The Forgotten Pillar of the Web: Why Accessibility is Crucial (And Why the EU is Forcing the Issue)

The Forgotten Pillar of the Web: Why Accessibility is Crucial (And Why the EU is Forcing the Issue)


Web Accessibility

As a web developer, I spend most of my time ensuring that the code is clean, fast, and the design is responsive. But there is one aspect that is often overlooked, yet should be an absolute priority: Accessibility (A11y).

What exactly is Accessibility?

Simply put, web accessibility means that people with disabilities – whether visual, auditory, physical, speech, or cognitive impairments – can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with your website. It’s not just about a severely visually impaired user being able to read text with a screen reader. It’s also about people with temporary disabilities (e.g., a broken arm), situational limitations (e.g., bright sunlight on the screen), or just those using older technology. It’s about inclusion. For me personally, it’s an ethical standard; building a website for everyone.

My Perspective from Practice

I’ll admit, at the start of my career, I didn’t focus on accessibility. I was solely focused on making it look good and work. But the longer I’m in the industry, the more I realize that ignoring things like proper semantic HTML markup, sufficient color contrast, or keyboard navigation is simply a professional failure. When I implement a new component, I always test if it’s fully keyboard-operable and has the correct ARIA attributes. It has become a habit and an automatic step in my workflow. Pressing the tab key can be relaxing at times.

And Now for the Big Change from the EU

If you haven’t noticed yet, it’s time to pay attention. The European Union is pushing to make accessibility a mandatory reality on a much broader scale. Specifically, from June 28, 2025, websites and mobile applications will have to meet the minimum requirements of the WCAG 2.1 specification at the AA level.

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of internationally recognized recommendations for improving web content accessibility. Level AA is considered the standard for most commercial and governmental websites. This is a massive step! It’s not just a nice-to-have anymore; it’s a legal obligation. And for us developers, it means only one thing: we must become familiar with WCAG 2.1 and implement it.

However, the specifications are too formal, and the rules can be simply summarized as follows: every website should have:

  • Sufficient color contrast (min. 4.5:1, 3:1 for large text).
  • The option of keyboard-only control (i.e., without a mouse).
  • Clearly visible focus (visual highlighting of elements).
  • Text alternatives for images and icons (alt texts).
  • Meaningful content order and structure (e.g., headings, form descriptions).
  • Descriptive button and link names.
  • Accessible forms (labels, understandable error messages).
  • Text that is legible even when significantly enlarged (e.g., 200%).
  • Consistent controls and navigation across pages.
  • Color must not be used as the only means of conveying information.
  • Content must not flash more than 3 times per second.

Conclusion

The work you put into accessibility isn’t just about meeting the standard or checking an EU box. It’s an investment in the user experience for everyone, an expansion of your potential user base, and, quite frankly, doing the right thing. Let’s build websites that are open to all!

Bonus: The EU Decalogue

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. You can read the directive here.

And how does the EU justify this? Let’s take a look at the top 10 reasons:

  1. The purpose of this Directive is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by approximating laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States as regards accessibility requirements for certain products and services by, in particular, eliminating and preventing barriers to the free movement of certain accessible products and services arising from divergent accessibility requirements in the Member States. This would increase the availability of accessible products and services in the internal market and improve the accessibility of relevant information.

  2. The demand for accessible products and services is high and the number of persons with disabilities is projected to increase significantly. An environment where products and services are more accessible allows for a more inclusive society and facilitates independent living for persons with disabilities. In this context, it should be borne in mind that the prevalence of disability in the Union is higher among women than among men.

  3. This Directive defines persons with disabilities in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 13 December 2006 (UN CRPD), to which the Union has been a Party since 21 January 2011 and which all Member States have ratified. The UN CRPD states that persons with disabilities ‘include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others’. This Directive promotes full and effective equal participation by improving access to mainstream products and services that, through their initial design or subsequent adaptation, address the particular needs of persons with disabilities.

  4. Other persons who experience functional limitations, such as elderly persons, pregnant women or persons travelling with luggage, would also benefit from this Directive. The concept of ‘persons with functional limitations’, as referred to in this Directive, includes persons who have any physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impair ments, age related impairments, or other human body performance related causes, permanent or temporary, which, in interaction with various barriers, result in their reduced access to products and services, leading to a situation that requires those products and services to be adapted to their particular needs.

  5. The disparities between the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of Member States concerning the accessibility of products and services for persons with disabilities, create barriers to the free movement of products and services and distort effective competition in the internal market. For some products and services, those disparities are likely to increase in the Union after the entry into force of the UN CRPD. Economic operators, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are particularly affected by those barriers.

  6. Due to the differences in national accessibility requirements, individual professionals, SMEs and microenterprises in particular are discouraged from entering into business ventures outside their own domestic markets. The national, or even regional or local, accessibility requirements that Member States have put in place currently differ as regards both coverage and level of detail. Those differences negatively affect competitiveness and growth, due to the additional costs incurred in the development and marketing of accessible products and services for each national market.

  7. Consumers of accessible products and services and of assistive technologies, are faced with high prices due to limited competition among suppliers. Fragmentation among national regulations reduces potential benefits derived from sharing with national and international peers experiences concerning responding to societal and technological developments.

  8. The approximation of national measures at Union level is therefore necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market in order to put an end to fragmentation in the market of accessible products and services, to create economies of scale, to facilitate cross-border trade and mobility, as well as to help economic operators to concentrate resources on innovation instead of using those resources to cover expenses arising from fragmented legislation across the Union.

  9. The benefits of harmonising accessibility requirements for the internal market have been demonstrated by the application of Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (1)regarding lifts and Regulation (EC) No 661/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) in the area of transport.

  10. In Declaration No 22, regarding persons with a disability, annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States agreed that, in drawing up measures under Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the institutions of the Union are to take account of the needs of persons with disabilities.

Footnotes

  1. Directive 2014/33/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to lifts and safety components for lifts (OJ L 96, 29.3.2014, p. 251). (1)

  2. Regulation (EC) No 661/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning type-approval requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles, their trailers and systems, components and separate technical units intended therefor (OJ L 200, 31.7.2009, p. 1). (2)