Digital accessibility can be difficult to stay ahead of. The laws have been evolving and now the European Union (EU) has entered the arena with their own version of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
If your business sells products, services, and/or software to European consumers, this law will apply to you.
The good news:
- The EU enacted this legislation to make it easier for businesses to comply across its various member states.
- Just like the ADA, many EU member states have specified the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as their basis for measuring conformance.
The bad news:
- Each member country can define its regulations and its penalties. One infraction within the EU could accumulate fines from multiple countries.
Keep reading for a breakdown of how the Act works and what your business needs to prepare.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
In 2019, the EU formally adopted the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The primary goal is to create a common set of accessibility guidelines for EU member states and unify the diverging accessibility requirements in member countries. The EU member states had two years to translate the act into their national laws and four years to apply them. The deadline of June 28, 2025 is now looming.
The EAA covers a wide array of products and services, but for those that own and maintain digital platforms, the most applicable items are:
- Computers and operating systems
- Banking services and bill payments
- E-books
- Online video games
- Websites and mobile services, including e-commerce, bidding (auction) services, accommodations booking, online courses and training, and media streaming services
Who Needs to Comply?
The EAA requires that all products and services sold within the EU be accessible to people with disabilities. The EAA applies directly to public sector bodies, ensuring that government services are accessible. But it goes further as well. In short, private organizations that regularly conduct business with or provide services to public-facing government sites should also comply.
Examples of American-based businesses that would need to comply:
- Ecommerce platforms with customers who may reside in Europe. Ecommerce is typically worldwide, so this category is particularly important
- Companies that provide healthcare support via Telehealth services if offered to travelers from Europe. Drug manufacturers who offer products available to a European audience and are required to post treatment guidelines and side effects
- Hospitality platforms that attract European tourists. This includes hotels, cruise lines, tour guides and groups, and destinations such as theme parks and other amenities
- Universities and colleges who attract foreign students from Europe and elsewhere
- Banking and financial institutions who have European customers
There are limited exemptions. Micro-enterprises are exempt, and they are defined as small service providers with fewer than 10 employees and/or less than €2 million in annual turnover or annual balance sheet total.
What is required?
Information about the service
Service providers are required to explain how a service meets digital accessibility requirements. We recommend providing an accessibility statement that outlines the organization’s ongoing commitment to accessibility. It should include:
- A broad overview of the service in plain (non-technical) language
- Detailed guidelines and explanations on using the service
- An explanation of how the service aligns with the digital accessibility standards listed in Annex I of the European Accessibility Act
Compatibility and assistive technologies
Service providers must ensure compatibility with various assistive technologies that individuals with disabilities might use. This includes screen readers, alternative input devices, keyboard-only navigation, and other tools. This is no different than ADA compliance in the United States.
Accessibility of digital platforms
Websites, online applications, and mobile device-based services must be accessible. These platforms should be designed and developed in a way that makes them perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust (POUR) for users with disabilities. Again, this is no different than ADA compliance in the United States.
Accessible support services
Communication channels for support services related to the provided services must also be accessible. This includes help desks, customer support, training materials, self-serve complaint and problem reporting, user journey flows, and other resources. Individuals with disabilities should be able to seek accessible assistance and information.
What are the metrics for compliance?
The EAA is a directive, not a standard, which means it does not promote a specific accessibility standard. Each member country can define its regulations for standards and conformance and define their penalties for non-compliance. Each country in which your service is determined to be non-compliant can apply a fine, which means that one infraction could accumulate fines from multiple countries.
Just like the Americans with Disabilities Act, most EU member states are implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 AA as their standard, which is great news for organizations that already invest in accessibility conformance.
If a member country chooses to use the stricter EN 301 549, which still uses WCAG as its baseline, there are additional standards for PDF documents, the use of biometrics, and technology like kiosks and payment terminals. These standards go beyond the current guidelines for business in the United States.
Accessibility overlays (3rd Party Widgets)
It should be noted that the EAA specifically recommends against accessibility overlay products and services — a third-party service that promises to make a website accessible without any additional work. Oomph has said for a long time that plug-ins will not fix your accessibility problem, and the EAA agrees, stating:
“Claims that a website can be made fully compliant without manual intervention are not realistic, since no automated tool can cover all the WCAG 2.1 level A and AA criteria. It is even less realistic to expect to detect automatically the additional EN 301549 criteria.”
