We are moving into a new era of accessibility, when online stores and eBooks that talk, tablets that connect wirelessly to hearing aids, and controlling your laptop with your voice are ubiquitous. And while this may still seem futuristic to some businesses, features like this will soon be a legal requirement under the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
Coming into effect across the EU from 28 June 2025, the regulation has prompted many businesses to rethink their accessibility policies and initiatives. However, while there has been a noticeable increase in demand for accessibility audits and assessments in light of this upcoming legislation, compliance requires more than one-off evaluations and tick-box exercises. True, long-term success depends on embedding accessibility into everyday practices and workflows and putting it front and centre.
This means equipping teams with the right training, building accessibility into the design and development process, and fostering a culture that prioritises inclusive design from the outset, as Léonie Watson, Co-Founder at Tetralogical explains.
Sustainable Accessibility
Around 1.3 billion people, or 1 in 6 (16% of the world population) experience significant disability. While regulation is without doubt an important step in raising awareness and demanding change, the truth is that supporting people with disabilities enables businesses to reach a wider audience, while at the same time driving innovation, and differentiating themselves in an increasingly accessibility-conscious market.
Global accessibility legislation has been in place for decades in different countries, with varying degrees of success. The introduction of the EAA, however, marks a new era of commitment to change. Affecting not only companies based within the EU but also any global businesses selling to EU citizens, the EAA is not just setting down standards for accessibility. This two part regulation demands both conformity to harmonised web content accessibility guidelines and, notably, EN 17161, Design for All, which describes the policies and procedures organisations need to adopt throughout the design and development process.
While many organisations are prioritising their focus on the first requirement, it is the Design for All aspect of the regulation that should drive systemic change. By encouraging organisations to embed accessibility within their DNA, the EAA should take businesses far closer to the goal of sustainable accessibility that ensures products and services are designed to meet the needs of everyone.
Top to Bottom Commitment
For many organisations, embedding accessibility throughout the business will require significant change. While theoretically appealing, simply adding a dedicated accessibility team, for example, may not work. When every new product and service has to be checked before launch, it is inevitable that the team – which is always too small – becomes a bottleneck. Deadlines are missed, morale drops and the value of delivering accessibility to the business gets completely lost.
Furthermore, this approach risks organisations only considering accessibility at product or service launch – but making sure a web site is accessible from day one of product launch is not job done. The web site is continually changing and evolving, and accessibility has to be considered at every stage. Retrofitting after the fact is not only expensive and time consuming; it is rarely as good as design embedded from the beginning.
Long term change requires a top-down approach. Unless individuals at the highest levels of the company decide to take accessibility seriously, there will be no budget, no clarity of responsibility and no mandate to consider products and services with accessibility in mind.
Embedding Change
With C-Suite level buy in, the culture of sustainable accessibility will cascade throughout the business. Department heads will gain the time, space and budget to embed accessibility within their areas of responsibility. They will need training to understand their legal compliance obligations and to identify the business benefits. This understanding and commitment will then filter down through teams, to the people building and designing web sites and apps, who will need to understand how to code accessibly, how to use the right colour palette, for example.
Again, this training is not a one-off push. People leave the business and expertise is lost. Accessibility should be included within the employee onboarding process to ensure everyone from the most senior executive to the newest recruit enjoys the shared vision. Companies need knowledge hubs and clearly documented processes. Accessibility must be core to planning, requirements, design and build. From user researchers to interaction designers, content writers, designers, developers, QA testers, product testers, accessibility must be a core part of the job description and performance KPIs, not an add on.
When every individual is educated and understands the company’s commitment to accessibility, has clearly defined responsibilities and budget, the entire culture changes. Accessibility becomes front of mind not simply to achieve compliance to new regulations such as the EAA but as an opportunity to drive innovation to achieve future business success.
Normalising Accessibility
Change is happening. Growing numbers of organisations recognise that improving accessibility enhances reputation, builds better products and services, generates customer loyalty and, as a result, boosts revenue. But, right now, there are not enough people with the knowledge and understanding required to deliver this next era of accessibility. Accessibility needs to be driven by society at large, not left to a dedicated pool of champions.
For those businesses frustrated by the current lack of staff with the skills, awareness and understanding required to achieve accessible products and services by default, investment in training and education will deliver enormous value. It is, however, now essential to start demanding more input from schools and colleges. Why do computer science degrees fail to focus on accessible coding by default or having accessibility woven in?
Indeed, why are our children – who learn to use technology from an incredibly young age – not automatically taught about, for example, how a blind person uses an iPad or why a neurodivergent individual may find animations distracting to the point where they cannot use the service? Building on this understanding from an early age will transform understanding of accessibility throughout society at large, ensure every business has a workforce with awareness and understanding and, as a result, finally normalise accessibility.