Today June 28, 2025 It is a historical date: after the transition time has finished, all sites the websites and small and medium -sized European enterprises will have to make their digital services accessible, compulsorily adapting to theAccessibility Actthe European Directive on digital accessibility.
According to what reported by the Council of the European Unionin 2023 the 27% of the population of the EU over 16 he had some form of disability. And based on Eurostat estimatesthis percentage corresponds to 101 million peopleor One in four adults in the EU.
And of course, the probability of having disability grows over the years.
In addition to a potential loss of customers, the non -accessibility of websites and web services therefore represents a serious lack in terms of ethical and inclusiveness.
What the European directive ‘Accessibility Act’ says and who must adapt
As can be read on the European Commission website, the‘Accessibility Act’ It is a directive that aims to improve the functioning of the internal market for accessible products and services, removing the obstacles created by divergent regulations in the Member States.
The ultimate goal make digital services accessible to everyoneincluding people with disabilities and other forms of disadvantage.
The Commission consulted the interested parties and experts on accessibility and took into account the obligations deriving from the United Nations Convention on people with disabilities
A very important rule that, according to the same commission, will bring advantages to the same companies.
Companies will take advantage of:
But above all, digital services become truly inclusive (if the application is really in a carpet as the standard provides)
People with disabilities and the elderly will take advantage of:
THE services and products to which the directive applies They are really many:
At the moment, the micro -enterprise (i.e. companies with less than 10 employees and annual turnover of less than 2 million euros) they are exemptbut this exemption could be subject to future legislative reviews
The SME (i.e. companies with less than 250 employees and annual turnover of less than 50 million euros) with disproportionate burdenInstead they can obtain derogations, but only if they show that the adjustment would entail a excessive cost compared to the benefits.
What does it mean to make a website or digital application accessible
Digital accessibility imposes a series of measures, but the tools with which this makes itself possible are potentially many. With the Determination n. 117/2022 of 26 April 2022theAgency for digital Italy (Agid) had in fact published some guidelinesprecisely by virtue of the multiple possibilities to adapt to the norm.
Just as the most general did World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), with Web Content Accessibility Guidelinesaccording to which a website or digital service must be:
If all this really makes the world of the web really more inclusive is a question that can only be answered over time.
