What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) Directive 2019/882 is a landmark European Union (EU) law that requires certain products and services manufactured and provided in the European market to be accessible for persons with disabilities. It follows a commitment on accessibility made by the EU and all Member States upon ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (UNCRPD).

The act sets out accessibility requirements for products such as computers, telephones, and televisions, and for services like banking and transport. The goal of the act is to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in society and enjoy the same opportunities as everyone else.

Businesses operating in the European Union (EU) should be ready for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and start planning their accessibility journey now. As a pioneers in accessibility offshore, Barrierbreak can help businesses understand the importance of EAA and how they can ensure that their digital products and services are accessible and compliant.

Is the European Accessibility Act enforceable?

Yes, the EAA is a law and therefore enforceable. Till now the EU has required public-sector to adhere to accessibility requirements under the EU Web Accessibility Directive. But with the EAA, even the private-sector companies will be faced with an accessibility legislation.

When will the European Accessibility Act apply?

From June 28, 2025, businesses, manufacturers, service providers, and publishers will only be able to supply products and services in the European Market that comply with the Directive’s accessibility requirements.

The act requires Member States of the European Union to take the necessary measures to ensure that accessibility requirements are met for the products and services covered by the act, and to make these requirements binding and enforceable.

So, if you want to supply products and services to the EU then don’t wait, start implementing accessibility today!

What is covered under the European Accessibility Act?

The EAA will apply to the following products and services:

• Computers and operating systems
• ATM’s & Payment Terminals
• Electronic Ticketing Services
• Transport Service Information
• E-Readers & E-Books
• Websites & E-commerce
• Mobile device-based services including mobile applications.
• Banking Services
• Television & Media Services
• Telephony services

How will businesses benefit from the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act will benefit businesses in several ways:

1. Harmonized market: The EAA sets out common accessibility requirements across the EU, which will reduce costs for businesses by eliminating the need to comply with different national standards.
2. Increased customer base: By making products and services more accessible to people with disabilities, businesses will be able to tap into a large and growing market of potential customers.
3. Improved brand reputation: Companies that are seen as leaders in accessibility will enhance their reputation and brand image, attracting more customers and employees.
4. Better innovation: Encouraging businesses to develop innovative accessibility solutions will drive technological progress and lead to new products and services that can be sold in both domestic and export markets.
5. Better compliance with laws and regulations: Complying with the act will ensure that businesses are in compliance with EU laws and regulations, reducing the risk of fines and legal action.

What will be the Impact of the European Accessibility Act?

The EAA is expected to have a positive impact on the life of 135 million people with a disability in the European Union and provide businesses with seamless cross-border trading.

Over the coming years, it is hoped that the EAA will ensure digital products and services are more accessible for people with disabilities, making it easier for them to participate in the digital economy.

How can BarrierBreak help?

If you are doing business in Europe, it is important to start planning for the European Accessibility Act now. Businesses that fail to comply with the EAA could face significant financial penalties and damage to their reputation. It is therefore important for businesses to take the necessary steps to ensure that their products and services are accessible and comply with the requirements outlined in the EAA.

We are an offshore digital accessibility company that provides accessibility consulting and accessibility testing solutions and assist businesses in complying with the European Accessibility Act in several ways.

By working with BarrierBreak, businesses can ensure that they meet the requirements of the EAA and provide accessible products and services to people with disabilities.

Get in touch with our accessibility consultant or write to us at sales@barrierbreak.com on how to prepare for the EAA and ensure that your business is compliant.

The post Are you ready for the European Accessibility Act? appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

An accessibility audit is a comprehensive evaluation of a website or application’s conformance with accessibility standards to meet the needs of people with disabilities.  

The audit process usually involves: 

• Performing manual and automated testing by Accessibility experts 
• Conducting testing with people with disabilities 
• Assessing the overall design and user experience of the site or the app 
• Reviewing the code for potential accessibility issues 

The accessibility audit help identify potential accessibility barriers and provide recommendations for how to make your site or app more accessible. 

