Accessibility Directive 2025: What does it mean for your digital presence?
As of 28 June 2025, the EU Accessibility Directive will come into force, which will affect many businesses and organisations. As a web agency, it is our responsibility to stay up to date and help our clients navigate these new requirements. Here's what you need to know about the Accessibility Directive and how it might affect your business.
What is the Accessibility Directive?
The Accessibility Directive is an EU law that aims to make products and services more accessible to people with disabilities. This covers everything from e-commerce and banking services to smart phones and e-books. The aim is to create a more inclusive digital environment where everyone can access and use digital services on equal terms.
Read more about the law here: www.riksdagen.se
Who is affected by the Directive?
The Directive will affect a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- E-commerce companies
- Banks and financial services
- Telecoms companies
- Computer and smart phone manufacturers
- Suppliers of e-books and tablets
- Transport companies offering digital services
What does this mean in practice?
To comply with the requirements of the Accessibility Directive, businesses and organisations need to review their digital products and services. This may involve:
- Making websites and apps navigable with screen readers
- Providing text descriptions of images and videos
- Ensuring that all text is legible and has good contrast
- Making it possible to control interfaces with keyboards
How can we help you?
As a web agency, we are well prepared for the coming changes. Our employee Johan has recently completed training on the new Accessibility Directive, allowing us to offer expertise and guidance on how to adapt your digital presence to meet the new requirements.
Benefits of increased accessibility
Aligning with the Accessibility Directive is not just about complying with the law. There are several benefits to making your digital presence more accessible:
- Wider audience: you reach more potential customers and users.
- Improved user experience: accessible websites are often more user-friendly for everyone.
- Better SEO: Many accessibility measures also improve your search engine optimisation.
- Strengthened brand: Shows that your company cares about inclusion and equality.
Next steps
Although 28 June 2025 may seem far away, it is wise to start preparing now. Here are some steps you can take:
- Conduct an accessibility analysis of your current digital presence.
- Identify areas that need improvement.
- Create an action plan to implement the necessary changes.
- Train your staff on the importance of digital accessibility.
There are different ways to test your website against the new directives. You can automatically test your website here wave.webaim.org. The advantage of an automatic result is that it is fast and gives you a good overview, but it is not completely reliable. You still have to make the changes yourself.
To get a complete overview, it's important to do it manually, going through page by page and looking at hierarchy, images, colours and much more.
As your partner in digital development, we are ready to help you throughout the process. Together, we can create a more accessible and inclusive digital world.
Want to know more about how the Accessibility Directive affects your organisation? Contact us today for a free consultation!
