When companies think about the BFSG, they usually think about their website and their online shop first. The product side of the act tends to be overlooked, and that is exactly where the devices used by millions of people every day are found: ATMs, ticket machines, check-in kiosks and interactive information terminals. In Germany alone, payment service providers operated around 49,750 ATMs (Deutsche Bundesbank, payment statistics) and some 22,500 credit transfer terminals (Deutsche Bundesbank, payment statistics) in 2024. These devices follow their own logic of scope, exemptions and transition periods, and that logic does not line up with the deadline for services. Mixing the two leads to the wrong conclusions, usually in favour of a legal comfort the act does not actually provide.
The scope: which terminals the BFSG covers
The starting point is Section 1(2) BFSG. It lists the products the act applies to and ties them to a cut-off date: the act covers products placed on the market after 28 June 2025 (BFSG, Section 1(2)). Two criteria therefore decide the question, the product category and the moment of placing on the market. Placing on the market means making a product available on the Union market for the first time (BFSG, Section 2 no. 10). Neither the installation site nor the date on which an operator buys or deploys the device is decisive.
- Payment terminals and the hardware and software belonging to them.
- ATMs, insofar as they are intended for the provision of services covered by the act.
- Ticket machines, subject to the same purpose limitation.
- Check-in kiosks, subject to the same purpose limitation.
- Interactive self-service terminals providing information, excluding terminals built into vehicles.
The difference between the first and the remaining categories is often missed in practice. ATMs, ticket machines, check-in kiosks and information terminals carry a purpose limitation: they are covered only insofar as they are intended for the provision of services falling under the act (BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2). Payment terminals carry no such limitation. They are covered regardless of any service link, and expressly including the hardware and software belonging to them (BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2(a)). That addition is precisely why looking at the metal enclosure falls short: the user interface is part of the product.
Product or service?
We covered the fundamentals of the service side in our article on what companies need to know about the BFSG. This text concentrates on the product side and on its interface with the service, because that is where most misjudgements arise.
Exemptions and edge cases: built-in terminals and transport services
The most important exemption in practice concerns built-in devices. Terminals installed as integrated components of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock are excluded (BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2). The exemption attaches to the physical integration, not to the operator and not to the device technology. The ticket machine on the platform falls under the act; the identical machine permanently installed inside the carriage does not.
The same structure repeats on the service side. For air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport services, the act covers websites, services offered on mobile devices including apps, electronic tickets and ticketing services, the provision of transport information, and interactive self-service terminals located within the territory of the European Union, again excluding terminals integrated into vehicles (BFSG, Section 1(3) no. 2). Information screens count only where they are interactive screens. A pure departure board is not covered by this provision.
Special case: urban, suburban and regional transport
| Situation | Covered? | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Ticket machine on the platform, placed on the market after 28 June 2025 | Yes, as a product | BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2 |
| Machine permanently installed in rolling stock | No, exempt | BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2 |
| Payment terminal at the checkout | Yes, including hardware and software | BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2(a) |
| Non-interactive departure board | not included | BFSG, Section 1(3) no. 2(d) |
| Website of a long-distance transport operator | Yes, as a service | BFSG, Section 1(3) no. 2(a) |
| Website of a purely regional transport service | Only terminals under point (e) | BFSG, Section 1(3) no. 2 |
An example from hospitality shows how fine the purpose limitation is. An interactive information terminal in a hotel lobby is covered only if it is intended for the provision of one of the services listed in Section 1(3) BFSG. Accommodation itself is not part of that catalogue. The payment terminal standing at the same reception desk, by contrast, is covered regardless, because point (a) knows no purpose limitation (BFSG, Section 1(2) no. 2). And as soon as the booking runs through the hotel's own website, there is an e-commerce service covered by Section 1(3) no. 5 BFSG. For businesses in tourism and hospitality, it is therefore not the device that decides the duties, but the purpose it serves.
