What Does Austria’s Accessibility Law Require?
Accessibility (EAA)Austria’s accessibility law is the Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), which transposes the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) into national law. Applying since 28 June 2025, it requires consumer-facing e-commerce to be accessible to people with disabilities, measured against EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 level AA.
What that means for your shop
Meeting the standard comes down to a handful of practical things that let disabled customers browse and buy:
- Colour contrast of at least 4.5:1 for normal text.
- Keyboard navigation through the whole purchase journey.
- Labelled checkout forms, each field tied to a clear label.
- Alt text on images that carry meaning.
Language and exemption
The Barrierefreiheitsgesetz and its supervision operate in German, so plan for national terminology and correspondence to be in the language. Note too the microenterprise exemption: a business with fewer than 10 staff and no more than €2 million turnover or balance-sheet total is exempt from the service obligations — but only if it meets both thresholds.
For the wider framework, see our European Accessibility Act law page and the complete accessibility guide.
This answer is educational and does not constitute legal advice.