Are You Ready for the European Accessibility Act?

Summary: The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is coming into force on June 28, 2025. Is your application ready? This article highlights a few ways Apryse WebViewer can help deliver compliance for your application.

With the EAA coming into effect soon, developers, product managers and senior leaders of digital products operating in the EU need to know: is our product compliant?

According to the EU Commission, the European Accessibility Act will apply to both public and private sector organizations, including European and non-European companies that offer products or services to consumers within the EU. Compliance with these standards is essential to avoid penalties and market exclusions, making it a critical consideration for any business targeting the European market.

Products impacted by the EAA include:

The WHO estimates that 16% of the global population experiences a significant disability. That’s over 1.3 billion individuals, and that number shoots even higher when you include temporary disabilities, such as a broken wrist, lost glasses, or even a migraine. While temporary disabilities obviously aren’t as serious, web accessibility features help these users, too.

One group of developers and product managers who aren’t sweating the European Accessibility Act is those that already use WebViewer SDK to provide PDF and document processing capabilities in their applications. That’s because the WebViewer UI meets the WCAG 2.1 AA standard right out of the box.

According to the Accessible EU official website, The EAA was approved in 2019 and will come into effect on 28 June 2025, marking a significant shift in the EU market. The act is designed to remove barriers for users by standardizing accessibility requirements across member states of the EU.

The Act mandates that a range of products and services comply with accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities. Failing to comply with the law could result in penalties, including steep fines for European public-sector organizations.

Enforcement of the EAA begins June 28, 2025. While the requirements are set out in the act itself, it incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines, a globally recognized standard created by the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3). 

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

‘2.1’ refers to the standard. WCAG 2.0 was published in 2008. WCAG 2.1 in 2018, and WCAG 2.2 in 2023. The standards are backwards compatible.

WCAG guidelines are based on four key principles. According to the WC3, web content should be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. Following these principles, Under these principles, WCAG 2.1 sets out 13 guidelines, such as “Provide users enough time to read and use content” and “Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard.”

Finally, conformance to each guideline is defined by testable success criteria, which are at 3 levels: A, AA, and AAA.

To sum up, meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance requires meeting all the relevant items of 24 success criteria at at least level AA.

For applications with multiple interfaces, tools, or pieces of content, revisiting all these assets and UI elements to achieve compliance can be daunting. With WebViewer, compliance is built in, ensuring that the document processing UI meets EAA requirements right out of the box.

In addition to meeting EAA and other global accessibility legislation requirements, an accessible experience improves user experience for all users, even those without disabilities.

An accessible experience broadens market reach to include those 1.3 billion individuals experiencing significant disability, as well as B2B clients with accessibility considerations in their procurement processes.

WebViewer v11 introduces a range of UI enhancements that ensure compliance with the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines, including:

Users can seamlessly navigate WebViewer’s UI, including toolbars, modals, panels, and more using just the keyboard. Keyboard users are supported by a logical navigational structure, so that when they enter a modal or panel such as the print menu, they will return to the opening element (i.e., print button) when they exit the modal or panel.

Text and selected UI elements now meet strict contrast guidelines, improving readability for users with visual elements. This not only makes it easier for users with visual impairments but also reduces eye strain for users in low light environments.

WebViewer’s UI now fully supports screen readers, ensuring all visual elements are effectively communicated to those with assistive technologies. Contextual cues are also supported, such as the number of search results found.

Don’t wait to receive costly penalties to find out whether you’re compliant with the EAA. Start your accessibility journey today with WebViewer. 

To learn more about Web Accessibility features of WebViewer and the European Accessibility Act, get the eBook.