To explore the EAA relevance to non-EU businesses, we first have to look at the background of this legislation and its purpose, since it took effect in June 2025 and the concern around it shouldn’t be ignored.
The EAA was created by the European Union, as Annex 1 of its Directive says:
"to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by approximating laws, regulations and administrative provisions as regards accessibility requirements for certain products and services by, in particular, eliminating and preventing barriers to the free movement of certain accessible products and services arising from divergent accessibility requirements."
This new law comes at a moment when the number of people with disabilities already represents 1.6 billion people worldwide, according to Global Economics of Disability 2024. Its potential to increase is highlighted due in part to population ageing and an increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases, according to the WHO (World Health Organization).
The EAA relevance for non-EU businesses can be simply understood by taking into consideration that the Act was created to benefit people with disabilities in the EU and remove barriers in digital services.
With that in mind, if your company is not based in an EU member country but provides products and services to any of them, then yes, your business needs to comply.
Your company may also have a physical presence in the EU (e.g. office or warehouse). In this case, even if your business is not primarily digital, you still have to comply with the EAA, as your operations fall within the scope of EU market regulations.
In a short: if your customer is based in any EU country, the EAA is an obligation to your business. The only exception would be for microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees or turnover below €2 million. They are exempt from the EAA but are still encouraged to adopt accessible practices.
Whether your business is required to comply or not, it’s highly likely that the country where your company is located already has its own digital accessibility laws, and your adherence to these regulations must be taken seriously.
In the US, for example, the ADA (American with Disabilities Act) has been in place since 1990, adding specific digital regulations in1998. In Canada, the ACA (Accessibility Canada Act), has been active since 2019 as a federal law to prevent barriers to accessibility (both physical and digital).
If you’re based in a country with a digital accessibility law, you probably know WCAG and understand the importance of being compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA at a minimum. And, although that represents a huge step toward EAA compliance, there are some additional nuances that are also important to look into.
In this article, Is WCAG Conformance Enough for EAA Compliance?, you can gain a deeper understanding of how to move toward compliance, even if you already follow the international guideline.
Now that you know the EAA relevance to non-EU businesses, it’s time to learn how to prepare for EAA compliance. Before we dive into the list, you should know that true compliance requires continuous monitoring effort. To start, here are some of the key steps to build a structured roadmap:
The first step is reviewing websites, mobile apps, and digital services to assess alignment with WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549 standards. By detecting accessibility gaps early, your company can prioritise and resolve barriers before they become legal issues.
Work around the POUR principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust) is a good start, especially when it comes to the foundation of your design and development structure. These principles will guide teams in creating accessible digital experiences.
Accessibility tools are big helpers to detect and resolve issues quickly. Platforms such as Nexus Inclusion can perform automated audit, and help with detection, analysis and guidance to support your accessibility performance.
Training on accessibility standards and inclusive design is another good way to implement digital accessibility and, more importantly, to maintain it. Nexus Inclusion’s Learning & Certification programmes build internal expertise and support continuous improvement.
Publishing an accessibility statement is a requirement based on EAA regulations. But, more than that, it demonstrates your commitment and highlights your compliance efforts, even when they are still in progress. It also communicates how users can request assistance or report barriers found.
Feedback from users is highly valuable to highlight real-world challenges and opportunities that may have passed unnoticed by the team. More important than creating a channel for users to share accessibility feedback is ensuring there's a process for acting on it.
Achieving compliance is important, but maintaining it is the real definition of digital accessibility. Ongoing monitoring will help your team catch new issues caused by updates, content changes, or third-party integrations.
Compliance with the European Accessibility Act is a major step for web accessibility, but when it comes to digital inclusion, it’s just the first step to help users achieve 100% of online independence.
This is because digital inclusion is about making sure everyone has a fair chance to take part in the digital world, but there are still some barriers that can be overlooked, such as:
If you’re ready to make a big impact and move beyond accessibility to true digital inclusion, our Digital Inclusion Guide will help you put it into practice. In one way or another, investing in digital accessibility benefits both users and companies. Businesses will see short- and long-term advantages when these practices are in place.
Being compliant with digital accessibility reduces the risk of legal challenges and costly settlements. The EAA is a new regulation, but if we look at the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), which has digital accessibility included since 1998, a recent survey has shown that over 2400 lawsuits were filed in the first half of 2025 alone in the US. (2025 Midyear Report)
There’s a mistake in thinking that digital accessibility supports only people with disabilities. But the reality is that most of the practices related to web accessibility also improve user experience for all audiences.
Well-structured content, labelled buttons, alt text, and other initiatives for accessibility, consequently, result in positive impact for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). This combo is one of the reasons for our next topic.
“I love working with organisations who prioritise web accessibility because the technical building blocks for SEO growth are typically already in place.” - Darren McManus, SEO Consultant.
As in a math equation, when search engines show your content and users can easily understand and interact with it, the result is simple: more customers can convert.
A company that invests in digital inclusion also demonstrates a commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. It shows social responsibility and sends a positive message about its values.
According to Certus Insights, 70% of consumers want to know how brands address social and environmental issues, and 46% actively consider a brand’s social responsibility when making purchasing decisions.
In the words of António Guterres, UN Secretary-General:
"Accessibility is not a privilege, it is a right. In our digital age, ensuring everyone can access online content is a moral imperative."
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), over 1.3 billion people globally live with some form of disability. This number is increasing due in part to population ageing and an increase in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases.
This data shows that one third of the world’s population is relying on initiatives from their governments to build an inclusive digital future.
A positive perspective is that many countries already have digital accessibility laws. Aside from EAA (EU), ADA (US), and ACA (Canada), that we already mentioned, there are other nations with specific regulations:
Many other countries have disability or anti-discrimination laws that imply digital accessibility but may lack explicit legal mandates or technical standards for digital products.
By prioritising accessibility now, businesses not only prepare for future laws but also gain a competitive advantage by welcoming millions of users with disabilities. In Europe alone, this represents 87 million people.
We developed our tool to focus on detection, analysis and guidance with the goal of redefining digital accessibility and inclusion with AI. Our tool helps you apply WCAG guidelines to gain and maintain compliance with accessibility laws (e.g., EAA, Equality Act 2010, ADA).
Some of the key features of our comprehensive platform are:
Our suite of tools will enable organisations to quickly, simply and effectively make themselves inclusive and accessible to everyone.
At Nexus Inclusion, digital inclusion is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to move beyond digital accessibility and ensure that inclusion is considered at every step of the product development process from idea, design, development, testing, content management, product management and maintaining inclusion post go live.
It is important for us that the barriers of making something accessible and inclusive are broken down and that it is simply part of the overall steps that every company takes in releasing digital products to their customers. We focus on finding the best solution and not the problem.
And this is just the beginning. Founded by accessibility advocate Kyran O’Mahoney, our team brings together experts to solve real-world challenges.
Now that you are prepared to start your journey towards compliance with the European Accessibility Act in the UK, create your account and get access to our tool, training, and resources for teams building inclusive digital futures.
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