Inclusivity is more than a moral imperative. With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) now in effect, many businesses are focusing on compliance. But what if this legal requirement wasn't just another box to tick? What if it was the perfect catalyst to modernize your outdated legacy systems?
By treating accessibility as a strategic driver, you can turn a legal obligation into a powerful opportunity for digital transformation, leading to better user experiences, faster releases, and more resilient, future-ready platforms.
What is the European Accessibility Act?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) sets a clear expectation: if you provide digital products or services to consumers in the EU, they must be accessible. That means your mobile apps, websites, and software platforms need to be usable by everyone, including people with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments.
The law applies to a wide range of private-sector companies providing digital products or services across Europe, including:
Online shops and e-commerce platforms
Banking apps and ATMs
Public transport services (air, rail, bus, boat)
Digital communication tools
Streaming platforms, TV, and e-books
Emergency service tools
If you offer digital products or services in one of these areas, compliance is mandatory since June 28, 2025. The challenge is making sure that software - often built years ago and patched over time - meets today’s standards of inclusivity.
Why legacy systems struggle with accessibility
Most legacy systems were built long before accessibility was a standard design consideration. But improving accessibility isn’t just about small visual tweaks, it requires deep changes to code, design, and structure:
Outdated code: Outdated frameworks or libraries often fail to meet modern accessibility standards, lacking support for ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) landmarks that are crucial for screen reader navigation.
Inflexible design: Many interfaces were designed without considering sufficient colour contrast, minimal touch target sizes or responsive layouts for zooming in.
Brittle architecture: Monolithic systems tightly couple data and functionality, so updating a single feature, such as making an online checkout process accessible, could require a full-scale regression test of the entire application. This makes change slow, risky, and expensive.
By addressing these areas, accessibility initiatives reveal opportunities for broader modernization. Fixing the foundation for accessibility often means improving maintainability, speeding up release cycles, and building a more scalable, resilient system. That’s why accessibility compliance becomes a natural moment to rethink and modernize your applications.
Accessibility as a driver for modernization
The smartest strategy is to treat the EAA not just as a legal obligation, but as a strategic moment to invest in your technological future. This can be approached in two phases: immediate compliance and long-term modernization.
Quick wins to immediately address compliance needs:
Understand the European Digital Accessibility Standard (EN 301 549)
The first step is to get to know the EN 301 549. This standard outlines accessibility requirements for ICT products and services. It’s based on the WCAG 2.1 guidelines, which many digital teams are already familiar with. But be careful: there are requirements beyond WCAG that also have to be taken into account.Audit your digital products
Once you understand the European Digital Accessibility Standard, you can run a full accessibility audit on your website, app, or digital platform. This helps you identify gaps and prioritize what to improve. Use a combination of automated tools and manual testing with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to identify gaps and prioritize fixes.Publish an accessibility statement
This is a legal requirement. Every business should create an accessibility statement that explains how its services meet the legal standards. You can think of this as a roadmap for fixing known issues, and as a point of contact for users to report accessibility barriers.Train your team on accessibility
Everyone involved in creating digital products, from developers to designers to content creators, should understand accessibility principles and their role in maintaining accessibility. This cultural shift is essential for lasting compliance. Organize regular training sessions to keep your team up-to-date.
Strategic moves to ensure sustainable improvements
Migrating to modular architectures
Breaking monolithic systems into microservices allows accessibility enhancements to be implemented independently.Replatforming to the cloud
Cloud-native solutions allow for scalable hosting, automated updates, and integration of accessibility monitoring tools*, making compliance ongoing rather than a one-time effort. However, note that the benefits of replatforming to the cloud depend on your specific application and your goals as an organization.Rethinking UX and UI design with inclusivity at its core
Use the EAA as a reason to implement a modern Design System. Implementing accessible colour palettes, responsive layouts, and scalable typography ensures usability for all users. For instance, designing forms that support keyboard navigation and clear error messages benefits not only users with disabilities but also improves the experience for everyone, boosting conversion rates.Involve people with diverse impairments in the process
Both in research and in testing. This real-world feedback ensures that accessibility features are not just theoretically compliant, but also practically effective.Integrate accessibility requirements from the start
This “shift-left” approach means accessibility is embedded during design, coding, and testing phases. It reduces costly rework and ensures every release is compliant by default. A practical step here is to integrate accessibility testing into your DevOps pipelines, so every new feature is automatically* validated against accessibility standards.
This dual approach allows businesses to meet the current legal requirements while establishing a foundation for future agility and innovation.
* Disclaimer: monitoring tools can’t detect all issues.
Turn compliance into a competitive edge
The European Accessibility Act doesn’t have to be a source of panic. Instead, it’s a chance to take stock of your digital landscape and bring your applications up to speed with both legal standards and business needs. When you do, you:
Mitigate risk: Avoid fines, legal disputes, and reputational damage.
Reach more users: Accessible software opens your business to a much larger audience. An estimated 87 million people in the EU live with some form of disability. Accessible products unlock this significant customer base.
Improve UX for everyone: Features designed for accessibility, like clear layouts and captions on videos, make applications easier and more enjoyable for all users.
Enhance brand value: Inclusive products demonstrate innovation, responsibility, and care.
Boost operational efficiency: Modernized, accessible systems are easier to maintain, scale, and evolve.
Ready to turn compliance into opportunity?
Explore how you can transform your legacy software into modern, accessible and future-ready solutions.