Grandfathering until 2040: what the transition rule actually covers
This is the heart of the topic. Section 38(2) BFSG provides that self-service terminals lawfully used by service providers before 28 June 2025 for the provision of services may continue to be used for the provision of comparable services until the end of their economically useful life, but no longer than fifteen years after their entry into use (BFSG, Section 38(2)). Two limits apply cumulatively: the economically useful life and the fifteen-year cap. A device taken into use in June 2025 can therefore be operated until 2040 at the very latest; where the useful life ends earlier, the grandfathering ends earlier too.
The European rule would have been more generous. The European Accessibility Act names a maximum of 20 years after entry into use (Directive (EU) 2019/882, recital 101). The German legislator shortened the period to 15 years. Anyone working with European overviews or group-wide guidance from other member states should be aware of this national tightening: for the German market, Section 38 BFSG governs.
Subsection 1 of the same provision governs the second transition. Service providers may continue to provide their services using products that they already lawfully used for the provision of these or similar services before 28 June 2025, until 27 June 2030. Service contracts concluded before the cut-off date may continue unchanged until the end of the period for which they were concluded, but no longer than 27 June 2030 (BFSG, Section 38(1)).
The core confusion
This is not an academic distinction but the exact point where the real audit situation arises. Section 14 BFSG obliges service providers to offer or provide a service only if it meets the accessibility requirements and if they have produced the information under Annex 3 no. 1 and made it publicly available in an accessible form (BFSG, Section 14(1)). This duty has no transition period. It is also designed to be permanent: subsection 3 requires the requirements to be met at all times and changes in the way the service is provided, in the applicable requirements and in the harmonised standards relied upon to be taken into account (BFSG, Section 14(3)).
In practice this means that an existing machine can be justified with a procurement date and a useful life. The booking flow selling the same ticket online, the customer account managing it and the PDF invoice it generates cannot. Where effort and benefit genuinely diverge for individual measures, the route runs through a documented exemption rather than through silence. Our article on disproportionate burden under Section 17 BFSG sets out the conditions.
| Subject | Deadline | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal lawfully in use before 28 June 2025 | End of economically useful life, no more than 15 years after entry into use | BFSG, Section 38(2) |
| Other products used to provide services before 28 June 2025 | 27 June 2030 | BFSG, Section 38(1) |
| Service contracts concluded before 28 June 2025 | Contract term, no later than 27 June 2030 | BFSG, Section 38(1) |
| Terminal placed on the market after 28 June 2025 | Immediately, no transition | BFSG, Section 1(2) |
| Website, app, booking flow, customer account | Since 28 June 2025 | BFSG, Sections 1(3) and 14 |
Requirements for terminal software under EN 301 549
The substantive requirements are not in the act itself. Section 3 BFSG defines accessibility as findable, accessible and usable in the customary manner, without particular difficulty and in principle without external assistance, and otherwise contains an authorisation to issue a regulation (BFSG, Section 3). That regulation is the BFSGV, the ordinance under the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz. Its Section 7 sets out the additional sector-specific requirements for self-service terminals (BFSGV, Section 7).
- The terminal must be equipped with speech output.
- It must allow the use of personal headsets.
- It must indicate through more than one sensory channel when the time available for a response is limited.
- It must allow that response time to be extended.
- Keys and controls must offer sufficient contrast and tactile discernibility, where keys and controls are used.
- Audio signals must be compatible with hearing assistance technology such as hearing aids, telecoils, cochlear implants and assistive listening devices.
- Information on activating the accessibility features must be available through more than one sensory channel (Section 7(2)).
These requirements are deliberately functional. They only become testable through the harmonised standard. Under Section 4 BFSG, products and services that conform to harmonised standards or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, are presumed to meet the requirements of the ordinance (BFSG, Section 4). For information and communication technology, that standard is EN 301 549. In addition, the Bundesfachstelle Barrierefreiheit publishes the key standards to be observed and conformity tables (BFSGV, Section 3(2)).
Speech output without vision
Auditory output must be delivered either directly by a mechanism included in the device or by a personal headset that can be connected through a 3.5 mm audio jack or an industry standard connection, without requiring the use of vision (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 5.1.3.2).
Private output and receipts
Data considered private may only be delivered through a mechanism for private listening (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 5.1.3.9). For receipts and tickets, speech output must include all information necessary to complete or verify the transaction (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 5.1.3.16).