What are the common standards & guidelines that one can conform to? 

When conducting an accessibility audit, there are a variety of standards & guidelines that can be used to measure conformance. The most common standards are: 

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WCAG 2.1 and 2.0 are the versions. 
• EN 301 549 – This is the European standard that covers Accessibility for all ICT. 
• Section 508 – Section 508 requires access to ICT developed, procured, maintained, or used by federal agencies. 

Which technologies should you conduct an accessibility audit for? 

The myth for a long time has been only for websites! But accessibility is needed for all web and non-web Information & Communication Technology (ICT). So time to think: 

• Websites 
• Web Applications 
• Mobile Apps 
• Software 
• Gaming 
• SAAS Platforms 
• Documents 

This list will keep evolving as we see digital technology evolving! 

When should you conduct an accessibility audit? 

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of when to do an accessibility audit.  

The simple answer is start testing your solutions as early on in the process. Often accessibility is one of the last things that we check for and that is why it also feels like a lot of effort.  

It is generally recommended that audits be conducted on a regular basis, prior to launch and then if there are significant updates. But it makes sense to set a regular cadence so that you keep investing the accessibility efforts.  

At BarrierBreak, our accessibility consulting and digital accessibility services assist organizations to audit, maintain and strategize to ensure that accessibility is an on-going effort and not an afterthought. 

Schedule a meeting or write to us at sales@barrierbreak.com to talk to an accessibility consultant and get started on your accessibility journey right away. 

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Facts about Effectiveness of Automated Accessibility Tools

The facts are out there! The UK Government GDS Accessibility Team conducted an audit of automated accessibility testing tools and if you haven’t read it — you must!

I am just going to call out 2 staggering statistics from the audit:

• Automated tools identified between 17% to 37% of the accessibility barriers.
• Of the 143 barriers we created, a total of 42 were missed by all of the tools

So the question is can you rely on automated tools alone! The answer is quite obvious!

Automated Testing Tools — A part of the toolkit

At BarrierBreak, since our inception, we have always focused on manual testing. Automated testing tools assist accessibility testers to identify some of the challenges. But even there often there has to be manual verification.

A simple example everyone gives is image descriptions for images. It is easy to detect if an alt attribute is provided for an image, but it needs manual intervention to see whether the image description is meaningful.

We use between 3 to 5 tools, plugins, bookmarklets to help us evaluate accessibility! Automated Accessibility Testing Tools have to be a part of the toolkit used but can’t be the only one!

Let’s bring in the Who — People into Accessibility Testing

At BarrierBreak, our accessibility experts are key to our process. They are the people who test, analyze, validate and recommend the solutions.

We have always been focused on including people with disabilities as a part of our process. They are not only doing user testing! They are a part of the team that conducts the accessibility evaluation!

Native assistive technology testers should be a part of the solution since at the end of the day accessibility is about ensuring people with disabilities get access to digital solutions!

When I founded BarrierBreak, I was clear that I saw this gap in the industry that people with disabilities weren’t always a part of the solution!

When we think of the People First Approach, it is about our accessibility experts — who bring value to the product or solution. It is their inputs that are critical. They are the people that analyze the code, they are the people that recommend the solution!

So time to strike the balance between automated testing and manual accessibility testing and above all remember it is the people who are at the heart of the process.

Reach out to the team at BarrierBreak, to see how we can support you in the People First Approach

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As the UK government focuses on ensuring people with disabilities can access digital products, a critical part of that is conducting accessibility testings and audits.

The UK government focuses on providing barrier-free access, fair treatment, and promotes a fair and more equal society through the Equality Act 2010, ISO 30071-1, and the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

This requires all the state, regional, local authorities and public sector bodies to ensure digital products are accessible by making them ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’.

To help authorities meet accessibility requirements, the DOS5 agreement under Lot 1 – Digital Outcomes helps the UK public sector organisations buy, design, build and provide bespoke digital outcomes including accessibility services.

