The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive that set June 28, 2025 as the date new digital products and services, including ebooks sold in the EU, had to meet accessibility requirements. It reaches every link in the ebook chain, from the file itself to the store that sells it.
If you publish ebooks and sell into the European Union, this law is not abstract policy — it changes what a compliant file looks like, who has to check for it, and which small publishers get a pass. Here's how the pieces fit together.
What Products and Services Does the EAA Cover?
The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) applies to a defined list of products and services that the European Commission considers critical for people with disabilities, including computers and operating systems, smartphones, ATMs, banking services, passenger transport services, and e-commerce, according to the European Commission’s official summary of the directive. E-readers, retailer websites, and ebooks fall inside that e-commerce and digital-content scope.
EU member states were required to transpose the directive into their own national laws by June 2022, the European Commission notes, which is why the specifics of enforcement can vary slightly from one EU country to the next even though the underlying rules come from a single EU directive.
When Do Ebooks Need to Comply?
June 28, 2025 is the deadline that matters for new titles: digital products and services placed on the market after that date must meet the EAA’s accessibility requirements, Publishers Weekly reported in its guide for publishers. Existing products and services already in use get a longer runway — they’re allowed to continue operating under prior standards until June 2030, though Publishers Weekly cautions publishers against treating that window as a reason to delay backlist accessibility work.
Key takeaway: if you’re publishing a new ebook for the EU market today, the compliance deadline has already passed — it isn’t a future date to plan around.
What Makes an Ebook Compliant Under the EAA?
Compliance means publishing what the industry calls a “born accessible” ebook: a file built with accessibility in mind from the start, using current EPUB formats, rather than one patched after the fact, Publishers Weekly reported. The obligation doesn’t stop at the file — Publishers Weekly’s reporting stresses that e-tailer websites, library lending platforms, and reading apps all have to hold up their end too, since one non-compliant link in the chain can block an accessible book from actually reaching a reader.
What Is EPUB Accessibility 1.1, and How Does It Fit In?
EPUB Accessibility 1.1 is the W3C technical standard, published as a formal Recommendation on October 17, 2024, that defines how an EPUB file should describe and support its own accessibility. It’s the technical vocabulary publishers use to actually build (and prove) a compliant file — the law sets the requirement; this standard sets the format.
The specification requires every EPUB publication to include three metadata properties — accessMode, accessibilityFeature, and accessibilityHazard — so that reading systems and readers can tell what a book supports before opening it, according to the W3C recommendation text. It also ties conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, requiring at minimum WCAG Level A and recommending Level AA under WCAG 2.0, 2.1, or 2.2.
One distinction worth holding onto: EPUB Accessibility 1.1 itself does not mandate that a book’s content be born accessible — it applies to any EPUB version or profile and mainly requires transparent, standardized disclosure of a file’s accessibility characteristics through metadata. The requirement to actually build accessible ebooks in the first place comes from the law (the EAA), not from this technical standard.
| Layer | What it governs | Source |
|---|---|---|
| European Accessibility Act | Legal requirement to sell accessible digital products, including ebooks, in the EU | EU Directive 2019/882 |
| EPUB Accessibility 1.1 | Technical standard for describing and structuring an EPUB file’s accessibility | W3C Recommendation, Oct. 17, 2024 |
Which Publishers Are Exempt?
Two carve-outs exist. Micro-enterprises — companies with fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million in annual turnover — are exempt from the EAA’s requirements, Publishers Weekly reported. Separately, any publisher can claim an exemption for a specific product if it can demonstrate that compliance would impose a “disproportionate burden,” though that determination has to be documented rather than simply assumed.
Key takeaway: being a small or self-publishing operation doesn’t automatically mean the EAA doesn’t apply — it depends on your company’s size and revenue, not the size of your catalog.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming the deadline is still ahead. June 28, 2025 has passed; new titles sold into the EU are already expected to comply.
- Treating accessibility as a file-only problem. A compliant ebook sold through a non-compliant storefront or reading app still leaves readers unable to access it, per Publishers Weekly’s reporting.
- Confusing the metadata standard with the law. Adding EPUB Accessibility 1.1’s required metadata describes a file’s accessibility; it doesn’t by itself satisfy the EAA’s underlying requirement to make the content accessible.
- Waiting for the 2030 backlist deadline. That later date applies to products already on the market before June 2025 — it’s a transition allowance, not a reason to postpone updates indefinitely.
The practical starting point for most indie authors and small presses is the same regardless of company size: build new EPUB files with WCAG conformance and the required accessibility metadata from the outset, and treat backlist titles as a queue to work through rather than a problem to defer.
For a related business news perspective, read What the European Accessibility Act Means for Ebook Publishers.
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