European Accessibility Act (EAA) compliance can be siloed into two parts:
- Obligations – the administrative side
- Requirements – the technical accessibility side
We’re working on an EAA app for the obligations side, but we already have a way to systematically track and manage the technical accessibility requirements across their digital assets.
Our Accessibility Tracker platform provides the framework to organize, prioritize, and monitor your progress toward EAA compliance using the WCAG standards as your practical reference. You can use WCAG 2.1 AA or WCAG 2.2 AA.
| Key Point | What It Means for You |
|---|---|
| EAA Digital Requirements | The EAA’s Annex 1 technical requirements directly reference making digital content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust — the exact principles underlying WCAG standards. |
| WCAG as Your Guide | While the EAA doesn’t formally incorporate WCAG, you can map WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria to EAA requirements for practical implementation. |
| Tracker’s Audit-Based Approach | Upload your WCAG audit report to track all accessibility issues (most platforms are scan-based and only monitor scan results) |
| User Impact Prioritization | Prioritize fixes by remediating issues that have the most overall user impact first. You can note this approach in documentation. |
| Team Assignment System | Assign specific issues to developers, designers, or content editors to work simultaneously and complete your project faster. |
| Progress Documentation | Generate monthly reports showing your EAA compliance journey with validated fixes and completion percentages. |
Table of Contents
Connecting EAA Requirements to WCAG Standards
The EAA’s Annex 1 technical requirements map directly to WCAG principles. When the EAA states that websites and mobile applications must be made “perceivable, operable, understandable and robust,” it’s using the exact principles that organizes WCAG success criteria.
This alignment makes WCAG your practical roadmap for EAA compliance. Every WCAG success criterion addresses specific ways to meet these four principles. For instance, when Annex 1 requires “sufficient contrast,” WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.3 provides the exact contrast ratios you need.
Accessibility Tracker capitalizes on this connection by organizing your accessibility work around WCAG audit results. When you upload your audit report, you’re tracking issues that directly relate to EAA requirements.
Managing Your EAA Digital Asset Compliance
Your digital assets under the EAA include websites, mobile applications, e-commerce services, e-books, and software. Each asset type needs systematic tracking to ensure compliance by June 28, 2025.
Start by getting WCAG audits for each digital asset. These audits identify the specific accessibility barriers that need fixing to meet EAA requirements. Upload each audit spreadsheet to Accessibility Tracker to create separate projects for each asset.
The platform extracts every issue, recommendation, and technical detail from your audit reports. You now have a centralized view of all accessibility gaps across your digital portfolio. The dashboard shows total issues, completion rates, and progress metrics for each asset.
Prioritizing EAA Compliance Work
Not all accessibility issues carry equal weight for EAA compliance. Accessibility Tracker provides two prioritization formulas to organize your remediation work:
The risk factor formula analyzes which WCAG issues appear most frequently in accessibility litigation. Since the EAA creates enforceable requirements, addressing high-risk issues protects your organization from potential compliance actions.
The user impact formula scores issues based on how severely they block access for users with disabilities. This aligns with the EAA’s fundamental goal of ensuring equal access to products and services.
Filter your issues by WCAG success criterion to see patterns across assets. If multiple websites show keyboard navigation problems, you know to implement organization-wide keyboard accessibility standards.
Tracking Team Progress
EAA compliance requires coordination across development, design, and content teams. Accessibility Tracker’s assignment system ensures every issue has a clear owner.
Developers handle code-related issues like ARIA implementation and keyboard navigation. Designers address color contrast and visual indicators. Content editors fix missing alternative text and caption problems.
Each team member can filter to see only their assigned issues. The status tracking shows whether issues are not started, in progress, completed, or validated. This granular tracking prevents issues from falling through cracks as you approach the EAA deadline.
The comment log on each issue maintains a history of implementation notes, questions, and validation feedback. When an auditor validates a fix, that confirmation stays attached to the issue for compliance documentation.
Using AI to Accelerate EAA Remediation
Accessibility Tracker includes five AI tools to help teams understand and fix WCAG issues that relate to EAA requirements:
- Simplify and Explain translates technical WCAG language into plain explanations
- Detailed Technical Answer provides code examples for implementing fixes
- Alternative Approaches shows different ways to meet success criteria
- WCAG Standards explains why each requirement matters
- Custom Analysis answers specific questions about your implementation
These tools are pre-loaded with your audit data, so AI understands the exact context of each issue. This speeds remediation by reducing research time and technical support needs.
Documenting EAA Compliance
The EAA requires organizations to maintain documentation showing their accessibility efforts. Accessibility Tracker automatically generates progress reports that demonstrate your compliance work.
Monthly reports show issues fixed, validated, and remaining. The reports break down progress by WCAG principle, showing how you’re addressing perceivability, operability, understandability, and robustness requirements.
Export these reports for compliance officers, legal teams, or regulatory authorities. The documentation proves your systematic approach to meeting EAA requirements before the deadline.
Managing Multiple Digital Assets
Most organizations have multiple digital assets requiring EAA compliance. Accessibility Tracker’s project overview shows aggregate metrics across all your websites, apps, and services.
See which assets need the most work. Allocate resources based on issue counts and complexity. Track whether your organization is on pace to meet the June 2025 deadline across all digital properties.
The platform scales from single websites to entire digital portfolios. Add projects as you audit new assets. The dashboard maintains visibility across your complete EAA compliance program.
Insights
- The EAA’s digital accessibility requirements align directly with WCAG’s four principles, making WCAG audits your practical starting point for compliance tracking
- Accessibility Tracker transforms static audit spreadsheets into dynamic project management workflows that track every issue through remediation and validation
- Prioritization formulas help you address high-risk issues first while team assignment features enable parallel work across development, design, and content teams
- Monthly progress reports create the documentation trail needed to demonstrate EAA compliance efforts to regulatory authorities
- Managing multiple digital assets becomes systematic when you can see aggregate progress and resource needs across your entire portfolio
FAQ
How does WCAG relate to EAA compliance for digital assets?
The EAA’s Annex 1 explicitly requires digital content to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust—the four principles that organize WCAG. While the EAA doesn’t formally incorporate WCAG, these standards provide the practical framework for meeting EAA technical requirements. A WCAG 2.1 AA audit identifies the specific issues you need to fix for EAA compliance.
Can Accessibility Tracker manage EAA compliance for non-web digital assets?
Yes. While WCAG was created for web content, it applies to most digital assets covered by the EAA including native mobile apps, software, and e-books. Where WCAG success criteria don’t perfectly fit non-web contexts, you can still track issues using the underlying principles. The platform works with any digital asset accessibility audit report in Excel spreadsheet format.
Does fixing all WCAG 2.1 AA issues ensure EAA compliance?
Meeting WCAG 2.1 AA provides strong alignment with EAA technical digital accessibility requirements, but the EAA also includes specific provisions that may go beyond or differ from WCAG. Full WCAG conformance is an excellent foundation, but review the EAA’s Annex 1 requirements to ensure complete compliance. Remember that the EAA also covers physical accessibility aspects not addressed by WCAG.
Does the Tracker Platform Have AI to Help with Fixes?
Yes, Accessibility Tracker has AI inside the dashboard that will help you with the exact accessibility issues in your audit report. This is because you upload your audit report to Tracker. Now your team has AI assistance that already has context — no need to prompt ChatGPT or copy and paste issues.
Get Started
You can get started with a free plan at AccessibilityTracker.com.
