WCAG Accessibility (EN 301 549 / European Standard)

The Standard

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) requires digital products and services in the EU to meet EN 301 549, which references WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the technical baseline. This is not optional — it is a legal requirement for products operating in the EU market.

Default: always build to WCAG 2.2 AA. Deviating requires explicit, documented justification. Do not skip accessibility requirements because of timeline pressure or design preference.

WCAG 2.2 AA organises requirements under four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust.

Perceivable

Users must be able to perceive all content and UI components.