What changes from June 2025
From June 2025, new EAA requirements related to the accessibility of digital services come into force. In short, the European Accessibility Act says more clearly that digital services must be understandable, operable and accessible to people with different needs. Not just those who can see and hear well and use a mouse.
If you work in a municipality, school, library, museum or healthcare organisation, this change is not just a legal line in a document. It affects everyday things: whether a resident can book an appointment by phone using a screen reader, whether parents can complete an application on the school website without guesswork, or whether a senior can find the opening hours without zooming in to the maximum.
In the public sector, accessibility is long no longer a new topic. But in practice we still see the same picture: PDF files that cannot be read aloud, menus you cannot reach with a keyboard, forms without clear field labels, contrast problems, videos without subtitles. As long as everything works “for me on my computer”, it seems there is no problem. For the user, the situation is often very different.
What the European Accessibility Act means for organisations
The key thing to understand is this: website accessibility is not an extra layer you add at the end. It must be built into the website structure, content and day-to-day maintenance from the start. In other words, it is not enough to “sort it out” once and forget about it.
For organisations, this means three very practical tasks. First — assess what is currently getting in the way of using the website. Second — fix the system itself, the design and the content templates. Third — make sure that new content does not break what has already been fixed.
For example, a common problem on a school website is weekly menus or timetables uploaded as images. For a person using a screen reader, such a file often means a blank space. In a library, the problem may be an events calendar where the dates are shown only by colour. In a municipality, application forms that can only be filled in with a mouse. In a museum, a ticket-purchase flow where not all steps can be completed with a keyboard.
Where things most often break down on real websites
When reviewing public-sector websites in the EU, the same very practical mistakes recur. They often arise not from ill intent, but from habit: “we have always done it like this”, “this is faster”, “it is only one file”. Unfortunately, the user does not care why it does not work. They care that it does not work.
- Poor heading structure. The page looks nice, but the screen reader cannot find a logical sequence of information.
- Too little contrast. Light grey text on a white background may look subtle, but it is hard to read.
- Links without clear names. Five “Click here” buttons on one page tell you nothing.
- Forms without error explanations. A person clicks “Send”, and the system only turns red. What the problem is — unclear.
- Documents that cannot be read with assistive technologies. This happens especially often with scanned PDFs.
- Content controlled only by mouse. If you cannot move through the menu or buttons with the Tab key, the page becomes inaccessible to some users.
- Videos without subtitles or text alternatives. This is a barrier not only for deaf users, but also for those watching without sound.
This is where true WCAG implementation begins. Not with a statement at the bottom of the page, but with concrete fixes that let a person complete an action without outside help.
WCAG is not just a technical checklist
Some people still see accessibility as an IT department matter. Experience shows otherwise. If a content editor uploads an image without a description, if an administrator creates a form without field labels, if a communications specialist publishes important information only as a poster — the problem is not in the code, but in the process.
That is why WCAG implementation should involve not only the website developers. It is worth involving those who upload news, documents, events, competitions, timetables or reports every day. Otherwise, the website may be fixed after launch, but a month later it is full of barriers again.
A good example is a municipality news section. If the editor has clear content fields, can add alternative text to an image, mark table headings and upload a readable document, accessibility becomes part of daily work. If they only have one large “upload file” field, problems are almost guaranteed.
Does this apply only to websites?
No. The European Accessibility Act covers a broader field of digital services. But for many organisations, the first and most visible point is the website itself. That is where the resident looks for information, registers, fills in forms, reads documents and views services.
For that reason, accessibility for people with disabilities should not be understood only as a “special mode” for a few users. Clear structure, understandable buttons, sufficient contrast, orderly forms and readable documents help a much wider audience: senior citizens, people after eye surgery, mobile users, parents browsing with one hand, or simply those who are tired after a long working day.
What sanctions are possible
Here it is worth speaking without drama, but also without illusions. If requirements apply, they cannot be ignored simply because “so far nobody has complained”. Supervisory authorities may assess compliance, require breaches to be corrected, and deal with complaints. Depending on the applicable regulation and the specific situation, sanctions may also be предусмотрены.
But in practice, for many organisations the biggest problem is not even fines. Greater damage arises when a resident cannot access a service, when staff have to handle manually what should have happened online, or when the organisation publicly looks unprepared to treat all people equally. One broken registration page can cause more chaos than a long legal title.
In other words, the risk is twofold: legal and reputational. And there is a third one — internal. When the website is not accessible, staff spend more time explaining things by phone, sending files by e-mail and dealing with “can we help you manually?” situations.
How to prepare without panic
The worst thing you can do now is wait until the last week before the deadline. Accessibility does not get fixed with one button. You need to review the structure, design choices, content types, documents and real usage scenarios.
1. Review the current website
The first step is simple: stop guessing. You need to see clearly where the website is failing. Check the main pages, menu, search, forms, documents section, news, contacts and registration flow. It is especially important to assess not only the home page, but also deeper templates, because that is often where the problems are hidden.
2. Set priorities
Not everything has to be fixed at once. Start with what is directly linked to accessing services: registrations, application forms, contacts, opening hours, service descriptions, key documents. If a person cannot complete the main action, decorative details no longer matter.
3. Review the content creation process
A common mistake is to fix the website but leave the old content-upload habit in place. If staff continue to upload text as an image, use unclear links or attach scanned documents, the problem will come back very quickly. Editors need clear rules: how to write headings, how to describe images, how to present tables, how to prepare documents.
4. Check the most important documents
In the public sector, documents make up a large part of the website. Regulations, applications, tender conditions, menus, reports, meeting materials. If these files are not accessible, a tidy page design does little to help. Sometimes the better approach is to present the key information as normal page text as well, not only as an attached file.
5. Test like real users
Automated checking tools alone will not show everything. Try using the website with a keyboard, increase the text size, turn off the mouse, view the page on a phone, and listen to how a screen reader reads the information. Then it becomes very clear very quickly whether the website merely looks tidy or is actually usable.
What is worth doing before June
If the organisation is planning a new website, now is a good time to include accessibility from the very beginning. That is easier than fixing menu logic, buttons, content templates and document sections after launch. If the website is already live, at least draw up a clear action plan: what is checked, what is fixed first, who is responsible for content, and how new uploads will be checked.
In practice, the organisations that gain most are those that treat accessibility not as a one-off task, but as a normal part of digital hygiene. Like backups. Like clear contact details. Like orderly documents. Not very romantic, but very necessary.
In closing
EAA requirements are not just a formality you have to “have”. They remind us of a simple thing: public services must be accessible to everyone, not only to those who find browsing the internet easy and free of obstacles.
If your website has forms, documents, registrations or important information today, it is worth checking now whether a person can use all of it without extra help. Because true website accessibility starts not with ticks in a checklist, but with a very concrete question: can the resident do what they came here to do?