PIPELINEGuide
Accessibility Act: is our website affected?
The BaFG has applied since June 2025. Not every website falls under it — but if you're affected, you should know before someone else contacts you.
The Accessibility Act has applied since June 2025 primarily to online shops, bookings, and other consumer businesses — a purely informational site without sales usually doesn't fall under it. The micro-enterprise exemption applies to services, but not to product sales via an online shop. Four simple tests — keyboard operation, visible focus, field labels, contrasts — quickly show where a business stands.
01
What the law requires
The Austrian Accessibility Act implements the European Accessibility Act and has applied since 28 June 2025. The standard is essentially WCAG 2.1 Level AA — keyboard operable, screen reader perceivable, sufficient contrasts, understandable error messages.
02
Who is affected
Consumer-facing services: online shops, online bookings, e-ticketing, banking services, e-books, telecommunications services. A purely informational site without sales or booking isn't on the list.
03
The micro-enterprise exemption
Businesses with fewer than ten employees and under two million euros annual turnover are exempt for services — but not for the sale of products. So if you operate an online shop, you cannot claim the exemption, even if the business is small.
04
What happens in case of violations
The Sozialministeriumservice is responsible. Administrative fines up to 80,000 euros are provided for. In the initial phase, advice was predominantly given instead of penalties, and proceedings were mostly opened following complaints. That's not a permanent state.
05
What to check first
Four things quickly show where you stand: Can the site be fully operated using the Tab key? Is the focus visible? Do all form fields have linked labels? Are the contrasts sufficient? If all four points are covered, you've already met the majority of requirements.
06
What existing customers often overlook
A contact form without linked field labels doesn't stand out during a quick review, but for screen reader users it's one of the most common barriers. A quick test using keyboard navigation only reliably uncovers exactly these issues, without any technical testing tool.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does an accessibility overlay help?
No. These overlaid toolbars don't fix the underlying markup problems and are largely rejected by advocacy organizations. They can create additional barriers and don't replace compliance.
What does the conversion cost?
That depends heavily on the starting point. A cleanly built site often only needs targeted corrections to testing, contrast, and usability. A site with custom-built controls without keyboard support can be so expensive to repair that redevelopment ends up being the more cost-effective choice. We'll review your specific case and honestly tell you which route makes more sense.
Do we need an accessibility statement?
For affected services, accessibility information must be provided. A statement with test results, known limitations, and contact options is the standard approach — and the best proof if someone asks.
Next step
Initial assessment, no obligation.
Briefly describe what you need. You'll get an honest answer about what's realistic and what it will roughly cost.