Agencies – don’t wait for new EU regulations to help your clients become accessible
Web accessibility is gaining momentum within some industries across the globe
The most significant and obvious reason to become web accessible is that it’s the right thing to do. People with disabilities deserve equal access to the internet, so much so that it’s a civil right. But, web accessibility is also a matter of compliance, with many parts around the world beginning to enforce the practice through legislation. These laws either prohibit discrimination against the disability communities or mandate that technology is accessible to the extent of optimal usability.
Most recent legislations follow in the footsteps of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which came into effect in 1990, banning the discrimination of people with disabilities in places of accommodation - including websites. The influence of the ADA migrated overseas in the early 2000s when the EU authorities decided to make policy decisions that finally addressed the needs of people with disabilities. This influence resulted in the Web Accessibility Directive, EN301549, and ultimately, the European Accessibility Act, which will be enforced in 2025.
For those agencies with EU-based clients, it’s crucial that you don’t let them wait until 2025 to become accessible. Two years will pass before you know it and it’s better to prepare and gain the benefits of web accessibility today. But, I’ll explain all of that soon enough. First, let’s understand the legislation that affects your clients greatly.
What is the Web Accessibility Directive?
The Web Accessibility Directive is a critical piece of EU legislation, put together in 2016, that applies to all member states and those within the European Economic Area. It requires all official public services to make their websites and mobile apps accessible to users with disabilities. The directive states that these public sector bodies must achieve accessibility in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines’ four basic principles of design: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
And, what about EN301549?
EN301549 is a policy document that was produced by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which is the EU agency that regulates the digital realm. It was created to reflect other international protocols like the United States Section 508 regulation. The latest version of EN 301549 was released in 2021 and is based on the WCAG, however, until the EAA was passed, it was never enforced.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The EAA is a regulation passed by the EU in April 2019, requiring that all digital products and services be accessible. It is part of the Web Accessibility Directive, and its purpose is to improve how the internal market for accessible products and services operates with the intention of reducing trading and production barriers created by divergent rules across the EU.
These divergent rules ran rampant through the EU prior to the EAA, with member states possessing their own accessibility standards for digital products and services. These varied rules resulted in people with disabilities experiencing a wide interpretation of digital accessibility, which led to a slim and unimpressive selection of online products and services and higher pricing. The EAA will harmonize accessibility requirements by providing the states with a set of common rules to follow, enabling private companies to sell compliant, online products and services across the EU without difficulty.
There will be immense benefits for the entire EU population after the enforcement of the EAA. For example, diversified accessibility laws that complicate cross-border market trading will cease to exist and reduce accessibility production costs for businesses conducting transactions across the EU, returning higher investments. And, with accessibility costs down, businesses will have greater reasons to make their products and services accessible. This could lead to shared technologies, research, and new innovations.
Why your clients can’t wait any longer wait to become accessible
Those of your clients who are EU-based service providers or brands will have until June 28th, 2025 to implement the EAA’s requirements and ensure that their digital products and services are accessible. It’s imperative that they comply with the mandate and do so according to the common laws determined by the act, otherwise there will be penalties for violations. Every EU member state is responsible for enforcing the act, but they’re allowed to decide the consequences and appoint the body in charge of the act’s enforcement.
Even without the enforcement of the EAA, your clients are missing out on the business benefits that web accessibility offers today:
- Expanded market reach: owning and operating a compliant website with accessible digital products and services means that your clients’ businesses could be reaching 87 million Europeans who live with a disability and conducting transactions with them online. Without tapping into this market, your clients are also missing out on the purchasing power that the disability communities possess, which is £17.1 billion in the UK alone.
- Better website performance: web accessibility actually cleans up a website user experience, makes it more navigation-friendly, and enhances its search visibility. All of this is proven to contribute to the increase of a website’s traffic by 12%.
- Boosted reputation: consumers relate to brands that prioritize inclusion and diversity, and web accessibility falls under that umbrella category. If your client’s brand has an accessible website, users are more likely to engage and come back for more based on social values alone, which in turn, spreads the word on how inclusive their business is and how they’re doing the right thing.
You can help your EU-based clients get accessible
Letting your clients wait until the last minute to get EAA compliant will only increase their chances of receiving penalties for being inaccessible. However, because web accessibility is a moral imperative, they shouldn’t be waiting for legislation to kick in anyway. Help your clients reap the many business benefits of being an inclusive and accessible brand, and together, we can make a difference while heightening the probability of shared research and innovation across borders and an inclusive web with accessible products and services for all.
*If you’re unsure where your clients’ websites stand in terms of web accessibility, find out now with our free auditing tool that gives you a detailed overview of their compliance level in just a matter of seconds.