Volume and interference
Non-visual incremental volume control with amplification up to at least 65 dBA (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 5.1.3.12), a reset after every use (clause 5.1.3.13), no interfering audio lasting longer than three seconds (clause 5.1.3.10) and a control range of at least 18 dB (clause 8.2.1).
Reach and force
At least one operable part of each type must sit within a side reach of no more than 1,220 mm and no less than 380 mm above the floor (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 8.3.3). Where a control requires more than 22.2 N, an accessible alternative requiring less force must be provided (clause 8.4.2.2).
Time limits
Terminal software is non-web software. The criterion "Timing adjustable" applies to it, meaning time limits that can be turned off, adjusted or extended (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 11.2.2.1). The ordinance additionally requires the limit to be signalled through more than one channel (BFSGV, Section 7(1)).
No touch-only path
Tactile references are mandatory: the number five key must be tactilely distinct from the other keys (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 8.4.1), the means to start the speech mode must be tactilely indicated (clause 8.5), and simultaneous user actions must not be the only mode of operation (clause 5.9).
The most common design flaw in modern terminals is the touch-only path. A self-service terminal is a closed system: users cannot install their own assistive technology, cannot bring their own screen reader and cannot change a system setting. That is precisely why the standard requires all functionality of closed functionality to be operable without vision (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 5.1.3.1). A smooth touch display without tactile references, without speech output and without a physically discoverable entry point to the speech mode does not meet that requirement, however cleanly the interface is designed. Colour is governed too: colour must not be the only visual means of conveying information or distinguishing elements (EN 301 549 V3.2.1, clause 8.1.3). We described the measurement basis in our article on colour contrast in accessibility.
A terminal is not a screen in a housing but a closed system. Whatever the user cannot bring along, the device itself has to provide.
We described the standard itself, its structure and its version situation in our article on EN 301 549 as the standard behind the BFSG. For the web and app elements of the accompanying service, chapters 9 and 11 of the standard apply, referring to the WCAG success criteria that a WCAG 2.2 audit covers systematically. The draft status of the next WCAG generation changes nothing about this basis for now, as our status report on the WCAG 3 draft shows. For planning purposes: the terminal clauses from chapters 5 and 8 and the web clauses from chapters 9 and 11 belong in the same checklist, but in separate rows.
Roles in interplay: manufacturer, distributor, service provider
The BFSG distributes duties along the supply chain. For terminal fleets this distribution is delicate, because operators typically act in several roles at once: they provide the service, procure the device and often design the user interface themselves.
Manufacturer (Section 6)
Design and manufacture according to the requirements of the ordinance, technical documentation under Annex 2, conformity assessment, EU declaration of conformity under Section 18, CE marking under Section 19. Documentation and declaration must be kept for five years (BFSG, Section 6(2)), plus procedures for series production and a register of complaints (BFSG, Section 6(3) and (5)).
Distributor (Section 11)
May only make a product available once the CE marking is affixed, the required documents are enclosed and the manufacturer and importer have fulfilled their marking and information duties. Where the distributor knows or has reason to believe a product is non-conform, it must not be made available, and the manufacturer or importer and the market surveillance authority must be informed (BFSG, Section 11).
Service provider (Section 14)
May only offer or provide the service if it meets the requirements and if the information under Annex 3 no. 1 has been produced and made publicly available in an accessible form. That information must be retained for as long as the service is offered, and conformity must be ensured on an ongoing basis (BFSG, Section 14).
When an operator becomes a manufacturer
For operators this means in practice that procurement decides the later evidence position. Tender and contract texts that name EN 301 549 clause by clause and require the EU declaration of conformity including the applied version of the standard shift the burden of proof to where it belongs. Our article on accessibility in public tenders shows how to phrase this. For institutions whose ATM network and online banking serve the same customer relationship, we summarised the requirements under accessibility for banks and insurers.
