private sector and covers a wider range of products and services.

The EAA came into force on 27 June 2019 and Member States had 3 years to transpose it into national law. This means that they were required to introduce new and/or update existing national legislation to comply with the EAA by June 2022. Businesses now have a maximum of 3 years to prepare as they will need to comply with the EAA by no later than June 2025, when it will be fully in force.

The products and services covered by the EAA include:

With regards to websites and mobile applications, the EAA has the same accessibility requirements as the Web Accessibility Directive.

Find out more about the EAA in the European Disability Forum toolkit on the transposition of the EAA.

The 'AccessibleEU Resource Centre' has resources on accessibility of the built environment, transport, as well as information and communication technologies.

7. Where can I find a list of policies on web accessibility in different countries?

The EU Web Accessibility Directive was transposed into national law in all EU member states; you can check the full list of national transposition measures.

The Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED) maintains a searchable database on disability-related national laws, policies, strategies and initiatives in EU Member States, candidate countries and other associated countries. Accessibility is one of eight topics monitored. The data is compiled by ANED’s independent country experts, under the guidance of the network’s Scientific Director, and updated periodically.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) maintains an international list of laws and policies in different countries.

8. Are there resources on digital accessibility in my language?

There are a range of W3C WAI documents available in languages other than English.

If you want to get involved with translation, you can get in touch with W3C WAI.

9. How to contact organisations with inaccessible websites and apps?

The accessibility statement on the website or app should include a feedback mechanism to contact the organisation to let them know about an accessibility issue and also to request alternative formats for inaccessible content. This is a legal requirement.

If there is no accessibility statement available, you can try other ways to contact the website owner.

When you want to highlight an issue, it is important to include the following information:

More information on contacting organisations about inaccessible websites.

10. Where can I learn about digital accessibility?

Watch these web accessibility perspectives videos to understand how different accessibility features are essential for persons with a range of disabilities, while being useful for all.

You can also:

11. Where can I find information about web accessibility training and certification?

The W3C WAI developed a free introductory online foundation course on web accessibility. The course is designed for technical and non-technical learners, including developers, designers, content authors, people with disabilities or anyone else who is interested.

The W3C WAI also has a list of digital accessibility training courses and certification.

The WAI Curricula provides role-based modules to help create and procure courses on web accessibility. It defines learning outcomes and provides ideas to teach and assess knowledge.

12. How do I start implementing digital accessibility?

Make sure you learn about digital accessibility so that you know how persons with disabilities use the web.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has a range of resources for designers and developers including tips for designing and tips for developing, as well as resources to make audio and video media accessible.

For mobile applications, there are accessibility guidelines for Android, Apple and Microsoft.

Remember to consider accessibility throughout your project planning.

13. What resources are available to help design accessible websites and mobile applications?

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has a range of resources for designers and developers including tips for designing and tips for developing, as well as resources to make audio and video media accessible.

Mobile accessibility is covered in existing W3C web content accessibility guidelines. There are no separate guidelines for mobile accessibility.

You can find more information on mobile accessibility, as well as guidance on applying WCAG 2.0 to non-web information and communications technologies (WCAG2ICT) on the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) website.

For mobile applications, there are accessibility guidelines for Android, Apple and Microsoft.

14. Where can I find information about web accessibility standards?

The European standard for accessibility requirements for ICT products and services is called EN 301 549. Complying with this standard is a way for public sector bodies to meet the mandatory technical requirements of the Web Accessibility Directive. Annex A of EN 301 549 explains how this can be done.

EN 301 549 is a ‘harmonised standard’. Harmonised standards are a specific category of European standards developed by a European Standardisation Organisation following a request, known as a ‘mandate’, from the European Commission. Harmonised standards establish technical specifications which are considered suitable or sufficient in order to comply with the technical requirements given in EU legislation. Hamonised standards are published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

You can use harmonised standards to prove that a product or service complies with the technical requirements of a relevant EU legislation.

EN 301 549 has evolved over time. The current harmonised version of this standard is EN 301 549 version 3.2.1 (2021-03) [PDF Document]

EN 301 549 version 3.2.1 includes requirements from WC3’s internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 (WCAG 2.1).

