European accessibility act

The European accessibility act is a directive that aims to improve the functioning of the internal market for accessible products and services, by removing barriers created by divergent rules in Member States.

Businesses will benefit from:

common rules on accessibility in the EU leading to costs reduction
easier cross-border trading
more market opportunities for their accessible products and services

Persons with disabilities and elderly people will benefit from:

more accessible products and services in the market
accessible products and services at more competitive prices
fewer barriers when accessing transport, education and the open labour market
more jobs available where accessibility expertise is needed

Products and services covered

The European accessibility act covers products and services that have been identified as being most important for persons with disabilities while being most likely to have diverging accessibility requirements across EU countries.

The Commission consulted stakeholders and experts on accessibility and took into account the obligations deriving from the UN convention on persons with disabilities. These products and services include:

computers and operating systems
ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines
smartphones
TV equipment related to digital television services
telephony services and related equipment
access to audio-visual media services such as television broadcast and related consumer equipment
services related to air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport
banking services
e-books
e-commerce