Accessibility Act: What you need to know now!
Breaking down barriers and enabling access for all: This is the basis of the Accessibility Act. The experts at SKW Schwarz reveal what this means for your website, your online store, and your products in this free whitepaper (only in German).
Deadline ahead: The Accessibility Act is coming in 2025!
In less than a year, the German Accessibility Improvement Act (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, BSFG) will come into force. The legal text, usually referred to as the Accessibility Act, will apply from June 28, 2025. The law obliges companies to make most B2C websites and services as well as their products accessible. The result: digital accessibility is becoming the law and the new standard for companies across all kinds of sectors.
Top tip: the whitepaper explains the exceptional cases for which longer transition periods apply.
What does this mean for me? Affected industries and products
The Accessibility Act is not universally applicable. It only applies to products and services in the B2C sector. To put it simply: Your company is only affected if it addresses consumers directly in any way.
In the area of services, the Accessibility Act will apply to:
- telecommunications services
- e-books
- messenger services
- interregional passenger transport services (on mobile devices)
- banking services
- electronic business transactions
- passenger transportation services
The BFSG also applies to the following products:
- computers, notebooks, tablets, smartphones (including operating systems)
- smart TVs
- self-service terminals (e.g. ATMs, ticket and check-in machines)
- e-book readers
- routers
A heads-up: E-commerce will be almost completely covered by the Accessibility Act. If your company operates online retail, you should start preparing it for the BFSG right away, if you haven’t already. The task now is to lay the groundwork so that your online presence complies with the Accessibility Act next year. Otherwise you risk facing legal action.
One thing to note, however: Even if your company is not legally obliged to do so, it can be worthwhile making your content and products accessible. As soon as the necessary processes have been implemented in your company and the people responsible for your content marketing, for example, have been trained accordingly, you can tap into new customer potential with accessibility and thus expand your reach. At the same time, you are signaling your clear support for inclusion and equality.
Knowledge is power: Find out everything you need to know about the BFSG now
In legal matters, it is particularly important to avoid any pitfalls and to be aware of all the rules. Otherwise, violations of the new Accessibility Act could result in fines as well as consequences under competition and civil law!
To help you avoid this and prepare your company for the change in the law in 2025, we have created a comprehensive whitepaper in partnership with the experts from the commercial law firm SKW Schwarz. This contains all the important information tailored to online retailers and marketers.
The following questions, among others, are answered in detail:
- What is meant by the term accessibility?
- What products and services are covered by the BFSG?
- What obligations do individual economic operators have under the BFSG?
- What does this mean for online stores and websites?
- How can accessibility be implemented in online stores?
- What are the consequences for economic operators in the event of a breach?
- What is required for a successful changeover?
Your signal to get started: Familiarize yourself with the Accessibility Act now and implement it step by step
Even if the whole (digital) world is looking forward to DMEXCO 2024, as an entrepreneur you should already have one eye on the year 2025. To ensure that your online presence, products, and services are accessible in June, you need to initiate the necessary changes now. You can find all the important information about what you need to do and how you can implement the legal requirements in practice in our free whitepaper on the Accessibility Improvement Act!
