Digital accessibility in favour of disabled people in France: years of legislative efforts now enhanced by the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/882 (EAA)

Cécile Théard-Jallu
De Gaulle Fleurance, Paris
ctheardjallu@dgfla.com

Louisa Imatte
De Gaulle Fleurance, Paris
limatte@dgfla.com

While more than 18 per cent of the French population has a disability,^[1] less than 10 per cent of websites in France in 2024 were fully accessible to people with disabilities^[2] (though a number of them are already partially accessible). This highlights the gap between digital inclusion objectives and their actual achievement.

France has been working for some 20 years to improve digital accessibility, understood as the ability of people with disabilities to access online content and services without barriers.

France made an early commitment in this area with Act No 2005-102 of 11 February 2005, on equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship for persons with disabilities (the ‘Disability Act’), which introduced an initial digital accessibility requirement for public services, followed by assimilated services and those supplied by private companies with a minimum level of annual turnover.

Under the impetus of European Union law, this framework has recently been extended to the full private sector spectrum in certain market segments^[3] following the transposition into domestic law of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements applicable to products and services (the ‘European Accessibility Act’ or EAA), whose provisions came into force on 28 June 2025.

Digital accessibility: a longstanding concern in France

Understanding the possible impact of the EAA in France requires to understand the existing French digital accessibility regime. The latter has its origins in Article 47 of the Disability Act, which enshrined the principle of accessibility of online public communication services provided by public bodies and similar organisations.

Initially limited to the online services of the French state, local authorities and their public institutions, this obligation was subsequently extended to certain private legal entities entrusted with a public service mission or created to meet general interest needs other than industrial or commercial needs, including those involving public and private entities, as well as to companies with an average turnover exceeding €250m over the past three financial years closed in France.^[4]

The concept of ‘online public communication service’ should be understood in the broadest sense: ie, any provision to the public or categories of the public, by electronic means, of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds or messages of any kind, with the exception of private correspondence,^[5] and certain limited categories of content due to their ancient date of release, intrinsic nature or circumstances of publication. ^[6]

More specifically, Article 47 of the Disability Act requires the organisations concerned to:

• comply with digital accessibility requirements;
• publish an accessibility statement specifying the level of compliance of their website or service, based on a compliance rate with the General Accessibility Improvement Framework (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité or RGAA);^[7]
• implement a multi-year accessibility plan and an annual action plan; and
• display a complaint system allowing users to report any breaches they notice.

These obligations only apply insofar as they do not create a disproportionate burden on the eligible organisation (in case of such a burden, an alternative should be made available).^[8]

The inclusion of private companies in the scope of digital accessibility monitoring thanks to the EAA

Adopted on 17 April 2019, the EAA is part of the drive to ensure that people with disabilities can participate fully in economic and social life. Its transposition into French law is a major step forward, extending the scope of digital accessibility law to products and services, and more broadly to private companies involved in a number of economic sectors.^[9]

France first transposed this EAA through Article 16 of Act No 2023-171 of 9 March 2023 on various provisions adapting French law to EU law in the fields of the economy, health, labour, transport and agriculture, then supplemented it through several implementing texts. Among others, this transposition set has had for its consequence to amend the Disability Act itself to make it consistent with the EAA without erasing its pre-existing core principles.

The decision was made to adhere to the minimum framework set by the EU by adopting the text of the EAA almost verbatim, while linking the new system to the existing one deriving from the Disability Act. This approach has had two advantages: limiting the regulatory burden on economic actors and maintaining consistency with the national legal corpus. The scope of the EAA can be divided into two main categories:

• Products placed on the market from 28 June 2025: computers, smartphones, tablets, television equipment, e-readers, payment terminals, vending machines and ticket machines.
• Services provided to consumers from 28 June 2025: electronic communications, e-commerce, retail banking services, audiovisual media, passenger transport services (information and ticketing websites and applications), as well as e-books and reading software.

