What is the EU Accessibility Act (EAA)?
The EAA is an EU Directive which aims to harmonise EU laws to make it easier for EU-based consumers with long term disabilities to access and use certain consumer products and services.
The EEA came into force in 2019 and each EU Member State had until 28 June 2022 to transpose its provisions into national law, however at the date of this article only some Member States have done so. The national laws are set to take effect from 28 June 2025.
Who in the travel sector is affected?
The EAA applies to the providers of certain services in the travel industry – including e-commerce websites and certain elements of passenger transport services (including websites, mobile apps, electronic ticketing, the delivery of transport service information and self-service ticketing terminals).
This will therefore catch most airlines, cruise companies, train companies, online travel agents and tour operators. Such businesses will have to follow specific rules to ensure that EU consumers with long term disabilities (i.e. people with long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments) can access information in the same way as everyone else.
As with many other EU Directives, it is irrelevant where the travel company providing the service is based; if the service is made available to EU-based consumers, the business will be caught.
What do companies in the travel sector need to do?
Travel companies caught by the EAA will need to do the following before 28 June 2025:
- Carry out an assessment of all services caught by the EAA (such as booking websites and apps) to determine which currently meet the requirements of the EAA. To the extent that any do not, then changes will need to be made to bring them into compliance.
For instance, on a website or mobile app, corrective changes could include ensuring that the information is presented using more than one sensory channel (e.g. reading out information on the screen) or avoiding using blinking or flashing content for passengers which may suffer from epilepsy. For hardware elements of devices (e.g., self-service terminals), it could ensuring that buttons used to make selections are large and do not require much force to operate.
Helpfully, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) sets out the relevant requirements for websites which will meet EU standards. Services which conform with existing EU harmonised standards like WCAG will be presumed to also conform with the requirements in the EAA.
- Publish an accessibility statement. The statement must set out the way in which the services currently conform with the relevant accessibility requirements under the EAA, must be made available to the public (e.g., published on the service provider’s website), and be easily accessible by people with disabilities.
- Inform the relevant EU Member State national authorities (in the Member States where the services are being provided to consumers) about which of their services are non-compliant and details of the corrective actions they intend to take. National authorities may request further information from companies.
Could some travel companies be exempt from the EAA?
A company may be able to bring itself within one of the EAA exemptions if it can demonstrate that:
- making significant changes to a product or service will result in the ‘fundamental alteration’ of the basic nature of that product or service; or
- it will face a ‘disproportionate burden’ (i.e. an additional excessive organisational or financial costs) if it tries to meet the EAA requirements. Any such burden should be balanced against the benefits that consumers with disabilities would gain if the changes were to be made by the company.
In order to rely on these exemptions, a company must conduct a self-assessment which sets out how they meet the relevant EEA exemption criteria (i.e. the legitimate reasons why making the changes will be burdensome). Lack of priority, time or knowledge will not be considered legitimate reasons.
The exemption assessment will have to be carried out again at least every five years, or once the relevant service is altered, or if a regulator requests another assessment.
Other exemptions under the EAA include:
- Micro enterprises – companies which employ fewer than 10 people and have annual turnover of no more than €2 million.
- Content (or information) which will not be archived and not updated or edited after 28 June 2025.
- Self-service terminals which are integrated in the service environment (e.g., a check in terminal which is integrated into the structure of a cruise ship).
What if you fail to comply with the EAA?
Businesses which fail to comply with the EAA provisions within the relevant deadlines could face large fines or be ordered to withdraw non-compliant services from the market and, in extreme cases, certain individuals within the company could be imprisoned. Each EU Member State will set out its own penalties for non-compliance.
Transition periods
Travel companies will need to ensure that the relevant services made available from 28 June 2025 comply with the requirements of the EAA. There are some limited exemptions which allow for a longer transition period until 28 June 2030, but these are very fact specific and unlikely to be available to most travel companies.
What steps should travel companies take now to prepare?
Travel companies could be caught by the provisions of the EAA and should therefore start looking at which Member State laws they need to be aware of so that they are able to fully comply with the relevant EU national laws. Companies should also consider whether they could fall within one of the exemptions and the actions they will need to carry out if they do.
Although the main laws are already in force, we expect the EU Commission to issue additional legislation which provides more guidance on some of the technical specifications for compliance in due course.
If you think your business may be affected by these new laws and you have any questions or would like further advice, then please contact us.
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