Under the arrangement BarrierBreak services are available on DOS5 under Lot 1: Digital Outcomes and can deliver the following services:

• Accessibility Testing and Auditing
• User experience and design
• User Research

Shilpi Kapoor, Managing Director, BarrierBreak said, “BarrierBreak is an offshore leader in digital accessibility. With our people-first approach wherein accessibility experts including people with disabilities are an integral part of our process, we look forward to support different authorities in the UK to meet and go beyond their accessibility  support.

Shashank Kapur, Director of Strategy & Business Development, BarrierBreak said, “We are excited to be on the DOS5 platform and offer our services to the public sector organizations in UK. Our team of accessibility experts would be proud to work with organizations to analyze, test, and recommend the accessibility solutions that helps public sector organizations meet the accessibility requirements as per the Accessibility regulations 2018. “

To procure our services through the DOS5 Framework: Buying through the Digital Outcomes and Specialists framework

Know more about DOS on the Digital Marketplace.

Connect with us: sales@barrierbreak.com

The post BarrierBreak is a trusted vendor for Accessibility Testing and Auditing on the Digital Outcomes and Specialists 5 (DOS5) framework appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

How do you evaluate what is better?

Some factors to consider when evaluating an offshore accessibility testing firm are :

What is their level of knowledge on Accessibility: 

What is the depth of the knowledge about accessibility in the organization? A good place to start would be to see if the vendors own website is accessible. Numerous companies offer accessibility services as one of their many service offerings but do they walk the talk.

After 20 years in accessibility, I can tell you that accessibility is something that you start to live in breathe. The guidelines are only starting point and the goal should be to go beyond compliance.

Experience in conducting accessibility testing:

Get to know more about the number of projects, the type of technologies, the different standards they have worked with, the scale of the projects and the type of customers they have serviced.

These questions will allow you to understand the level of experience in accessibility testing. Accessibility and is really not about the checklist. It is about an interpretation of the guidelines based on how something is developed. 

Does the team comprise of people with disabilities?

“Nothing without us“ – Ask them about the team and how there including people with disabilities as a part of the testing process.

Even though I have been testing using assistive technology since the last 20 years, I would yet lean to the experience of my disabled colleagues. The reason is very simple, I am not a native screen reader or assistive technology user. 

I would go so far as to say that accessibility is a specialization. You get better at it with experience. 

At BarrierBreak, I have often been asked why we don’t do any other type of testing. 

When I founded BarrierBreak, we were a technical writing and an accessibility consulting firm. I soon realized the importance of a specialization. 

We are passionate about accessibility, people with disabilities matter to us, we want to make the world more accessible, we see technology as a game changer, and we believe in inclusion. 50% of the accessibility testing team being people with disabilities.

Meet Shilpi Kapoor for a 1 hour tête-à-tête focused discussion on accessibility for a personalised advice to forward your organisations accessibility journey.

The post Choosing a generalist software testing firm versus an accessibility testing firm appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

Did you know that all public sector bodies in the United Kingdom must comply with updates to UK digital accessibility regulations – The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) by September 23, 2020?  

The accessibility regulations which came into force on the 23rd September 2018 aims to help make sure online public services are accessible to all users, including people with disability.  

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 mean public sector organisations have an obligation to make websites and mobile applications accessible. Public sector bodies include central government, local government organisations, some charities and other non-government organisations in the United Kingdom.   

Public sector bodies must adhere to EN 301 549 and comply with the accessibility requirement as follows: 

1. Public sector websites published on or after 23rd September 2018, should meet the accessible regulations by 23rd September 2019. 
2. Any other website of a public sector body published after 23rd September 2018, should meet the accessible regulations by 23rd September 2020. 
3. A mobile application of a public sector body should meet the accessible regulations by 23rd June 2021. 

How do you make sure that your services comply Accessibility Regulations 2018? 

