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Find out about the Act and its impact on products and services provided to consumers in the EU, including by businesses and public bodies in the UK.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA), approved in 2019, will come into effect on 28 June 2025. It applies to any organisation that provides products and services to consumers in the EU, including businesses and public bodies in the UK.
The Act mandates that a range of products and services including websites and mobile apps, comply with accessibility requirements for people with disabilities.
The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, and the European Accessibility Act 2025, are held to the same standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 AA (WCAG), and in the UK this is also underpinned by the Equality Act 2010.
Who does the EAA apply to?
The EAA has a focus on any UCL services that are being paid for by people that are only accessing those services from the European Union.
The Digital Accessibility team will be in touch with UCL online courses who fall under scope, however, if you are concerned, please contact us as soon as possible.
What do you need to do if you’re in scope?
Start with an accessibility review of your content, if your content belongs on Moodle, you can use the UCL Moodle Ally reports which highlight the most frequent accessibility issues found in courses across the breadth of each department and faculty on a termly basis, as well as at the start of the academic year.
Use tools like the Microsoft Accessibility Checker to fix content in Word, PowerPoint and SharePoint, as well using the UCL Creating Accessible Content guidance for other content formats such as multimedia, images and live sessions and events. Please get in touch with the Digital Accessibility team at digitalaccessibility@ucl.ac.uk for further support and guidance.
If your module contains multimedia, please ensure that you are enabling accurate captioning and transcripts to ensure content is available in multiple formats. UCL’s Digital Accessibility Policy Multimedia section contains more guidance.
Resources to use:
- UCL Creating Accessible Content guidance: simple steps can make your content more accessible and provides a more inclusive experience.
- AbilityNet EAA free webinars: webinars last for 60 minutes and include an opportunity to ask questions as you register as well as during the webinars.
- Make Things Accessible is a repository for guidance material and useful resources for organisations looking to improve their digital accessibility.
- Convert files to accessible formats with Sensus Access.
'Drop in’ schedule or book training sessions with the Digital Accessibility Team
We have a series of ‘drop-in’ sessions booked throughout summer 2025 for UCL members of staff to speak with the Digital Accessibility team about their content, address concerns and remediate problems. Please use this form to register for drop-in sessions.
If you would like a bespoke training session for your team, department or faculty, we would be delighted to facilitate. Email digitalaccessibility@ucl.ac.uk to discuss and book.