The goals for your business
North American organizations that implemented processes to address accessibility conformance are well-positioned to comply with the EAA by June 28, 2025. In most cases, those organizations will have to do very little to comply.
If your organization has waited to take accessibility seriously, the EAA is yet another reason to pursue conformance. The deadline is real, the fines could be significant, and the clock is ticking.
Need a consultation?
Oomph advises clients on accessibility conformance and best practices from health and wellness to higher education and government. If you have questions about how your business should prepare to comply, please reach out to our team of experts.
Additional Reading
Deque is a fantastic resource for well-researched and plain English articles about accessibility: European Accessibility Act (EAA): Top 20 Key Questions Answered. We suggest starting with that article and then exploring related articles for more.
THE CHALLENGE
The Challenge
Oncology nurses play a critical role in patient care, but navigating scattered, disconnected digital resources, research, and education made it harder for them to access the right information at the right time in the right place.
The Oncology Nursing Society (ONS), a professional organization with 200 chapters and over 35,000 members, maintained three separate websites for a variety of functions including clinical tools, research data, educational materials, and membership. The fragmented system made it difficult for:
- Nurses to quickly find information in fast-paced clinical settings.
- Healthcare institutions to manage memberships and resources for their staff.
- ONS administrators to maintain and update content efficiently.
ONS partnered with Oomph to unify these platforms into a single, intuitive digital hub, making essential oncology resources easier to find, use, and manage..
OUR APPROACH
Leveraging our deep expertise in healthcare content strategy and digital engineering, Oomph worked closely with ONS to streamline content, improve search functionality, and enhance the overall user experience.
Creating a Flexible, Scalable Content System
ONS had a vast library of interconnected clinical, educational, and research materials but lacked an effective way to organize them. We:
- Consolidated over 40 content types into just 23, ensuring a more structured, maintainable system.
- Built a flexible content model in Drupal that allows the ONS team to easily update and customize pages.
- Designed an intuitive content architecture that prioritizes clinical tools, continuing education, and membership resources.
Optimizing Interactive Oncology Tools
Two core resources—the Biomarker Database and Symptom Interventions tool—are essential to oncology nurses’ daily workflows. Oomph redesigned these tools to:
- Enhance filtering capabilities, enabling nurses to quickly access relevant biomarker and treatment information.
- Improve navigation and searchability, making evidence-based recommendations easier to find.
- Ensure mobile responsiveness, so nurses can access resources from any device, wherever they are.
Implementing Smarter Search for Faster Access
Nurses often rely on quick search queries to find patient care guidance. To enhance search accuracy and speed, Oomph replaced ONS’ legacy Solr search with Algolia’s instant search technology, delivering:
- Four custom search experiences, each tailored to different content types.
- Real-time, intent-based search results to match the needs of busy clinicians.
- Faster load times and improved accessibility across all search-enabled pages.
Aligning Design With the ONS Brand Evolution
ONS had recently completed a rebrand, but its digital presence hadn’t fully evolved to match. Oomph helped translate the new brand identity into a cohesive web experience by:
- Refining UI components to align with ONS’ refreshed visual identity.
- Experimenting with modern layout structures to create a clean, professional look.
- Ensuring accessibility compliance.
THE RESULTS
A Unified, High-Impact Digital Resource
The new ons.org is a centralized, efficient, and scalable platform that makes it easier for oncology nurses, institutions, and administrators to access and manage critical healthcare resources.
- One streamlined platform for nurses, institutions, and administrators.
- Optimized content structure that simplifies navigation and enhances usability.
- Advanced search functionality that delivers real-time, high-accuracy results.
- Scalable and flexible design that supports future content growth and evolving member needs.
For oncology nurses, this platform is more than just a website—it’s a trusted clinical resource that supports better patient care, continuing education, and professional growth.
Empowering Healthcare Organizations With Digital Solutions That Work
In healthcare, access to information can directly impact patient outcomes. If your digital platform is fragmented, slow, or difficult to maintain, let’s discuss.