Many businesses still don’t understand how enforcement of the requirements of the EAA would be managed in Ireland. To provide some clarity, we have prepared this article with the numbers and key information reported for 2025 in the CCPC’s Annual Report.
In 2025, the CCPC received 53 complaints under the European Accessibility Act and 16 notifications of claimed exemptions. These cases are now being actioned, with outcomes expected in 2026.
So, for all the businesses treating EAA compliance as something to resolve later, this is an important signal that accessibility enforcement in Ireland is moving from expectation to action.
The report discusses the annual activities of the CCPC in terms of Competition, Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Compliance.
It includes the European Accessibility Act during its first year of application in Ireland, from 28 June 2025 onwards.
CCPC has been designated as the market surveillance authority for products within the scope of the Act, as well as the compliance authority for e-commerce and e-books in Ireland.
As part of the preparations to the EAA, the CCPC set up a number of processes to allow for reporting of concerns by consumers and for notification of non-compliance or claimed exemptions by businesses.
The numbers reported for 2025 are significant:
53 EAA complaints were received
16 claimed exemptions were notified
These cases are being actioned with outcomes are expected in 2026 and tell us something important.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is not something for businesses to comply with in the future. It is already generating complaints, exemption claims and lots of other activity in terms of enforcement in Ireland.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) creates legal accessibility requirements for products and services in many sectors. Business must understand whether their business activities fall within scope of the EAA and what obligations apply to them.
CCPC will be taking a proportionate approach to the enforcement of the EAA. First, they will be trying to help businesses such as SMEs and microenterprises to comply with the requirements of the legislation.
However, support and guidance should not be mistaken for the lack of enforcement.
The CCPC’s enforcement work in 2025 also shows that compliance is a priority. It carried out 270 inspections, 31% more than in 2024. It also secured five successful prosecutions and stopped more than 276,000 unsafe and non-compliant products from being sold or entering the market.
The message for businesses is very simple. They should work towards digital accessibility and inclusion right now and not wait for regulatory contact or users' complaints.
We’ve developed a comprehensive article to help Irish SMEs understand whether the Act applies to them and what they need to do to comply. We highly recommend giving it a read: What Is European Accessibility Act Compliance in Ireland for SMEs in 2026?
The 53 complaints received by the CCPC do not mean that 53 businesses are in breach of the EAA or that the CCPC will take enforcement action against all 53.
A complaint does not mean a company is breaking the law and will face enforcement action from the CCPC automatically.
The same applies to the 16 claimed exemptions.
Businesses can claim an exemption where meeting the requirements of the EAA would cause a major change to the product or service that the business is offering.
One example is requiring a product designed solely to deliver audio to provide also visual functionality. This could fundamentally change its purpose and how it is used.
An exemption can also be considered when a specific accessibility requirement would create an excessive financial burden, especially to small businesses where the development costs can be disproportionate to the business size.
However, even where a business is allowed to rely on an exemption from the accessibility requirements, this does not mean that it can completely ignore the issues raised by the accessibility requirements.
CCPC says that the use of exemptions will only be applied in exceptional circumstances, and that businesses would be expected to make their services as accessible as possible in those circumstances.
Compliance with the European Accessibility Act is an ongoing process of checking, of improving and of maintaining accessibility for people with disabilities.
If your business provides products or services within the European Union, here are some steps you can take now.
The first step is checking whether your business is required to comply with the EAA and which of your products and services are required to be made accessible.
There are many categories of products and services within the EAA and each has its own requirements for accessibility.
Services such as e-commerce and e-books will need to meet accessibility requirements. Other sectors such as banking, transport and electronic communications have to be accessible, but may have different specifications.
Check whether the EAA needs to be complied with by your business and what this means for the products or services you provide.
In our European Accessibility Act Compliance Guide, you can find practical information to help you understand where your business stands and what steps you can take towards compliance.
Once you know your obligations and how you are going to approach them, then you need to check how accessible your product or service is right now.
Start with an accessibility audit. It can detect accessibility barriers for people with disabilities when trying to use your product or service.
Reviewing websites, mobile apps and digital services early help businesses prioritise and resolve accessibility barriers before they become a legal issue.
Accessibility tools are big helpers to detect and resolve issues quickly. Platforms such as Nexus Inclusion can do automated audits, monitor accessibility performance, and generate actionable insights.
Accessibility is not only the responsibility of your website or development team.
Involving different teams of your organisation such as product, design, development, content, legal and management teams is necessary to make sure accessibility is a priority.
Be clear on who is responsible for accessibility within your organisation and how issues are identified, prioritised and fixed.
Keeping a record of your testing, decisions and improvements will be able to prove the steps that your organisation is taking to meet its obligations and complete its tasks.
This is also important because publishing an Accessibility Statement is one of the EAA requirements. Keeping these steps documented will help you keep your statement up to date.
An accessibility assessment can reveal a large number of issues, which cannot be solved overnight.
Instead, create a clear roadmap.
First list all the barriers that have the biggest impact on users. Then assign each issue to the right person. Set a realistic time frame for the fixing of each issue.
Your roadmap could include:
This helps turn accessibility from a one-off project into an ongoing part of how your organisation works.
The Nexus Inclusion platform provides tools to support you at every step of your accessibility roadmap.
You can detect and analyse issues, get detailed guidance on how to fix them, monitor accessibility over time, access learning resources, and much more, all in one platform.
The CCPC's 2025 Annual Report gives early insight on what to expect from EAA enforcement in Ireland.
53 complaints and 16 claimed exemptions for Accessibility and Reasonable Adjustments received in 2025 are now being actioned with expected outcomes in 2026.
In May 2026, the CCPC outlined to the Public Accounts Committee how its responsibilities have expanded to include enforcement of accessibility requirements for products covered by the European Accessibility Act.
But enforcement is not only about formal complaints.
The CCPC’s approach to enforcement at the moment includes early engagement with businesses, inspections, investigations and efforts to secure voluntary compliance.
This can be in the form of a complaint, an investigation, a request for more information or even a contact from a regulator asking for the business to fix an issue.
This is why it is important to be able to show that accessibility is actively managed within your organisation.
Having a clear process for testing, fixing and monitoring accessibility for your customers can protect your business from being exposed to legal risks.
The CCPC report makes it clear that accessibility should not be something you only think about after receiving a complaint.
Most importantly, proactive accessibility is not only about compliance. It is about making products and services easier to use for as many people as possible.
EAA enforcement in Ireland has already started. The question is: is your organisation ready?
Start by assessing your digital accessibility. Nexus Inclusion can help you detect barriers, understand what needs to be fixed and build a clear path towards better accessibility.
people with disabilities often do not have a good experience with accessibility in financial services and may be unable to complete processes independently.
Start now your digital accessibility journey, avoiding legal risks and exposure.