The European Accessibility Act (EAA) and Language Services

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) was adopted in 2019 and came into full effect June 28, 2025. It is a groundbreaking directive aimed at ensuring that products and services in the European Union are accessible to people with disabilities. The directive will pass into the laws of all EU member states. Each country must decide how the law will be enforced.

We cannot fully explore the impact of the EAA as the directive is so wide-ranging. But it clearly has significant implications for language service providers (LSPs). As the demand for multilingual, accessible content increases, LSPs will play a pivotal role in ensuring that websites are not merely understandable, but that they are also compliant with the EAA.

What is the EAA and how will it impact language services?

What Is the European Accessibility Act?

The EAA is an EU directive that aims to remove barriers to accessing key products and services for those with disabilities. It covers:

• Computers and operating systems
• ATMs, ticketing, and check-in machines
• Smartphones
• TV and digital television services equipment
• e-books
• Telecommunication services
• Audio-visual media services 
• Websites and mobile apps
• Electronic tickets & Digital products
• All sources of information for transport services
• Consumer banking services
• e-commerce service
• Tourism-related services
• Emergency call services

EAA Exemptions

There are circumstances under which entities would be exempted from compliance with the EAA:

1. The EAA does not apply to microenterprises. These are defined as those that employ less than 10 people and have less than EUR 2 million in revenue or on their balance sheet.
2. An organization may qualify for a disproportionate burden exemption if it can show that the cost of making its products or services accessible significantly exceeds the expected benefits of improved accessibility for persons with disabilities. However, this would not be a complete exemption. Organisations must undertake a proportionate burden of compliance.
3. Media content and office file formats that were published before June 28, 2025 are exempt from compliance, as is archived content. But such content must remain unchanged or unedited after the compliance date.

How will the EAA impact the language industry?

LSPs will play an important role in ensuring that content is accessible across multiple languages. Providers will need to produce accessible content, subtitles and audio descriptions for websites, e-commerce platforms, audio-visual media and any media covered by the EAA. 

Providers offering localization services now need to be mindful of accessibility standards. They must adopt suitably inclusive design practices such as ensuring compatibility with assistive technology in order to avoid penalties.

It is likely that the demand for multilingual content will grow, creating exciting opportunities for LSPs. But providers will now need to demonstrate an understanding of the EAA together with an ability to produce accessible solutions. There are additional burdens on translators, and it is possible that they will be driving forces for technological advancements in areas such as automated accessibility audits, speech recognition and machine translation.

How will LSPs enable organisations to comply with the EAA?

LSPs will be involved in many aspects of ensuring that organisations are and remain compliant with the EAA. Certainly, digital content and websites stand out as critical areas, requiring comprehensive adaptations to meet accessibility standards.

Website Accessibility Requirements

To comply with the European Accessibility Act, websites and mobile applications must be:

Perceivable: Content must be presented in ways users can perceive (e.g., alt text for images, audio descriptions).

Operable: Navigation must be possible via a keyboard or assistive tech.

Understandable: Text must be readable and comprehensible.

Robust: Content must be compatible with a wide range of technologies, including screen readers.

These requirements align with the four principles of WCAG (POUR) and are legally binding for any business offering services in the EU.

Relevance to translators

1. Multilingual accessibility

Translators must ensure that accessibility features (like alt text, captions, audio descriptions, error messages) are accurately and clearly translated across languages, keeping usability consistent for all users.

2. Plain Language and clarity

The EAA emphasizes clarity and simplicity. Translators will need to adapt complex language into plain, readable forms and use terminology that matches cognitive and linguistic accessibility standards.

3. Localization with accessibility in mind

Localization professionals must ensure that translated interfaces maintain the correct reading direction. They should create content that is culturally relevant without compromising accessibility. Date formats, currency, and legal disclaimers must be appropriately rendered.

4.  Alt Text and Audio Description Translation

Alt texts and video/audio descriptions must be both linguistically accurate and contextually meaningful for users, helping users with visual impairments to better understand the content.

5. Navigation and structure

When localizing, specialists should adapt website menus, page structures and buttons to the target languages while maintaining consistency and enabling accessibility for assistive technologies.

6. Consistency

The use of consistent terminology is now more important than ever. Translation specialists should ensure consistent terminology is used throughout a website to prevent confusion and to enhance usability for those who rely on assistive technology such as text-to-speech technology.

New opportunities for translators

There is no doubt that the European Accessibility Act presents new challenges for translators, but it is also opening up new opportunities. The EAA demands the creation of content and written material that did not previously exist:

• Accessibility statements will be needed and will require translation. LSPs can assist in the provision of clear and user-friendly statements outlining the app or website’s compliance.
• Compliance documentation that identifies accessibility features will require accurate translation.
• Labels and instructions for a variety of equipment and devices such as ATMs should be accessible and will require accessible translations. Many such translations will need to be adapted to Braille or audio instructions. 

A new world for translators

The European Accessibility Act is a game-changer in digital inclusion, and translators will be central to its success. As businesses race to comply, the demand for accessibility-aware translators will surely increase. Accessibility isn’t merely a technical issue; it’s a linguistic and human rights one that places new demands on LSPs but that also delivers new opportunities.