1. Understanding Accessibility Requirement: The accessibility regulations require public sector bodies to make websites and mobile applications more accessible by making it ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’. The regulations also require the entity to include and update an accessibility statement on the website.
2. Check your websites and mobile applications for accessibility: Analyse your website and mobile applications with your team to check whether they meet the international WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standard. If your organisation does not have the required skill set to audit whether the website or mobile app is WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, you can consult a third party to do a detailed audit instead. 
3. Planning & Fixing Accessibility Problems: Once you have analysed the accessibility problems, chart out your priorities and a roadmap to meet the accessibility standards. You can always get in touch with an accessibility consultant to help you test your website or mobile applications for accessibility and also prioritise how to fix the problems. The deadline for meeting this requirement has been mentioned above.  
4. Publishing an Accessibility Statement: The new regulations then require you to publish an accessibility statement that explains how accessible your website or mobile app is in plain English and accessible format that can be understood by everyone. The statement should describe whether the website or the mobile applications is fully accessible, partially accessible or not accessible in detail. 

If you are looking to understand the new regulations in detail or need any assistance towards accessibility solutions for your website or mobile applications, get in touch with our accessibility experts.  

The post 23rd September, 2020 – Finally, Public Sector Bodies need to comply with UK Digital Accessibility Regulations appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

Even if we look at the settlements like Bank of America California and Florida Agreement (2000), Best Buy POS Settlement Agreement (2010) or E*Trade Settlement Agreement Amendment (2018) on Lainey Feingold’s website, it is evident that the fintech sector will have to adopt web accessibility.

Today, the fintech space is seeing a lot of innovation. It is time for them to adopt web accessibility early on in their product development. A good starting point for fintech digital solutions is to start with adopting Web Content Accessibility Guideline.

3 questions to ask to ensure Fintech solutions are thinking accessibility:

1. Does your potential customer include people with disabilities? With a Billion people with disabilities which constitutes 15% of the world population, this is a user base that you really can’t ignore!
2. Does your product design consider the principles of inclusive design? Do you understand the needs of diverse groups of users. Think people with challenges with Vision, Hearing, Thinking, Reach & Dexterity & Mobility. Learn more about Inclsuive Design
3. Do you test with people from diverse groups? Why not include people with disabilities as a part of your focus groups and user testing!

Fintech companies, it’s time to understand the market potential and build accessibility as a differentiator in your fintech products. Reach out to us via Email, or Book an appointment. We can work with your teams to build an inclusive fintech product.

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The Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies has been transposed into national law in all EU member states by September 23 2018. The directive requires all the state, regional, local authorities and public sector bodies to ensure their websites and mobile applications are accessible by making them ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’. (4 principles of accessibility)

What is EN 301 549 Standard?

The directive references the incorporation of the EN 301 549 Standard which sets out the accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe. EN 301 549 Standard which was published 4 years ago, is the first ever European standard for digital accessibility. The chapters in the standard refer to W3C recommended WCAG 2.0, Level AA.

The Directive requires every public sector website developed after September 23, 2018 to be in compliance with the new regulation. Existing public sector websites to comply by September 23, 2020 and mobile applications by June 23, 2021.

Although the directive refers to public sector bodies, the new law would have a significant impact on private sector too. Vendor companies selling their products or services to the public sector will have to ensure that they comply to the new regulation. So, no matter which part of the world you are, if you are looking to do business with any European organization, you will have to ensure that your products and services comply to the EN 301 549 standard.

Are you ready for the Directive?

With expertise in WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 accessibility standards and guidelines, BarrierBreak works with clients in the US, UK, European, Canadian & Middle Eastern markets to integrate accessibility into the product development life cycle. No matter what the level of your accessibility commitment as an organization is, we can help achieve sustainable results.

Get in touch should you need more details about the EN 301 549 standards. Call us at +91-022 26860485/6 or write to us sales@barrierbreak.com to know how we can support you with EN 301 549.

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