EN 301 549 version 3.2.1 also includes additional requirements that are not part of WCAG 2.1. Therefore, demonstrating that a website meets all the success criteria of WCAG 2.1 is not sufficient to provide a presumption of conformity with the Web Accessibility Directive.

EN 301 549 is about products and services, so it also includes requirements that are not relevant to the Web Accessibility Directive, for example requirements that apply to hardware.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) adopted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 (WCAG 2.2) in October 2023.

There is ongoing work to develop the W3C Accessibility Guidelines 3.0 (WCAG 3), which will apply to web content, apps, tools, publishing, and emerging technologies on the web.

Read about current EN 301 549 requirements relevant to the Web Accessibility Directive.

New requirements in future versions of EN 301 549 or WCAG will not automatically become legally relevant to the Web Accessibility Directive. This will only be the case if these new requirements are included in Annex A of a new harmonised version of EN 301 549.

15. Where can I find information about accessible software / authoring tools?

Authoring tools are software and services that people use to produce web content. Examples of authoring tools include:

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops the standard called Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG). It is a companion to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and can be used to develop and procure accessible authoring tools.

WAI also has some tips on how to choose authoring tools to produce accessible content but warns that there is no single tool that fully supports production of accessible websites.

16. What should I take into account when procuring accessible websites and apps?

When drafting a call for tenders to procure ICT services, you will need to define selection criteria, award criteria and technical specifications, including accessibility requirements.

One way to define accessibility requirements is to refer to the current European harmonised standard 'Accessibility requirement for procurement of ICT products and services' EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021-03) [PDF document]. Complying with this standard is a way to meet the mandatory technical requirements of the Web Accessibility Directive. Find out more information about web accessibility standards

You can use the selection criteria to set out your expectations from potential suppliers in terms of capacity to deliver digital accessibility.

You can use the award criteria to encourage suppliers to deliver a more accessible website and/or mobile application by providing additional accessibility features above and beyond what is required in the Web Accessibility Directive, such as those set out in chapter 9.5 of EN 301 549 [PDF document].

17. Where can I find a list of web accessibility evaluation tools?

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has a list of web accessibility evaluation tools as well as advice on how to select the right evaluation tool for your needs.

18. How to prioritise accessibility issues on your website?

When trying to improve the accessibility of an existing website, you will need to prioritise what you need to fix. In order to do this, think about:

More tips on how to prioritise accessibility issues.

19. How to consider accessibility throughout your project plan?

It is important to consider accessibility throughout your project development. Key steps include:

More tips on planning and managing accessibility in a project.

20. What do I need to know about the accessibility statement?

The Web Accessibility Directive requires public sector bodies to provide and regularly update a ‘detailed, comprehensive and clear’ accessibility statement on their website or mobile application.

The accessibility statement must include the following information:

The accessibility statement can also include optional content, for example:

The declarations made in the accessibility statement should be accurate and based on one of the following:

  1. an actual evaluation of the website's or mobile application's compliance with the requirements of the Directive, such as a self-assessment done by the public sector body or an assessment carried out by a third party, for example a certification;
  2. any other measures, as deemed appropriate by the Member States, which provide equal assurance that the declarations made in the statement are accurate.

The statement should indicate the method used.

There is a model accessibility statement in an implementing decision published by the European Commission. It provides more detail on mandatory and optional content requirements.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has more general information about accessibility statements and why they are helpful, as well as an accessibility statement generator.

21. How do I write an accessibility assessment report?

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has resources on conformance evaluation. This includes the WCAG-EM Report Tool to help you create evaluation reports in line with steps defined by the W3C Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM).

22. How to monitor accessibility on websites and apps?

The European Commission set out a monitoring methodology for the Web Accessibility Directive in an implementing decision.

The conformity of websites and mobile applications with the accessibility requirements in the directive is monitored using the following methodology:

  1. an in-depth monitoring method to verify compliance, in accordance with the requirements listed in point 1.2 of annex 1 of the implementing decision;
  2. a simplified monitoring method to detect non-compliance, in accordance with the requirements listed in point 1.3 of annex 1 of the implementing decision.

The monitoring methodology also describes how to carry out the sampling of websites and mobile applications.

