“We need to be EAA compliant — what does that actually mean for us?”
With the European Accessibility Act enforcement deadline now passed (28 June 2025), there’s understandable anxiety in boardrooms across Europe and beyond. Headlines focus on fines reaching up to €500,000 in some member states, as well as potential market restrictions and the complexity for businesses in ensuring compliance.
But here’s what those headlines miss: the EAA isn’t introducing anything revolutionary. It’s codifying into law the same best practices that have underpinned good SEO for years.
Clear structure, proper labelling, semantic markup, text alternatives for images — this is the work we’ve been recommending to clients for a decade. The difference now is that it’s no longer optional.
The connection nobody talks about
Did you know? Googlebot and screen readers experience your website in remarkably similar ways.
Both crawl your document structure linearly, top to bottom. Both rely on semantic HTML, heading hierarchies, and proper labelling to understand what content matters and how it all relates. Neither can see your beautiful hero image or intuit meaning from your visual layout alone.
When you add descriptive alt text to images, you’re helping both visually impaired users and search engines understand your visual content. When you structure your headings properly — one H1, logical H2s and H3s beneath it — you’re creating navigational landmarks for screen reader users and signalling content hierarchy to search algorithms. When your forms have properly associated labels, assistive technologies can announce them correctly and you’ll see lower abandonment rates across all users.
This isn’t theory. A SEMrush study of 10,000 websites found that WCAG-compliant sites gained 23% more organic traffic and ranked for 27% more keywords than non-compliant sites. These sites weren’t optimising for SEO specifically — they were simply built to be accessible. The SEO gains came as a byproduct of doing the fundamentals properly.
Why this matters more now than ever
If you’ve read our recent piece on AI and SEO, you’ll know that answer engines like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are reshaping how people discover information. What’s less discussed is how these AI systems actually process websites — and the answer should make accessibility a strategic priority, not just a compliance box to tick.
AI agents parse websites much like screen readers do. They scan for clean structure, semantic markup, and clearly labelled content. Sites built for accessibility are inherently easier for AI to understand, interpret, and cite accurately.
This matters because AI systems make mistakes. In fact, research suggests they get things wrong over 60% of the time in some contexts. To mitigate this, they naturally gravitate toward sources that are the easiest to parse correctly. If your website is difficult for a screen reader to navigate, it’s probably difficult for AI to interpret reliably. And in an era where AI-generated answers increasingly determine whether users click through to your site at all, that’s a problem.
Meeting the needs of your market
As a growth agency, it’s our job to take a step back occasionally and look at the whole picture. The EAA, the rise of AI search, Google’s continued emphasis on user experience signals — these aren’t separate trends. They’re all pointing in the same direction. Towards websites that are built on solid structural foundations, and designed for genuine usability rather than surface-level optimisation.
There’s also a market reality that compliance-focused conversations tend to miss. Approximately 16% of the global population — around 1.3 billion people — live with a significant disability. Add the ageing baby boomer generation, who increasingly need accessible features to navigate digital experiences comfortably, and you’re looking at a substantial portion of your potential customer base.
Currently, over 96% of the world’s top one million websites fail basic accessibility standards. That’s not just a compliance problem — it’s a market opportunity for businesses willing to do the work properly.
What good looks like
The practical changes required for EAA compliance will be familiar to anyone who’s worked on SEO seriously. Proper heading structures. Descriptive alt text on meaningful images. Links with anchor text that actually describes where they go (not ‘click here’). Sufficient colour contrast between text and background. Forms that work with keyboard navigation alone.
None of this is outlandish. It’s the foundation that good websites have always been built on — the EAA simply raises the floor. The businesses that struggle will be those who’ve accumulated technical debt over years of quick fixes and surface-level optimisation. The businesses that thrive will be those who’ve invested in doing things properly from the start. Or who use this moment to course-correct.
One note of caution: those widget solutions promising one-click accessibility compliance don’t deliver it. The European Commission has explicitly stated that overlays don’t provide EAA compliance, and they often interfere with genuine assistive technologies. Real accessibility requires structural improvements, not cosmetic fixes. There’s no shortcut here. But the good news is that the work you do compounds. Every improvement serves SEO, user experience, and compliance simultaneously.
The board conversation
Executive teams typically want to understand three things: risk, opportunity, and investment.
The risk is real but manageable. Fines vary by member state — Germany up to €500,000, France €5,000–€250,000, with potential daily penalties for ongoing non-compliance. More significantly, non-compliant products can be restricted from EU markets entirely. And for B2B companies specifically, accessibility requirements are increasingly appearing in procurement criteria and RFPs. Your compliance status may affect whether you make the shortlist.
The opportunity is substantial. Accessibility improvements directly enhance SEO performance, expand your addressable market, and position your digital presence for AI-driven search. Companies implementing accessibility well will gain ground, while competitors scramble.
The investment is largely about raising standards on existing work rather than launching entirely new initiatives. If you’re already investing in SEO and user experience, accessibility compliance extends and validates that investment — it doesn’t replace it.
The bottom line
The EAA isn’t disrupting digital strategy — it’s validating the approach that’s always worked. Clear structure, semantic markup, proper labelling, and user-centred design have been best practice for years. The Act simply makes them non-negotiable for anyone serious about the European market.
In a landscape where 96% of websites fail basic accessibility standards, compliance alone sets you apart. Execute well, and you’re not just avoiding fines. You’re building a genuinely better digital presence that serves human users, search engines and AI systems alike.
The strategy isn’t revolutionary. It’s evolutionary. Do what’s always worked, but do it properly.
Ready to turn compliance into a competitive advantage?
The EAA deadline has passed, but it’s not too late to act. Businesses that prioritise accessibility now will capture ground while competitors play catch-up.
Book a free consultation to discuss how your website measures up against EAA requirements — and where accessibility improvements can drive both compliance and growth.
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