Your Rights
Economic operators must make their services as usable as possible for people with disabilities.
What does this mean in practice?
Making technology accessible
Economic operators must ensure that any technology they use meets accessibility standards so they work well for people with different needs.
Providing clear information about services
Economic operators must give you information about how their services work and what accessibility features are available. They can do this by:
- Using multiple ways to share information: not just text, but also through audio, visual aids, or other formats.
- Making information easy to understand: using clear, simple language.
- Ensuring you can access the information: making sure it works with screen readers, voice commands, or other assistive tools.
- Using readable fonts and good contrast: with texts that large enough and spaced for easy reading.
- Adding descriptions for images and videos.
- Making online information consistent and reliable.
Making websites and mobile apps accessible
All websites, online services, and mobile apps must be designed so they are easy to perceive, operate, understand, and work reliably with assistive technology.
Provide accessible customer support
When available, help services like customer support, call centres, and technical help must be offered in accessible ways that work with assistive technologies.
Special requirements for services providing access to audiovisual media services
- Provide accessible electronic programme guides (EPGs) – which are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust and provide information about the availability of accessibility features.
- Ensure accessibility features work properly – ensuring that subtitles, audio description, and sign language are fully transmitted with adequate quality for accurate display, and synchronised with sound and video, while allowing for user control of their display and use.
What are the key principles of accessibility?
The EAA aims to increase the range of users of the products and services covered by the Act by making them more accessible.
Access, Understand and Use
Access, understand and use is about how people generally interact with a product or service: first, they access it (approach and perceive); secondly, they understand it (comprehend and decide); and thirdly, they use it (act or react).
Universal Design
Universal Design is an approach to promoting accessibility and usability in products and services. Universally designing means designing so that your product or service can be accessed, understood, and used:
- to the greatest possible extent
- in the most independent and natural manner possible
- in the widest possible range of situations
- without the need for adaption, modification, assistive devices, or specialised solutions
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust (POUR)
Accessibility in information and communication technology (ICT) is understood as the extent to which an ICT product or service is perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. These are known as the POUR principles.
- Perceivable – content is presented in ways that can be perceived by all.
- Operable – user interface components and navigation must be operable.
- Understandable – information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.
- Robust – content is reliable and compatible with assistive technologies and standards.
Learn more about the European Accessibility Act
- Visit the National Disability Authority (NDA) webpage on the European Accessibility Act.
- Visit the European Commission’s webpage about the European Accessibility Act.
- Visit AccessibleEU, a European resource centre on accessibility.
Report & complain
If you believe that you have had accessibility issues accessing services that provide access to audiovisual media services, please visit our dedicated report & complain section.