Here’s how the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and EN 301 549 relate to one another: the EAA is a law and EN 310 549 is a technical standard for accessibility.
Think of it this way: the law (EAA) tells you what to do (i.e., what’s required for compliance) and the standard (EN 301 549) tells you how to do it, but there’s a catch: EN 301 549 hasn’t been harmonized yet so that it creates a presumption of conformity with the EAA.
What this means is we’re eagerly awaiting on v4.1.1 of EN 301 549 to be released. This revision is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025 (which, yes, would be after the June 28, 2025 deadline).
In the meantime, the EN 301 549 standard is still a tremendous resource for meeting technical accessibility requirements under the EAA, but it’s just not completely aligned with the EAA as-is so you wouldn’t have a presumption of conformity if you were conformant with the current version of EN 301 549.
Regardless of the updated version, EN 301 549 is still a technical standard that tells you how to make ICT products and services accessible and, thus, meet technical requirements.
Here’s a home analogy to make this clearer:
- The EAA is like the building code that requires homes to be accessible
- EN 301 549 is like the detailed construction specifications that tell you exactly how wide to make doorways, how steep to make ramps, how tall to make the counters, etc.
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) and EN 301 549 are both documents that are foundational to Europe’s framework for digital (and physical) accessibility, but they serve different purposes:
The European Accessibility Act (EAA):
- Is a law (specifically an EU Directive) that sets accessibility requirements for products and services in the EU
- Focuses on making products and services accessible to people with disabilities
- Covers a wide range of digital products and services, including computers, smartphones, e-books, e-commerce, and banking services
- Has a compliance deadline of June 28, 2025
EN 301 549:
- Is a technical standard that provides detailed specifications for making ICT products and services accessible
- Originally created to support public procurement of accessible technology
- Provides specific technical requirements that help organizations comply with accessibility laws
- Incorporates the WCAG 2.1 AA standard
- Is being updated (planned version 4.1.1 in 2025) specifically to help organizations meet the EAA’s requirements
Key Takeaway
Although EN 301 549 isn’t perfectly aligned with the European Accessibility Act (yet), it already provides a lovely reference for working through the technical accessibility requirements in the EAA.
When it’s finally published, it will be aligned with the EAA and product manufacturers and service providers can use it as a how to guide for compliance with the technical side of the EAA.
Note that you can track the draft status of version 4.1.1 of EN 301 549 and possibly access an advance copy of the new version if you can get a login.
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