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The Accessibility Strengthening Act is a central building block for promoting accessibility in our digital society. The regulatory framework requires that all companies and the public sector make their digital offerings accessible to everyone. This guide explains how the act is created, who it affects and how companies should prepare. The most important elements of the law are the websites, PDF documents and online shops that must comply with the act by 2025.
The Accessibility Strengthening Act is a legal regulation that aims to significantly increase the accessibility of products and services. It supplements the Equality for People with Disabilities Act and ensures that digital offers and services can be used by everyone, regardless of their physical or mental abilities.
The act regulates in detail how products and services, in particular digital offers, must be made accessible. This concerns, among other things, websites, mobile applications, banking services, e-commerce platforms and many other digital contents. The aim is to enable people with disabilities to participate equally in society and in economic life.
Accessibility ensures that everyone, regardless of their abilities, has equal access to information, services and products. In a world with a digital focus, this right also requires that websites, mobile apps and everything else become accessible. This not only affects people with visual or hearing impairments, but also those with cognitive limitations.
Equal participation is only possible if barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating in social and economic life are removed. This is precisely where the BFSG comes in, by obliging companies and public institutions to design their digital offerings in such a way that they can be used by everyone.
There are far-reaching implications for various stakeholders:
All companies and organisations that offer products and services on the European market are obliged to implement the act. This particularly affects website operators, mobile app developers and online service providers, who must ensure that their offerings meet the requirements.
Find out more on the official government website about the Accessibility Strengthening Act!
One of the key requirements concerns the barrier-free accessibility of websites. From 2025, all new and existing websites must comply with the legal requirements. This means that they must be designed in accordance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which define international standards for barrier-free web content. The requirements of WCAG 2.1 must be met, which, among other things, regulate the perceptibility, operability and comprehensibility of web content.
In addition to web pages, PDF documents that are made available online must also meet the requirements of the act. These must be designed in such a way that they can be read by screen readers, for example, and are thus accessible to people with visual impairments.
The BFSG is particularly relevant for online shops. From 2025, these must be designed in such a way that they meet the accessibility requirements. This applies to both the navigation and the ordering process, product descriptions and payment options. Online shop operators should take timely measures to design their offers in accordance with the legal requirements.
Most of the provisions of the Accessibility Strengthening Act come into force on 28 June 2025. Companies and public institutions should start adapting their digital offerings to the new requirements at an early stage in order to comply with legal obligations and ensure access for all users.
The Accessibility Strengthening Act places high demands on the barrier-free access of digital offers. Companies that address the requirements at an early stage have the opportunity not only to comply with legal obligations, but also to tap into new target groups and increase customer satisfaction. Barrier-free design is not only a legal requirement, but also offers economic advantages. Companies that invest in accessibility can benefit in the long term from greater reach and positive brand perception.
Do you want to spruce up your website or online shop? We can help you with that. Just get in touch.
Olga Fedukov completed her studies in Media Management at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg. In eology's marketing team, she is responsible for the comprehensive promotion of the agency across various channels. Furthermore, she takes charge of planning and coordinating the content section on the website as well as eology's webinars.
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