Private companies, with the exception of micro-enterprises,^[10] must therefore comply with accessibility requirements for products placed on the market and services offered from 28 June 2025. This implies, in particular:

• the obligation to make e-commerce websites and applications accessible;
• the accessibility of passenger transport services (information, ticketing systems, assistance); and
• bringing payment terminals and vending machines into compliance;

However, there are exemptions if the products or services cannot be made accessible due to their nature, or if the cost of making them accessible is disproportionate. A list of excluded online content and services is also provided by Article 412-50 of the French Consumer code.^[11]

On the ground of what has become a bicephalic legal regime, several national authorities will be responsible for supervising the enforcement of and ordering measures and/or sanctions under the EAA at the French national level (Article L. 511-25-1 of the French Consumer Code): DGCCRF^[12] and depending on the products or services involved, ARCOM,^[13] ARCEP,^[14] AMF,^[15] ACPR^[16] and the Banque de France.

In the event of non-compliance, companies may be subject to a number of corrective measures that may include the withdrawal of products from the market, as well as financial penalties. The financial penalties for a breach of the EAA transposed rules include a fifth-class fine of €1,500 per offence for a natural person and €7,500 per offence for a legal entity.^[17] In the event of a repeat offence, the fine may be increased to €3,000 for a natural person and up to €30,000 for a legal entity.^[18]

Also, in the event of a breach of the Disability Act rules,^[19] the authority may send a prior public formal notice to rectify any non-compliance accessibility actions. If it is not rectified, it may impose a financial penalty whose amount shall take into account the nature, seriousness and duration of the breach and, where applicable, any previous breaches. It may not exceed €50,000 for failure to comply with the accessibility obligation itself and €25,000 for failure to comply with obligations relating to the accessibility declaration, pluriannual accessibility plan, annual action plans and complaint mechanism. It may also order the publicity of the sanction.

Is there an overlap or interlocking of French rules with EU rules?

Since the obligations under the EAA came into force, a key question has emerged: how can Article 47 of the Disability Act, which requires accessibility to online communication services in the public sector and certain similar or large organisations, be reconciled with the new requirements for certain private sector products and services under the EAA?

In reality, the EAA and its transposition texts do not replace French rules: they complement them. This results in a two-tier regulatory landscape:

• existing national obligations continue to apply to public and assimilated actors as well as certain large entities for online communication services;
• the new rules resulting from the EAA apply to private operators for a defined range of products and services (payment terminals, e-commerce, transport services, digital books, etc.).

This coexistence does not create any real conflict, but it may complicate the landscape in favour of a smooth movement to extend the scope of accessibility. Some private operators, particularly those on the borderline between public service missions and commercial activities or of a certain size on the market, will therefore have to deal with both systems.

Conclusion

By extending obligations beyond the public sector alone, accessibility rules are becoming a cross-cutting requirement that will shape the entire market. Beyond mere compliance with the law, accessibility represents a genuine lever for competitiveness. In a market where user experience has become a decisive differentiator, integrating accessibility from the design phase of products and services not only expands potential audiences but also improves overall quality. The new regulatory framework thus opens up a real window of opportunity: companies that anticipate and invest in accessibility will not only meet legal expectations but will also stand out through an inclusive approach increasingly appreciated by users.

Consumer organisations and disability advocacy associations are now closely monitoring the actual implementation of the new provisions that took effect on 28 June 2025. Several major French retailers – such as Carrefour, Auchan, Edouard Leclerc, and Picard^[20] – have already received formal notices requiring them to make their e-commerce platforms accessible to visually impaired users by 1 September. This development highlights the emergence of both reputational and legal risks that can be just as significant as administrative penalties: in an era of extensive media attention, non-compliance becomes as much a matter of public image as of law.

The coming months will be crucial: with strengthened enforcement powers of authorities and reputational exposure risk amplified by the media, companies now face a dual form of scrutiny. The follow-up to possible formal notices and the first rulings will set the precedent, determining whether the EAA is perceived as a new constraint or as a genuine driver of market transformation.