ADA, EAA, Section 508: what each regulation requires

Who the regulations apply to

• ADA Title II: US states, municipalities and their institutions. Since the Department of Justice rule of April 2024, WCAG 2.1 AA applies, with deadlines in April 2026 for entities of 50,000 residents and more and April 2027 for smaller ones.
• ADA Title III: businesses open to the public in the USA. There is no website regulation; courts and settlements have applied WCAG 2.1 AA for years, and several thousand website lawsuits are filed every year.
• Section 508: US federal agencies and everything they procure or operate. The standard is WCAG 2.0 AA, plus criteria for hardware, software and documents. Suppliers document the status with an Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT).
• European Accessibility Act: private providers of e-commerce, banking and telecom services, e-books, passenger transport and the related products, since 28 June 2025. Transposed in Austria as the Barrierefreiheitsgesetz and in Germany as the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz; the technical standard is EN 301 549 with WCAG 2.1 AA. Microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees and under 2 million euros turnover are exempt for services.
• Web Accessibility Directive (EU) 2016/2102: public sector bodies in the EU, in Austria via the Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz. It additionally requires an accessibility statement, a feedback channel and names an enforcement body.

What differs technically

WCAG 2.0 has 38 criteria at levels A and AA, 2.1 adds twelve (among them reflow, non-text contrast, text spacing, pointer gestures, status messages), 2.2 adds six more (focus not obscured, target size, dragging movements, consistent help, redundant entry, accessible authentication) and removes the parsing criterion. Meeting 2.2 AA therefore meets the criteria of 2.1 and 2.0. Conversely, a finding on a 2.2 criterion such as target size is today a violation of none of the three regulations; a finding on alternative text concerns all of them.

How the report states the status per regulation

• In the accessibility section of the study, above the criteria, stands the status per regulation: "EAA (EN 301 549) (WCAG 2.1 AA): 3 of 48 criteria with findings, 4 to be checked manually". The numbers come from the same measurement; nothing is checked twice.
• Each criterion names the regulations that require it. A criterion from WCAG 2.2 carries the note that no regulation requires it today.
• This is a computed result, not a legal judgement. Whether a website satisfies a regulation also depends on things no measurement sees: exemptions, transition periods, statements, documentation.

How the regulations are enforced

• USA: through lawsuits. Affected people and associations sue businesses and public bodies; the Department of Justice sues itself and reaches settlements. The litigation risk exists regardless of whether a regulation applies.
• EU: through market surveillance. Authorities in each member state check, demand corrections and impose fines; in Austria up to 80,000 euros. Consumers and associations can report violations.
• Public sector bodies in the EU: through monitoring bodies that check samples, and through the accessibility statement every website must carry.

What this means for your website

• First check whether a regulation applies: market, type of offer, size of the company, public body or private.
• Fix findings in the order in which they concern regulations: what all three require first; what only WCAG 2.2 requires afterwards.
• In the EU the website needs an accessibility statement with the compliance status, the non-accessible content and a feedback channel. For US agencies the offer needs an Accessibility Conformance Report.
• Check regularly: websites change, and so do the versions of the regulations. A new EN 301 549 with WCAG 2.2 has been announced.