Article 9 and annex 2 of the implementing decision describe what Member States must provide in their monitoring reports, including:

23. How can persons with disabilities get involved in the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive?

Persons with disabilities can get involved in the implementation of the Directive at national level. The European Disability Forum developed a Web Accessibility Directive toolkit [PDF document] with practical advice for organisations who want to influence how the Directive is implemented in their country.

24. Is there guidance on involving users with disabilities in design and development?

Involving users early on in project development is really important to understand real-world accessibility issues, such as how people with disabilities and older people use the web with adaptive strategies and assistive technologies.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) developed resources showing how to involve users with disabilities in design and development, including advice on involving users in web projects and resources to help evaluate web accessibility.

25. How to optimise websites and apps for older people?

Designing products that are easier for older people to use is similar to designing for persons with disabilities.

Guidance on how to make websites and applications accessible for older users is covered in existing web accessibility standards.

Age-related impairments such as declining vision, hearing loss, reduced physical and/or cognitive ability can affect how older people use the web. These issues overlap with the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities. Therefore, websites and applications that are accessible to persons with disabilities are more accessible to older users as well.

More information on the overlaps between accessible design and design for older people.

26. How can we optimise websites and apps for people with cognitive disabilities?

Cognitive disabilities have an impact on how people process information. For example, they can affect people’s perception, comprehension, memory, language, attention and problem solving.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 include existing requirements that address cognitive accessibility. The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) also has additional guidance on making content usable for people with cognitive and learning disabilities.

27. What is the feedback mechanism and how to use it?

The Web Accessibility Directive requires public sector bodies to include a feedback mechanism in the accessibility statement on their website or app.

The feedback mechanism should provide a means for users to contact the public sector body directly to let them know about an accessibility issue and request alternative formats for inaccessible content. This can be inaccessible content that is listed in the accessibility statement, content that is excluded from the scope of the Web Accessibility Directive, or content that the user has come across while browsing the website or using the app.

The feedback mechanism is useful for users, but also for public sector bodies as it enables them to get useful information to address issues on their website or app.

The Web Accessibility Directive states that in response to a ‘legitimate and reasonable’ request, the public sector body should provide information ‘in an adequate and appropriate manner within a reasonable period of time’.

If there is no accessibility statement available, you can try other ways to contact the website owner.

28. Who monitors the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive in Member States?

There are designated national monitoring bodies for the Web Accessibility Directive in all Member States. They are also responsible for reporting on the implementation of the Directive by submitting a report to the Commission every three years, setting out the outcome of monitoring as well as enforcement activities in their country.

The first set of Member States' monitoring reports were published in December 2021.

29. How is the Web Accessibility Directive enforced?

Member States have to ensure there is an ‘adequate and effective’ enforcement procedure enabling people to submit complaints to a national body responsible for the enforcement of the Web Accessibility Directive.

There are designated national enforcement bodies for the directive in all Member States.

Information about the enforcement procedure and the national enforcement body must be included in the accessibility statement.

The enforcement procedure should guarantee compliance with the directive’s accessibility requirements, an effective handling of notifications of inaccessible content or requests for accessible content received through the feedback mechanism, and the review of the 'disproportionate burden’ assessments carried out by public sector bodies.

This enforcement procedure is a nonjudicial procedure. Persons with disabilities also have the right to go to court to seek redress if they wish to do so.

30. What is the 'disproportionate burden' clause?

The Web Accessibility Directive states that delivering accessibility requirements should not impose a ‘disproportionate burden’ on public sector bodies.

In order to assess the extent to which complying with the accessibility requirements in the directive imposes a disproportionate burden, a public sector body must take account of relevant circumstances, including:

According to the directive, measures that would impose a disproportionate burden should be understood as measures that would impose an ‘excessive organisational or financial burden’ on a public sector body, or would ‘jeopardise the body's capacity to either fulfil its purpose or to publish information needed for or relevant to its tasks and services, while taking into account the likely resulting benefit or detriment for citizens, in particular persons with disabilities’.

Public sector bodies can carry out an initial assessment to decide whether complying with the accessibility requirements in the Web Accessibility Directive constitutes a ‘disproportionate burden’. Only legitimate reasons should be taken into account in any assessment of the extent to which the accessibility requirements cannot be met because they would impose a disproportionate burden. The Web Accessibility Directive states that ‘lack of priority, time or knowledge’ should not be considered legitimate reasons. It also states that there should not be any legitimate reasons for not procuring or developing software systems to manage content on websites and mobile applications in an accessible manner, since sufficient and advisory techniques are available to make those systems meet the accessibility requirements in the directive.