Conformity assessment under Annex 2 and CE marking
Annex 2 BFSG describes the conformity assessment procedure as internal production control, by which the manufacturer declares on its own responsibility that the products concerned meet the relevant requirements of the act (BFSG, Annex 2). No notified body is involved. There is no external certificate and no third-party assessment as a precondition for placing a product on the market. That lowers the barrier to market access and shifts the risk to a later point: the quality of your own documentation decides whether the declaration holds when it matters.
- Technical documentation: the manufacturer produces documentation enabling an assessment of the product against the accessibility requirements, covering design, manufacture and operation as far as relevant to that assessment.
- Content of the documentation: a general description of the product, a list of the harmonised standards and technical specifications applied and, where standards were not applied or applied only in part, a description of the solutions adopted instead.
- Manufacturing: measures ensuring that the manufacturing process and its monitoring keep the series in conformity with the technical documentation and the requirements.
- CE marking and EU declaration of conformity: the CE marking on every conforming product and a written or electronic EU declaration of conformity per product model, available to the authorities on request.
- Authorised representative: the obligations under no. 4 may be fulfilled by an authorised representative on the manufacturer's behalf and under its responsibility, where the mandate provides for it.
Section 6 BFSG applies in addition. The technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity must be kept for five years in written or electronic form (BFSG, Section 6(2)). For series production, Section 6(3) requires procedures that maintain ongoing conformity and take account of changes in product design, product characteristics and the harmonised standards relied upon (BFSG, Section 6(3)). Where a manufacturer learns of a non-conformity, corrective measures must be taken without delay, up to withdrawal or recall, and the market surveillance authorities must be informed (BFSG, Section 6(4)).
The version of the standard belongs in the document
Market surveillance: who audits and what gets requested
The competent authority is the Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen (MLBF), based in Magdeburg, a joint public law institution of the 16 federal states that took up its work when the BFSG became applicable on 28 June 2025 (Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen). The tasks and powers of market surveillance are governed by Sections 20 to 28 BFSG, which distinguish between the surveillance of products and the surveillance of services.
Auditing runs in two directions. The formal check asks whether the CE marking is properly affixed, whether the EU declaration of conformity is correctly issued and whether the technical documentation is available and complete. The substantive check asks whether the accessibility requirements are technically and functionally met (Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen). The authority works to a risk-based market surveillance strategy and also takes consumer reports into account (Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen). Where non-conformity is established, the economic operator is first asked to remedy it within an appropriate period; if that does not happen, measures range from restricting availability through withdrawal and recall to prohibiting the service (BFSG, Sections 22 and 23).
Fines and economic risk
For operators, the most important insight is documentary. Market surveillance asks for records, not for declarations of intent. Answering an accessibility enquiry by pointing to the grandfathering of the machines may well be correct for the device, depending on its entry into use, and still leaves the question about the service unanswered. That gap is exactly where a routine enquiry can turn into proceedings.
What operators should sort out now
Separating the product side from the service side produces a manageable work list. It does not start with an investment decision but with an inventory.
- Keep a device inventory with the date of entry into use per terminal and derive the Section 38(2) BFSG deadline device by device, instead of assuming 2040 across the board.
- Review procurement records: for devices placed on the market after 28 June 2025, is the EU declaration of conformity available, naming the version of the standard applied?
- Test the terminal interface: speech output, headphone path, time limits and their extension, contrast and tactile discernibility of controls, operation without vision.
- Assess the accompanying service separately: website, app, booking flow, customer account, receipts and support channels against chapters 9 and 11 of EN 301 549.
- Produce the information under Annex 3 no. 1 BFSG and make it publicly available in an accessible form.
- Define a change process: firmware, content and release updates trigger a fresh assessment and are documented under version control.
In our projects we keep these two levels strictly apart. We test the terminal interface against the relevant clauses from chapters 5 and 8 of EN 301 549 and the accompanying service against chapters 9 and 11, document the result clause by clause and record which requirement was met in which way. That includes screen reader testing of the web and app elements, the accessibility statement carrying the information under Annex 3, and ongoing accessibility monitoring that surfaces regressions after releases early. Where interfaces are being rebuilt anyway, accessible web development is the cheaper route, because requirements flow into the design instead of being retrofitted. Our services overview sets out the individual building blocks.
Sequence follows the deadlines
Sources and studies