Barrier-free into the future: new obligations from 2025

Authors: Lisa-Martina Köberl and Fabian Blumberger

On June 28th, 2025, the new Accessibility Act (BaFG) will come into force. With this law, Austria is implementing the requirements of the European Accessibility Directive (Directive [EU] 2019/882) into national legislation. The goal is to improve access to certain products and services for people with disabilities.

1. Which products and services are covered by the BaFG?

The Accessibility Act requires private economic operators to comply with accessibility requirements in certain areas of the economy. Specifically, it applies to products and services that are commonly intended for everyday use. These include, among others:

Computers, self-service terminals (ATMs, ticket machines), cell phones, and interactive televisions;
Internet and video telephony, online messenger services, apps and websites of passenger transport services, banking services, as well as all B2C online commerce.

2. Which websites must be accessible?

As soon as a booking, payment or inquiry can be made via a website, the BaFG generally applies. This therefore applies to online stores, travel booking platforms, appointment scheduling tools, contact forms and websites for digital memberships or subscriptions. B2B websites and purely informational websites for the presentation of products or services are therefore not subject to the BaFG and do not have to be designed to be barrier-free. In addition, the BaFG does not apply to websites and apps that contain recorded media or file formats before June 28th, 2025, online maps, third-party content beyond the control of the economic operator or topics that will be neither updated nor revised after June 28th, 2025.

3. Who is affected by the BaFG?

The BaFG is aimed at manufacturers, authorized representatives, importers, distributors and service providers who offer products and services in the above-mentioned areas. Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover of less than EUR 2 million (provided they do not offer digital services) are exempt, as are cases in which compliance with the accessibility requirements would fundamentally change the nature of the product or service or result in a disproportionate burden for the affected economic operators.

4. Accessibility requirements

Products and services must be designed in such a way that they can be found, accessed, and used by people with disabilities in the usual way, without undue difficulty, and generally without external assistance. This means that perception must always be possible through at least two senses.

The BaFG will therefore have a significant impact on the design of websites. Content must be accessible to people with disabilities (in particular to individuals who are blind or visually impaired or have motor impairments). This must be ensured, for example, through clearly structured texts, alternative texts for images, subtitles and transcripts for audiovisual content, or compatibility with screen readers.

The specific accessibility requirements for products and services are listed in Annex I of the BaFG. The accessibility requirements in electronic commerce, especially in online commerce, follow the harmonized standard EN 301 549 and the international WCAG 2.1 guidelines.

5. Sanctions

In the future, the Ministry of Social Affairs will carry out strict market surveillance to ensure that all affected products and services comply with the legal requirements. Violations may result in sanctions ranging from warnings and corrective measures to severe fines of up to EUR 80,000.

6. Transitional provisions

The BaFG generally applies to products and services that are placed on the market or provided to consumers after June 28th, 2025. Accordingly, for example, websites must be accessible by this date.

However, service providers may continue to offer their services until June 28th, 2030 with products that they were already using before June 28th, 2025. Service contracts that were concluded before June 28th, 2025 can be continued until they expire, but for no longer than five years. By then, the contracting parties must decide whether to adapt their existing contracts to the new accessibility requirements of the BaFG or terminate them. Moreover, self-service terminals used before June 28th, 2025 may be used until June 28th, 2040, but for no longer than 20 years after their first use.

7. Conclusion

The BaFG introduces binding standards for accessible products and services. Accessibility is not only an obligation, but also an opportunity for greater user-friendliness, inclusion, and market access. Companies should therefore address the requirements at an early stage and adapt their offerings accordingly.

Fabian Blumberger and Markus Gaderer will be happy to answer any further questions on this topic.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only and does not replace legal advice. Haslinger / Nagele Rechtsanwälte GmbH assumes no liability for the content and correctness of this article.