If public sector bodies make use of the ‘disproportionate burden’ clause, they have to explain in the accessibility statement which parts of the accessibility requirements could not be complied with and provide accessible alternatives.

31. What are the exemptions in the Web Accessibility Directive?

There are several exemptions in the Web Accessibility Directive – some are temporary and some are permanent. Some exemptions restrict the scope of the directive and some exemptions focus on specific types of content.

Exemptions are listed in article 1 of the Web Accessibility Directive.

However, it is important to note that Member States can decide not to make use of exemptions.

Exemptions relating to the scope:

Exemptions regarding specific types of content:

Users can request access to content that is not accessible through the feedback mechanism available on the accessibility statement of the website or mobile application.

32. Can Member States go beyond the minimum requirements in the Web Accessibility Directive?

Yes, Member States may keep or introduce measures which go beyond the minimum requirements for accessibility of websites and mobile applications established by the Web Accessibility Directive as it is a ‘minimum harmonisation’ directive. This means that it only sets out the absolute minimum requirements that have to be met by public sector bodies for their websites and mobile applications.

If there are better provisions already in place in a Member State, these provisions do not have to be amended.

Governments can decide to implement new provisions that go beyond what is in the directive, for example they can choose a wider scope.

The directive also states that Member States should be encouraged to extend the application of the directive to private entities that offer facilities and services which are open or provided to the public, including in the healthcare, childcare, social inclusion and social security areas, as well as in the transport sector and the electricity, gas, heat, water, electronic communication and postal services.

33. What does the Web Accessibility Directive say about training and awareness-raising?

The Web Accessibility Directive states that Member States have to ‘promote and facilitate’ training programmes relating to the accessibility of websites and mobile applications for relevant stakeholders and staff of public sector bodies. These training programmes should be designed to train them how to create, manage and update the accessible content of websites and mobile applications.

Relevant stakeholders include organisations representing the interests of persons with disabilities, organisations of older people, as well as others, such as social partners or industry involved in the creation of accessibility software relating to websites and mobile applications.

Member States also have to take necessary measures to raise awareness of the accessibility requirements in the Web Accessibility Directive, of their benefits to users and owners of websites and mobile applications, and of the possibility of giving feedback in the case of any failure to comply with the requirements of the directive.

The directive states that Member States, in close cooperation with the Commission, should promote the use of authoring tools that allow better implementation of the accessibility requirements. Such promotion could take passive forms, such as publishing a list of compatible authoring tools, or active forms, such as the requirement to use compatible authoring tools or to fund their development.

When they report to the European Commission on their monitoring of the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive, Member States have to provide information about training and awareness-raising activities.

34. What third-party content on a website must be accessible?

Article 1 or the Web Accessibility Directive states that third-party content can only be exempt if it is 'neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body concerned'.

Therefore, third-party content on a website must be accessible if any of the following situations applies:

Examples of third-party content that meets at least one of the above criteria include:

35. How is compliance with the Web Accessibility Directive assessed?

The European Commission explains how to assess the compliance status of a website or mobile application in the annex of its implementing decision establishing a model accessibility statement. The compliance status describes how the website or mobile application complies with the standards and/or technical specifications, or the national legislation transposing the Web Accessibility Directive.

There are three different statuses: 'fully compliant', 'partially compliant' and 'not compliant'.

A website or mobile application is deemed to be 'fully compliant' if all requirements of the standard or technical specification, or the national legislation transposing the Directive, are fully met without exceptions.

A website or mobile application is deemed to be 'partially compliant' if most requirements of the standard or technical specification, or the national legislation transposing the Directive, are met.

A website or mobile application is deemed to be 'not compliant' if most requirements of the standard or technical specification, or the national legislation transposing the Directive, are not met.

Where the website or mobile application is either 'partially compliant' or 'not compliant', the accessibility statement should include details of the content, or functions, that are not accessible; this should be explained in simple, non-technical terms.

The compliance status must be mentioned in the accessibility statement.

Find out more about accessibility statements.

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