The Accessibility Strengthening Act: What it demands and who it affects

The BFSG was passed by the Bundestag on July 16, 2021 and published in the Federal Law Gazette on July 22, 2021 (BGBl. I p. 2970). The transition period ended on June 28, 2025. The law is based on EU Directive 2019/882, which obliges all EU member states to implement uniform accessibility requirements for certain products and services. The goal is removing barriers to the free movement of goods and improving participation of people with disabilities in economic and social life.

The directive defines functional requirements that are technically specified through the harmonized European standard EN 301 549. For web content, EN 301 549 references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at conformance level AA. Since WCAG 2.2 was published as a W3C Recommendation in October 2023 and represents the current state of the art, we recommend aiming for conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA. Our WCAG 2.2 audit tests all 78 success criteria and optimally prepares you for the legal requirements.

The BFSG defines its material scope in Sections 1 and 2. Both physical products and services placed on the market or provided after June 28, 2025 are affected. The digital sector is particularly strongly affected, as virtually all services offered online fall under the law.

The concrete technical requirements derive from the harmonized standard EN 301 549 V3.2.1, which references WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content. WCAG is based on four principles known as POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. Each principle contains guidelines and measurable success criteria that determine a website's conformance.

The BFSG provides certain exemptions that are, however, narrower than many businesses assume. The most important exemption concerns micro-enterprises: companies with fewer than ten employees and annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than two million euros are exempt from certain product requirements (BFSG Section 3 Para. 3). However, this exemption does not apply to all electronic commerce services. Online shops selling products to consumers are generally affected even if the company has fewer than ten employees.

A further exemption exists for disproportionate burden (BFSG Section 17). An economic operator may invoke this exemption if compliance with accessibility requirements would require a fundamental alteration of the essential characteristics of the product or service or constitute a disproportionate financial burden. This exemption must be documented and demonstrated to the market surveillance authority upon request. In practice, this exemption will apply in very few cases, as most accessibility requirements can be implemented with reasonable effort.

For products already placed on the market before June 28, 2025, transitional periods apply. Services begun before this date may continue in their current form until June 28, 2030. However, new service contracts concluded after the deadline must immediately meet the requirements. For websites and online shops this means: every substantial change or new publication after June 28, 2025 must be accessible.

Enforcement of the BFSG falls to the state market surveillance authorities. In North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, the Cologne district government is responsible; in Lower Saxony, the trade supervision authority. Authorities can take various measures for violations: they can order the elimination of non-conformity, restrict or prohibit distribution of the affected product or service, and impose fines for repeated or serious violations.

Fines can amount to up to 100,000 euros per BFSG Section 37. Additionally, the law enables class-action lawsuits: consumer protection and disability associations can file injunction suits against companies violating accessibility requirements. These lawsuits can be filed independently of individual complaints and often lead to considerable public pressure. The EU Commission has also announced active monitoring of implementation in member states (Source: EU Commission 2024).

Under BFSG Section 14, companies are required to publish an accessibility statement. This statement must document the current accessibility status, identify known limitations, describe planned remediation measures and provide a feedback mechanism for users. The statement must be easily findable on the website, typically via a footer link similar to the legal notice and privacy policy.

The statement should indicate the conformance status per WCAG 2.1 AA (or better WCAG 2.2 AA): fully conformant, partially conformant or not conformant. For partial conformance, non-conformant areas must be named and the planned timeline for remediation provided. We support you in creating a legally compliant accessibility statement and its regular updating as part of our compliance monitoring.

In addition to the BFSG, Germany has the Accessible Information Technology Regulation (BITV 2.0), based on the Disability Equality Act (BGG). BITV 2.0 targets federal authorities and has required accessible design of their websites and apps since 2016. The technical requirements of both regulations largely overlap, as both reference WCAG and EN 301 549.

The key difference lies in the addressees: BITV 2.0 applies to the public sector, the BFSG to the private sector. Companies active in both B2G and B2C areas must observe both regulations. For practical implementation this usually means no additional effort, as conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA satisfies both requirements. Our approach therefore always targets the highest common standard.

The following checklist helps with an initial assessment of whether your company falls under the BFSG. If uncertain, we recommend individual consultation, as the determination can be complex in individual cases.

If at least one of these points applies to your company, you should have the accessibility of your digital offerings checked. The more points apply, the more extensive your obligations. Contact us for an individual assessment of your legal situation.

Confrontation with the BFSG triggers uncertainty in many companies: where to start? Which measures have priority? Our recommendation is based on a three-step approach proven in practice. First: baseline assessment through a professional WCAG 2.2 audit to capture the current state and identify action areas. Second: prioritized remediation starting with the most critical barriers in business-critical areas (for online shops the purchase process, for service websites the contact forms and booking processes). Third: sustainable anchoring through training for your team and automated monitoring so new content and features are developed accessibly from the start.

Timeline planning should be realistic: a complete audit takes two to five weeks depending on website complexity, remediation four to twelve weeks and re-audit one to two weeks. For companies that have not yet implemented any accessibility measures this means a total period of two to five months to conformance. This timeline cannot be arbitrarily shortened as thorough testing and careful implementation determine result quality. Companies that have already passed the BFSG deadlines should still act promptly: market surveillance authorities will likely consider whether a company is making recognizable efforts to achieve conformance.

The BFSG is the German implementation of an EU-wide directive. All 27 EU member states had to transpose the European Accessibility Act into national law by June 28, 2025. Technical requirements are harmonized through EN 301 549, so companies meeting German requirements generally also meet requirements in other EU markets. For internationally active companies this means: an investment in WCAG 2.2 AA conformance applies EU-wide and does not need to be conducted separately for each market. Only language-specific aspects like HTML language markup (lang attribute) and translation quality must be checked separately for each language area.

Enforcement of the BFSG lies with the state market surveillance authorities. These authorities have the power to check websites and digital services for conformance and take action for violations. In the initial phase after the BFSG taking effect, authorities are expected to first respond to tips from consumers and associations before proactively conducting their own checks. However consumer protection and disability associations have already announced they will actively monitor BFSG compliance and file injunction lawsuits for violations. For companies this means: even if an official inspection is not immediately imminent, the risk of association lawsuits is real and present.

A proactive approach is therefore the best strategy: companies that invest early in accessibility not only minimize their legal risk but can also publish a complete accessibility statement documenting their conformance efforts. This statement acts as evidence of good faith and systematic efforts in a potential review. We support you at every step of this process: from the initial audit through technical implementation to documentation and long-term monitoring. Contact us for an individual assessment of your situation.