German Accessibility Strengthening Act Accessible products in the EU

From 28 June 2025, many products in the consumer electronics sector may only be placed on the market in Europe if they are designed to be accessible to all.

It will not always be possible to make products accessible using software solutions alone. It is therefore high time to check whether your own product portfolio needs to be made accessible and, if so, what specific product adaptations are necessary to ensure that the products concerned can be kept on sale after the deadline. Incidentally, this applies not only to manufacturers, but also to importers that wish to import and market products in the EU.

The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) and the associated Ordinance to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSGV) transpose Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council on accessibility requirements for products and services, known as the European Accessibility Act (EAA), into German law (see our article German Accessibility Strengthening Act: The countdown has started).

The EAA ensures that accessibility requirements for products will be standardised in the future in accordance with the principle of the free movement of goods in the EU. It is therefore enough to be guided by the provisions of the EAA without having to deal with the national implementing acts in this regard.

Scope of application for products

The EAA stipulates that, in addition to services, certain products must also be made accessible and usable by all in the future. This applies in particular to important products used by consumers on a daily basis, which people with disabilities are often unable to use simply because they are not designed for accessibility.

Taking into account the opinions of interest groups and experts on accessibility and the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the following product groups have been included in the scope of the EAA:

• consumer general purpose computer hardware systems and operating systems for those hardware systems, e.g. computers, notebooks, smartphones or tablets
• payment terminals and the following self-service terminals, including associated software: ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines, as well as interactive self-service terminals
• consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability, used for electronic communications services, e.g. smartphones and mobile phones or routers and modems
• consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability, used for accessing audiovisual media services, e.g. televisions with internet access, games consoles and streaming sticks
• e-readers

Determining whether a product is within the scope is not always easy. For example, wearables, such as smartwatches, and self-service terminals, such as pick-up stations, raise the question of what falls within the scope and what does not. In addition, there is no clear rule on how to deal with devices installed in other products (e.g. vehicles).

The limitation to consumer products means that products for business customers (B2B sector) are generally not covered. This distinction can also be difficult to make in purely practical terms, as manufacturers often design standardised hardware and do not differentiate between consumer and B2B devices. Although payment and self-service terminals are categorised as B2B products, they clearly fall within the scope of the EAA as they are explicitly mentioned.

Obligations of economic operators

The EAA is a provision that was issued in accordance with the new legislative framework (NLF). The EAA therefore corresponds to the "typical" EU product regulations in terms of structure and taxonomy, such as the Low Voltage Directive and Radio Equipment Directive. This also applies to the economic operators concerned and their obligations.

Comprehensive obligations apply to the manufacturer that is responsible for compliance with accessibility. Documentation of the technical measures taken and completion of a conformity assessment procedure are necessary to ensure conformity. The measures to be taken in the event of non-conformity with the accessibility requirements may extend to even the recall of the products concerned. The marking requirements are likely to be less relevant, as the vast majority of products are probably already covered by other product regulations requiring marking, such as the Radio Equipment Directive or the Radio Equipment Act.

Importers and distributors are held to the same obligations as the manufacturers. Importers must check that products fulfil the accessibility requirements before they are marketed in the EU. Non-compliant products must not be placed on the market. In contrast to the old product regulations, they may be used to, such as those relating to low voltage, restriction of hazardous substances or radio, manufacturers from non-EU countries in particular might not always be familiar with the accessibility requirements. Importers of products from such manufacturers may then face problems beginning this year if the imported products are not EAA-compliant. An indication of such non-conformity may result, for example, from the fact that the manufacturer has not mentioned the EAA in the EU declaration of conformity.

In contrast to importers, distributors of affected products are primarily subject to obligations to check formal conformity. As these obligations are usually already prescribed by existing product regulations, the additional practical effort for retailers should be limited.

Requirements for the products

The requirements for the products are not contained in the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) itself, but in the Ordinance to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSGV). These are arranged somewhat more clearly in the ordinance than they are in the EAA. However, there are no differences in terms of content. It is important that, in addition to the requirements for the design of the user interface and functionality of products, the product packaging and instructions and the information for the products must also be designed to be accessible.

Requirements for the design of user interfaces and other functionalities apply to all products within the scope of application. Among other requirements, products must:

• enable communication using more than one sense. Real-time text (RTT) could be provided as an alternative to voice communication and text-to-speech (TTS) as an alternative to visual communication;
• offer an alternative to voice command, e.g. key input;
• offer options to enlarge the screen magnification and adjust contrast and brightness when using visual elements;
• if information is conveyed using colour, use alternatives such as acoustic signals;
• offer alternative means of biometric user identification and control, such as fingerprint, face and voice recognition.
• Other requirements relate to signal output, audio elements, manual operation and interaction, privacy protection measures and interfaces for assistive technologies.

