{"id":12328,"date":"2025-07-23T08:30:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T07:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/?p=12328"},"modified":"2025-10-24T12:51:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T11:51:41","slug":"are-you-still-ignoring-accessibility-you-could-soon-face-fines-and-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/are-you-still-ignoring-accessibility-you-could-soon-face-fines-and-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you still ignoring accessibility? You could soon face fines and lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2><strong>The legal risks of ignoring accessibility: hefty fines, lawsuits and market exclusion\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Historically, it\u2019s been relatively easy for companies to overlook accessibility without serious legal consequences. But, with new regulations like the European Accessibility Act, that\u2019s all changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/european-accessibility-act-ux\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">European Accessibility Act (EAA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> introduces strict requirements for accessibility across digital products and services. It applies to any organisation operating in the EU or serving EU-based customers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two key deadlines to be aware of:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>28th June 2025: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All new digital products and services launched beyond this date must be fully compliant with the European Accessibility Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>June 2030: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By this date, all existing digital products and services must have reached full compliance with the EAA.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">f you miss these deadlines and fail to comply, you could face serious legal consequences, which we\u2019ll outline now.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Legal penalties and enforcement action<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regulatory authorities in each EU member state will be responsible for enforcing the EAA. If your organisation is found to be non-compliant, you could be issued with formal enforcement notices, required to make changes within a specified timeframe or subject to legal proceedings. These actions are likely to become more common as regulators increase scrutiny and enforcement efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Fines, compensation claims and criminal charges<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The financial penalties for non-compliance can be incredibly steep. And, in some countries, ignoring accessibility may even result in criminal charges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Ireland, for example, companies and individuals can be fined up to \u20ac60,000, face up to 18 months in prison or both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Sweden, fines for non-compliance can reach up to 10 million Swedish Kronor. That\u2019s more than \u20ac800,000!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it\u2019s not only the EU that\u2019s affected by ever-tightening legislation around accessibility. In the U.S. alone, over 4,000 accessibility-related lawsuits were filed in 2024 (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accessibility.works\/blog\/ada-lawsuit-trends-statistics-2024-summary\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accessibility Works<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). That number is only expected to grow globally as compliance becomes the norm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses may also face civil compensation claims from individuals who are unable to access their services, especially in sectors like banking, e-commerce and transport.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Loss of access to EU markets<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Digital products and services that don\u2019t meet EAA requirements may also be barred from launching and\/or selling within the EU. That poses a serious barrier to growth, especially for international brands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The reputational and commercial risks of ignoring accessibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re ignoring accessibility, it\u2019s not only the legal risks you have to worry about. The reputational and commercial stakes are just as high.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today\u2019s consumers (especially Gen Z and Millennials) are quick to disengage from brands that fail to deliver inclusive products and services. Many will take their business elsewhere if they feel your brand doesn\u2019t align with modern values.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, when you consider that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/disability-and-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one in six people<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> globally lives with a disability and that people with disabilities control <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rod-group.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$1.9 trillion in disposable income<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, inaccessible design could literally be costing you millions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The risks of non-compliance are simply too high to ignore. If you\u2019re not already taking action, now is the time. And it starts with design.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Accessibility begins with design: start prioritising it now<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deque.com\/blog\/is-closing-the-web-accessibility-design-development-gap-a-bridge-too-far\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">67% of accessibility issues<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be avoided at the design stage, yet too many companies still treat accessibility as an afterthought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to create accessible products and avoid legal action, you must embed accessibility best practices into the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/product-design-process-guide\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">product design process<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. That way, you can address potential barriers before they\u2019re even built. This approach saves time, reduces technical debt and crucially minimises legal risk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We share concrete steps you can take to prioritise accessibility and ensure compliance in our follow-on article: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to meet accessibility standards and avoid legal risk: a practical guide for CXOs.<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"promotion\" class=\"promotion-content-raw inlinepromo inlinepromo_professional-certificate-in-designing-for-accessibilityp-1 my-4\" style=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"w-container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-md-12 promotion-info\">\n                <a class=\"link-content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/designing-for-accessibility?utm_campaign=blog_promo&amp;utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blog_panel_text&amp;utm_content=inline\" style=\"\">\n                    <p>[GET CERTIFIED IN ACCESSIBLE DESIGN]<\/p>\n                    <span>Take our Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility<\/span>\n                <\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2><strong>Next steps: how to stay compliant and avoid legal action<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re still treating accessibility as optional, you run the risk of hefty fines and even legal action. At the same time, you\u2019re excluding a huge segment of the population and missing out on significant revenue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So here\u2019s what to do next:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Start by understanding what\u2019s legally required of your organisation. If applicable, make sure you\u2019re familiar with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/what-are-the-wcag-guidelines\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Audit your existing product(s)\/service(s) for accessibility gaps and take proactive steps to address them. Refer to our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/accessibility-checklist-for-designers\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX design accessibility checklist<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a starting point. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equip your design and product teams with the skills, knowledge and confidence to prioritise and advocate for accessibility throughout the customer experience. Check out our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/designing-for-accessibility\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for structured, industry-compliant training.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sooner you take action, the sooner you can reach full compliance, mitigate unnecessary legal risks and create better products for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Ensure full legal compliance with The UX Design Institute\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve created the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/designing-for-accessibility\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> specifically for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/accessibility-training-for-teams\">product, UX and development teams<\/a> to give them the practical skills they need to build accessible digital experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crucially, the course goes beyond theory, offering a hands-on curriculum that\u2019s grounded in real-world scenarios and practical exercises that fully aligns with the latest WCAG and European Accessibility Act (EAA) standards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s designed not only to meet compliance requirements but to help teams integrate accessibility into their everyday workflows and decision-making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether you\u2019re just starting to prioritise accessibility or looking to scale knowledge across multiple teams, our training supports long-term capability-building so you can create more inclusive products and stay ahead of evolving expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The course is delivered online and flexibly paced, making it easy for teams to fit learning around their schedules and day-to-day work without compromising impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UX Design Institute CEO <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/designing-for-accessibility-course\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Colman Walsh introduces the new course in more detail here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and you can learn more about the curriculum via <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/courses\/designing-for-accessibility\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the course homepage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more tools and resources, continue with the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/accessible-design-heather-hepburn\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making accessibility real: practical insights from Skyscanner\u2019s Head of Accessibility, Heather Hepburn<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/user-experience-accessibility\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to optimise your website for user experience accessibility<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/news-alert-businesses-at-risk-eaa\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">News alert: businesses at risk of legal claims as EU accessibility deadline looms<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re not yet taking steps to improve accessibility, your business could face serious legal consequences. With regulations like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into force, companies that fail to comply risk fines, lawsuits and market exclusion. And pleading ignorance is not an option, so now\u2019s the time to get informed and take action. In this post, we highlight the risks of ignoring accessibility. We\u2019ll also show you how to get started with compliance and avoid penalties. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":12329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[271],"tags":[394,395,396,397],"class_list":["post-12328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-accessibility","tag-accessibility-laws","tag-accessible-design","tag-eaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12328"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12358,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12328\/revisions\/12358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uxdesigninstitute.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}