Beyond EAA compliance: Accessibility becomes the benchmark for digital quality

It has been over a year since the European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into effect, and many organizations are still discovering gaps in the accessibility of their digital services.

While websites , mobile apps, e-commerce platforms and digital banking services may meet recognized accessibility requirements, technical conformance alone does not always guarantee an accessible user experience.

People using assistive technologies can still encounter barriers such as confusing workflows, unclear error messages, or content that is difficult to interpret with screen readers.

Accessibility is increasingly viewed as an indicator of digital quality, rather than just a compliance obligation.

Yet, making sure that digital experiences work for everyone requires more than good intentions.

It depends on assessments, audits and real-world testing to validate accessibility in practice.

This challenge is especially significant for technology companies, where accessibility cannot be addressed by focusing on a single website or application .

Instead, it must be managed across portfolios of products, development teams and release cycles.

This requires a continuous approach to accessibility, underpinned by a comprehensive accessibility ecosystem that combines assessments, audits, automated testing and insights from people with disabilities throughout the software development lifecycle.

Accessibility assessments and audits Improving accessibility begins with understanding where barriers exist and how they affect users.

Accessibility assessments provide a high-level view of accessibility risks, helping organizations identify priority issues early and determine where additional investigation is needed.

These assessments can combine automated tools with targeted manual reviews of designs and/or products to offer guidance on where organizations should focus their accessibility efforts for impactful quality improvement.

Accessibility audits take this process a step further.

They provide a comprehensive evaluation of digital products against recognized standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and the EAA, documenting accessibility issues, their severity and recommended remediation steps.