The European Accessibility Act explained
The scope, deadline, and costs.
The EAA requires products and services sold in the EU to be accessible, and it treats language as part of access. Where the directive requires information to be given to the person using the product, that information has to be in the language of the member state where the product is sold. The EAA covers a wide range of products and services including computer hardware and operating systems, self-service terminals, phones and routers, smart TVs and set-top boxes, e-readers, and on the service side banking, e-commerce, travel, telecom, audiovisual media and e-books.
In force since 28 June 2025. Enforcement notices are already being issued, and the first lawsuits are starting to emerge.
Penalties are set nationally and reach up to EUR 100,000 or 4% of revenue, with published figures running from roughly EUR 60,000 in Ireland to roughly EUR 900,000 in Sweden. The harder cost is commercial: a service you cannot sell in a member state, a procurement round you quietly fail, and the audience you never reach. And the obligation renews with every release.
What are the language requirements under EAA?
Product instructions and safety information
Instructions, warnings and safety information must be supplied in a language easily understood by consumers in each member state where the product is sold, as that member state determines. A mistranslated warning is a product-safety problem before it is a compliance problem. (Art. 7(7))
Manufacturer and importer contact details
Name, registered trade name and address have to be given in a language easily understood by end users and by market surveillance authorities. Importers carry the same duty, and distributors have to verify it before making the product available. (Art. 9(5), Art. 10(2))
Access services
SDH subtitles, closed captions, audio description and spoken subtitles have to be transmitted in full, synchronised, and under the user's control. The directive governs how they are delivered. Which languages they exist in is decided by the markets you serve.
Your accessibility statement and support content
Annex V requires information explaining how the service meets the accessibility requirements, in general terms and conditions or an equivalent document. Help desks, call centres, technical support and training have the same reach: accessibility information through accessible modes of communication, in the language the person is speaking.
Accessible formats, from websites to e-books
Digital content has to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, and supplied in text formats that can generate alternative assistive formats. A translated manual shipped as a scanned PDF fails even when the translation is flawless.
One Secure Enterprise-grade Multilingual AI Platform combined with Expert Services
Centralized and streamlined workflows powered by AI, agentic automation, and human experts worldwide. Reduce the cost and complexity of meeting EAA requirements today and manage language requirements at scale for the long term.
Ship product instructions to accessibility statement in every market, faster
Multilingual AI models customized to your brand voice translate accurately and at speed across all EU languages, with human review and production and DTP services where you need them. With the largest ecosystem of 100+ pre-built connectors, LILT plugs into the CMS, PIM, commerce and support tools your content already lives in and seamlessly translate.
Multilingual multimedia support in one platform
Delivers SDH subtitling, captioning, dubbing and voiceover in a single connected workflow, with a native video timeline in the editor and automated QA enforcing timing, reading speed and readability before anything is finalised.
Spend on human review where the risk actually is
A help-centre article and a safety instruction do not carry the same exposure, so they should not cost the same. You set the tiers: AI-only or agent-verified for low stakes content, human expert-verified for high-stakes content like product instructions, safety information, and your accessibility statement.
Audit-ready compliance
End-to-end governance gives granular visibility into every language version, stamped with who approved it and when, which is also the evidence base for the five-year retention the directive expects. An audit trail you can hand to a regulator or your general counsel.
Spend less, while volume grows
Our adaptive AI compounds in quality. Every verifier edit retrains your custom AI model in real time. That means the terminology that took three rounds to settle with other vendors is applied automatically the next time. Each project needs less review than the last, and costs less than the last.
Run one operation, not multiple vendors
A captioning house, a translation agency, a translation platform: every handoff loses context. With LILT you get one unified, governed system: models, workflows, agentic and human expert verification, connectors, analytics, all improving your operational efficiency.
Support that covers you around the clock
Round-the-clock coverage across regions and time zones, with a dedicated support team that knows your terminology and your workflows and tailors them to meet your evolving compliance needs. Reachable by Slack, email, or phone to support you right away, not the next business day.
One platform, not a patchwork
Multi-media access services at scale
Quality control
Keeping up with change
Risk-tiering
Audit trail
Cost over time
Frequently asked questions
Who does the European Accessibility Act apply to?
What does the EAA require in every language?
When did the European Accessibility Act take effect?
What are the penalties for failing the EAA?
Does the EAA require translation, or only accessibility?
Is an accessibility audit enough to comply?
What is the CEFR B2 plain-language requirement?
Does the EAA apply to companies based outside the EU?
EAA Requirements At A Glance
| Document / content | Translation required by EAA? | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Product instructions / user instructions | YES | Explicit language-of-market requirement |
Safety information / warnings | YES | Explicit language-of-market requirement |
Manufacturer contact details | YES, language requirement | Must be in a language easily understood by end users and authorities |
Importer contact details | YES, language requirement | Must be in a language easily understood by end users and authorities |
EU Declaration of Conformity | Usually needs translation, but not specifically because of the EAA | The EAA requires the declaration, while the translation obligation comes from the wider EU product-conformity framework and relevant product legislation. |
Accessibility statement / compliance information | Must exist and be accessible. NOT explicitly "translated into every language served" by the EAA | Annex V requires information explaining how the service meets accessibility requirements in the general terms and conditions or an equivalent document. |
General Terms and Conditions | Not generally required to be translated by the EAA itself | The accessibility information must be included there or in an equivalent document. Other EU and national consumer laws may impose language rules. |
Website | Must be accessible, not automatically translated because of the EAA | The EAA requires perceivable, operable, understandable and robust digital information, which is different from a blanket translation obligation. |
Help centre / technical support content | Accessibility requirement, not blanket translation requirement | Support must provide accessibility information using accessible communication modes. |
Captions / SDH subtitles | Accessibility requirement, not necessarily translation into every language | The EAA requires accessibility components to be properly transmitted, synchronised and user-controllable. |
Audio description / spoken subtitles | Accessibility requirement, not necessarily translation into every language | Accessibility service requirement, but not a translation mandate. |
Alt text / image descriptions | Accessible format and content requirement | Accessibility service requirement, but not a translation mandate. |
E-books | Must meet accessibility requirements | Accessibility service requirement, but not a translation mandate. |