In addition to the general requirements, there are also sector-specific requirements for certain product groups. There are special requirements for self-service terminals, e-readers, consumer terminal equipment  with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or used for accessing audiovisual media services.

Finally, support services offered for the products, such as help desks, call centres and technical support, must also be made accessible. There is some doubt as to whether this has to be to the same extent (e.g. 24/7) as with "conventional" support.

Product-related standards and other rules and regulations

The rather general provisions in the Ordinance to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSGV) are given more detail by technical standards and other rules and regulations. This is echoed in the Ordinance to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSGV) itself, which refers to the state of the art and a list of relevant standards and conformity tables to be published by the German Federal Office for Accessibility. Apart from the thirteen-page guidelines for the application of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act published on the relevant websites, however, the range of services offered by the German Federal Office for Accessibility is still limited. In addition, the German Federal Office for Accessibility states that it will only be able to start answering enquiries about the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) promptly in 2025 due to a lack of staff.

The following product-related standards and regulations are relevant for assessing accessibility:

• EN 301 549 "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services". The standard is currently being revised with regard to the requirements of the EAA on the basis of the standardisation mandate M/587. However, the latest draft is not publicly available. The standard will become the central set of rules for assessing products.
• EN 17161:2019 Design for All - Accessibility following a Design for All 
• approach in products, goods and services 
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). For products, the provisions there should only be relevant to a limited extent, e.g. with regard to product information or the control of products (e.g. via an app).

As soon as the relevant references to the revised standards are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, the presumption of conformity applies insofar as the standards cover the accessibility requirements. The publication of the amended standard EN 301 549 in particular, which covers a large number of the new product requirements, will make things easier for manufacturers.

Exemptions

Unlike other EU product regulations, the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) provides for two special exemptions, according to which the product requirements do not have to be met: 

• Firstly, this is the case if compliance would change the essence of the product in question, which, according to the explanatory memorandum on the legislation, would be the case if the use of a new technology or software would affect the performance of the product to such an extent that the product could no longer be used as intended.
• Secondly, accessibility requirements are only to be complied with to the extent that they do not represent a disproportionate burden for economic operators (in this case probably referring primarily to manufacturers). The explanatory memorandum to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act states that a disproportionate burden may exist if compliance with the accessibility requirements constitutes an excessive burden and would not be reasonably possible. Lack of priority, time or knowledge will not be considered legitimate reasons.

The assessment and justification that one of the exemptions applies is part of the conformity assessment procedure and must be carried out and documented by the manufacturer itself. There is also an obligation to inform the competent market supervisory authorities when the exemptions are claimed.

The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) deviates from the EAA in this respect and is less strict, as the aforementioned exemptions apply independently of each other and do not have to be cumulative as in the EAA.

Conformity assessment and declaration and CE marking

The manufacturer of the products concerned must carry out a conformity assessment procedure with regard to accessibility. The legislature has decided that the internal production control procedure is sufficient, meaning that external bodies do not necessarily have to be involved in the assessment.

In addition to aspects such as electrical safety or electromagnetic compatibility, the product's technical documentation must specifically address accessibility. If an exemption is claimed, its applicability must be demonstrated here.

At the end of the conformity assessment procedure, the manufacturer must issue an EU declaration of conformity for the product in question. However, the EAA rather than the German Accessibility Strengthening Act will have to be stated in the declaration. If exemptions are claimed, these must be noted in the EU declaration of conformity.

In addition, products falling within the scope of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) are subject to CE marking.

Conclusion

The aim of making important everyday products usable for people with disabilities and thus enabling them to participate in the digital world is to be commended without reservation.

In view of the current lack of technical standards and official guidelines harmonised across the EU, and the many terms that are open to interpretation, this harbours risks for companies.

Compared to modifying services, modifying products usually takes more time, meaning that if a manufacturer of affected products has not yet dealt with the EAA, there is an urgent need for it to act.

For more information on the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) or European Accessibility Act (EAA) and how it could affect your EU-based business, contact your CMS client partner or these CMS experts:

Daniel Hofmann, Franziska Wenzler, Martin Krings, Anna Carla Sommer-Weisel, Florian Dietrich