Web Accessibility: Legally Required and Smart Business

Introduction

As of June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act applies across the entire EU. This means digital products and services must be accessible to people with disabilities. For many businesses, this is still unfamiliar territory.

But accessibility is more than a legal checkbox. It is an opportunity to make your website better for everyone while expanding your reach.

What the Law Actually Requires

The European Accessibility Act requires businesses to make their digital services comply with WCAG 2.2 level AA. This covers websites, online stores, apps, and self-service kiosks. The standard applies to both public and private organizations.

In practice, this means your website must be navigable by keyboard, images need alt text, color contrast must be sufficient, and forms must be properly labeled. Non-compliance can result in fines and formal complaints.

Why Accessibility Is Also Smart Business

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

— Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web

Over a billion people worldwide have some form of disability. On top of that, everyone experiences temporary or situational limitations: a broken arm, a screen in bright sunlight, or a slow connection on the road.

Accessible websites rank higher in search engines, have lower bounce rates, and convert better. Google rewards semantic HTML, proper heading structure, and fast load times: qualities that modern frontend frameworks provide by default and that also improve accessibility.

The Most Common Problems

In our audits, we encounter the same issues repeatedly: missing alt text, forms without labels, insufficient color contrast, and interactive elements that are unreachable via keyboard.

Another frequent problem is the use of JavaScript frameworks that break standard HTML semantics. A custom-built dropdown that looks beautiful but does not work with a screen reader is a mistake we see often. Using established component libraries like shadcn/ui or Material UI avoids these pitfalls because they are built with accessibility in mind.

One Year of the EAA: Lessons from Enforcement

A year after the June 28, 2025 deadline, it is clear how regulators apply the law. Enforcement almost always starts with a user complaint, followed by a request for an improvement plan with concrete deadlines. Businesses that can demonstrate structural work on accessibility, with an audit, a roadmap, and an accessibility statement, are given time to improve. Businesses with no demonstrable policy at all risk immediate sanctions.

The practical lesson from the first year of enforcement: start with the four problems that appear in virtually every complaint. Unlabeled forms, missing alt text, insufficient contrast, and keyboard-unreachable buttons together cover the bulk of reports. Getting those basics right removes most of the legal and practical risk.

What Making a Site Accessible Actually Costs

The cost depends heavily on when you address accessibility. If it is included from the start of a newly built web application, the extra cost is close to zero in our experience. It mostly comes down to choosing the right components and testing consistently during the build. Fixing things afterwards is a different story: for an average business website of twenty to forty pages, expect several days to two weeks of work, depending on how many custom components need replacing.

A useful rule of thumb from our projects: an audit plus fixing the four most common problems typically costs ten to twenty percent of the original build cost. If your website runs on a heavily outdated technical foundation, it usually makes more sense to include accessibility in a broader software redevelopment project. That way you solve performance, security, and maintainability in one move, which ends up cheaper than three separate projects in a row. Unsure where your website stands? An audit gives clarity on the scope of work within a week.

How MG Software Helps

At MG Software, we build accessibility in from the start. We use semantic HTML, ARIA attributes where needed, and test every interface with screen readers and keyboard navigation.

For existing projects, we perform an accessibility audit based on WCAG 2.2 AA. You receive a concrete report with priorities, and we can implement the improvements directly as part of our development services.

Conclusion

Digital accessibility is no longer optional. The law requires it, but the benefits go far beyond compliance. An accessible website is simply a better website for all your visitors.

Want to know how your website scores on accessibility? Use our project calculator for an initial estimate or get in touch for a free audit.