Basics
Digital accessibility
A website is accessible when as many people as possible can use it – regardless of how they see, hear, move or understand. This page explains the basics and benefits of digital accessibility and the legal situation in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and other countries.
What does “accessible website” mean?
A website that is accessible can be used by as many people as possible. That means, for example, that I can operate the site with a keyboard, have it read out to me, enlarge it, or use it on a poor internet connection.
This does not concern only a small group. Around one person in six worldwide lives with a disability. On top of that come everyone who is temporarily limited: with a broken arm, on the underground, at a screen in glaring sunlight. And everyone who is getting older.
The four principles
The international guidelines for accessible web content – the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – sort everything into four principles. Their initial letters spell the word POUR.
Perceivable
What is there has to get through – without eyes, without ears, without colour vision. Images need a description, videos need captions, text needs enough contrast.
Operable
Everything that works with a mouse works with a keyboard too. Focus stays visible, the order makes sense, controls are big enough.
Understandable
Language you understand on first reading. Error messages say what to do, and the navigation is in the same place everywhere.
Robust
Works with today's screen reader and the browser of the day after tomorrow. Clean, semantic HTML does most of that.
How do I reach more customers with an accessible website?
Accessibility is usually sold as an obligation. The reason it pays off is a different one: people who cannot order, order somewhere else – and you never find out why.
Customers who leave without saying anything
The British Click-Away Pound survey asked disabled people what they do when a website gets in their way. The answers are uncomfortable for any shop:
-
69 %
click away as soon as a site is difficult to use – and buy from a competitor.
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83 %
stick from the outset to the sites they know work.
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86 %
have paid more to buy on an accessible site rather than cheaper somewhere else.
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8 %
get in touch with the site owner. The other 92 % leave without a word.
The survey puts the online revenue lost in the United Kingdom at 17.1 billion pounds a year.
A global study on the state of accessibility
Every year WebAIM examines the home pages of the one million most-visited websites. In the 2026 report: 95.9 % of home pages had automatically detectable WCAG violations, an average of 56 per page. The figure has gone up against 2025, not down – pages are getting more complex, not more accessible.
Who needs digital accessibility?
Around 87 million people with a disability live in the EU. That is exactly why the European Accessibility Act exists, implemented in Austria as the Accessibility Act (BaFG).
On top of that come everyone who is temporarily limited, and everyone who is getting older. Accessibility is not a minority question – it is the question of whether your site still works when conditions are not ideal.
Sources: Click-Away Pound Survey 2019 (External link, opens in a new window) (United Kingdom) · WebAIM Million 2026 (External link, opens in a new window) · European Commission (External link, opens in a new window). There is no comparable survey for Austria; the order of magnitude carries over, though.
What your accessible website gains
- Search engines. A sensible heading structure, descriptive link text and alternative text are the same things search engines need in order to understand a page.
- Reputation. A website that is easy to use gets recommended more readily than a complicated one.
- Maintainability. Semantic HTML survives redesigns
and framework changes better than a construction kit of
<div>elements. - Legal footing. If you know and document where you stand, you can evidence what is being worked on.
Legislation in Austria
Private sector
Accessibility Act (Barrierefreiheitsgesetz, BaFG)
In force since 28 June 2025, the Austrian implementation of the European Accessibility Act. It covers the private sector – online shops, banks, passenger transport, e-books and many digital services. Administrative fines go up to 80,000 euro.
Not everyone is covered. Micro-enterprises providing services only are exempt from the BaFG. My own position: a website everyone can use is a better website – for those outside the law as well.
Public sector
Web Accessibility Act (Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz, WZG)
Applies to the federal government, the provinces, municipalities and the bodies they fund. It additionally requires a published accessibility statement and a way to report barriers.
The technical benchmark for both the BaFG and the WZG is the European standard EN 301 549, which refers to WCAG 2.2 level AA and defines further requirements on top.
The legal situation in Germany and Switzerland
In Austria and Germany the same EU directive sits behind both sets of rules, and technically all three countries end up at the WCAG.
Germany
BFSG, BGG and BITV 2.0
For the private sector the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) has applied since 28 June 2025 – the German implementation of the same European Accessibility Act that Austria implemented in the BaFG. For federal public bodies the Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (BGG) and the Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung (BITV 2.0) apply.
Switzerland
BehiG and eCH-0059
Switzerland is not in the EU, so the European Accessibility Act does not apply there – except where companies also offer their online products in the EU. What governs is the Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (BehiG) and its ordinance: it obliges the federal administration to make its services accessible and prohibits discrimination by private service providers. The technical benchmark is the eCH-0059 standard, which builds on the WCAG.
And internationally?
Accessibility on the web is regulated in many countries, usually along two lines: an anti-discrimination law and a technical requirement for public bodies. A few well-known examples:
- EU: the Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102) for public bodies, the European Accessibility Act (2019/882) for the private sector – technically both by way of EN 301 549.
- USA: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act for federal agencies.
The W3C maintains an overview of the legal situation worldwide: Web Accessibility Laws & Policies (External link, opens in a new window). By its own account it is neither complete nor binding – but for a first look at which country has which law, it does the job.
How can I help?
- You are building something new. Then now is the cheapest moment – see web implementation.
- You want to know where your existing website stands. Then an accessibility audit is the direct route – you get a report with concrete solutions.
- Your web team should be able to do it themselves. My workshops come for every craft, depending on whether you design, write, develop or run projects.