WCAG is a familiar name to most accessibility professionals โ but the EAA doesn't refer directly to WCAG. The official regulatory basis is the European EN 301 549 standard. This article explains how the standards relate to each other, and how to actually align with both.
In short โ what this article covers
What EN 301 549 is
EN 301 549 is the official European standard for the accessibility of ICT (information and communication technology) products and services โ not just websites, but also documents, software, hardware, and devices like ATMs and self-service kiosks. This is the standard that European legislation officially refers to, including the EAA and the Web Accessibility Directive for public sector bodies.
How it relates to WCAG
The good news: EN 301 549 doesn't invent new rules from scratch. Its central chapter dealing with web content and digital documents (Chapter 9) directly adopts WCAG 2.1 at level AA as a requirement. In other words, an organization that already meets WCAG 2.1 AA โ as required in Israel under Standard 5568 โ already meets most of the substantive requirements of EN 301 549 for digital content.
๐ก Key point
The practical implication: if you've worked on Standard 5568 or WCAG 2.1 AA for the Israeli market, you're already in very good shape for the European market โ there's no need to start from scratch.
What EN 301 549 covers that WCAG doesn't
The key difference is that EN 301 549 is far broader than WCAG: it includes separate chapters on hardware accessibility (touchscreens, physical keyboards), non-browser-based software, support services (like service desks and help documentation), and television and communication products. For an organization that only operates a website or digital documents, most of the relevant requirements still come from the WCAG chapter โ but organizations with hardware products or physical kiosks need to review the additional chapters too.
How to actually align with it
- If you already meet WCAG 2.1 AA: confirm that your digital content (website and documents) meets all 50 criteria of the level โ not just some of them.
- Map your non-digital products: if you have physical kiosks, devices, or support lines, review the relevant EN 301 549 chapters that go beyond digital content.
- Document an accessibility statement: EN 301 549 and the EAA require a public, accessible accessibility statement on the site itself โ meeting the requirements isn't enough, you also need to declare it in an organized way.
Want to know how close your site and documents are to EN 301 549?
Our tool checks your PDF files against the WCAG 2.1 AA criteria โ the central basis of the European standard.
Scan your site for free โAfter the scan, you can also fix the documents that were flagged directly and for free via AccessiDoc.