European Union · Regulation
European Union — European Accessibility Act Directive (EU) 2019/882
Issued by European Parliament and Council of the European Union.
Summary
The European Accessibility Act created accessibility requirements for products and services across the European market, with full enforcement beginning in June 2025. It matters for AI governance because AI tools used in consumer technology, e-commerce, banking, telecommunications, and other digital services must be accessible to disabled users. Interfaces must align with accessibility expectations such as WCAG-compatible design. AI-generated outputs, including speech-to-text, translation, or image descriptions, must also be structured and accurate enough to work with assistive technologies such as screen readers.
Why it matters
Accessibility requirements for products and services; full enforcement from June 2025; accessible digital interfaces; relevance to AI tools in consumer technology, e-commerce, banking, and telecommunications; compatibility with assistive technologies; accurate AI-generated accessibility outputs.
Topics
Record metadata
- Country
- European Union
- Region
- Europe
- Document type
- Regulation
- Status
- In force
- Publication date
- 17 April 2019
- Last updated
- 27 June 2026
- Language
- English
- Original source
- View original source
Citation export
Plain citation
European Parliament and Council of the European Union, Directive (EU) 2019/882 on accessibility requirements for products and services, 17 April 2019.
BibTeX
@misc{eu_european_accessibility_act_directive_2019_882,
title = {European Union — European Accessibility Act Directive (EU) 2019/882},
author = {European Parliament and Council of the European Union},
year = {2019},
howpublished = {Global AI Governance Archive},
url = {https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32019L0882}
}See the citation guide for style-specific examples.
Recorded cross-references
- United States — DOJ Title II ADA Web Accessibility Rule
- EEOC FTC DOJ CFPB Joint Statement on Automated Systems
- European Union — AI Act 2025 Ban Phase-In and GPAI Guidelines
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