BFSG and the European Accessibility Act: Does It Apply to You?

Since 28 June 2025, Germany's Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, the Accessibility Strengthening Act or BFSG, has been in force. Since then, businesses have been receiving emails with subject lines along the lines of "your website is at risk of penalties."

Most of these emails are sales attempts, and a substantial share of the businesses receiving them are not covered by the law at all.

This article sets out who is actually obliged, who is exempt, what the requirements mean in practice, and what compliance realistically costs. Without the scare tactics, because the subject stands on its own merits.

What the BFSG regulates

The BFSG transposes a European directive, the European Accessibility Act, into German law. The goal is that people with disabilities can use digital products and services independently. Counting temporary impairments and age-related vision or motor difficulties, roughly one in four people benefits from accessible design.

An important point of understanding: the BFSG is not a website law. It regulates specific products and specific services. A website falls within scope only when one of the services named in the law is delivered to consumers through it.

Public sector bodies have been subject to a separate and generally stricter regime for some time, the BITV. If you work with a public authority, university or publicly funded institution, different rules apply.

Note also that the European Accessibility Act has been implemented across EU member states, each with its own national law. The details vary. If you operate in several EU countries, check each jurisdiction rather than assuming German rules apply throughout.

Who is covered

Businesses offering digital services to consumers. In practice this means primarily:

• Online shops and e-commerce of any size above the micro-enterprise threshold
• Booking and appointment systems where consumers can complete a binding transaction
• Consumer banking services, including online banking
• Telecommunications services
• Passenger transport by air, bus, rail and water
• E-books and the software used to read them

The determining factor is a combination of two conditions: you address consumers, and a service is concluded or delivered digitally. A purely informational site with no transactional element generally falls outside scope.

Who is exempt

This is the section the sales emails tend to leave out.

Micro-enterprises providing services

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million in annual turnover are exempt from the requirements as far as services are concerned. Both criteria must be met together.

This covers a large share of small local business: small trades, salons, practices, hospitality, individual consultants. Including those offering online appointment booking.

An important qualification: this exemption applies to services, not products. A business that manufactures or places on the market physical products covered by the BFSG cannot rely on the micro-enterprise rule.

Pure B2B

If you sell exclusively to business customers and your digital offerings are not directed at consumers, the BFSG does not apply. Be careful with mixed models: as soon as consumers can buy or book from you, you are in scope.

Disproportionate burden

The law provides an exemption where compliance would constitute a disproportionate burden. This is not something to rely on casually. The exemption must be documented and justified, and the threshold is high.

The technical requirements

The benchmark is the European standard EN 301 549, which in substance references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, normally level AA. In practice this comes down to four principles.

Perceivable

Informative images need meaningful alternative text. Contrast between text and background must be at least 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text. The page must scale to 200 percent without loss of content or horizontal scrolling. Video needs captions.

Operable

The entire site must be usable by keyboard alone. In practice this is the most common and most labour-intensive defect, particularly with elaborate menus, sliders and modal dialogs. Keyboard focus must be visible at all times. A skip link to the main content belongs here.

Understandable

Forms need clear, text-based error messages. A red border alone is insufficient because screen readers cannot perceive it. The page language must be declared technically, and on multilingual sites correctly per language version.

Robust

Clean semantic HTML so assistive technologies can interpret the structure. A logical heading hierarchy, genuine landmark elements rather than arbitrary containers, ARIA only where native HTML falls short.

The law additionally requires an accessibility statement: a dedicated page describing the current state of accessibility with a contact channel for feedback.

Why overlay widgets are not a solution

Several vendors sell a JavaScript widget that is embedded in one line and supposedly makes a site accessible: contrast sliders, font size buttons, a read-aloud function.

These tools do not solve the problem. They sit as a layer over a site whose underlying structure remains unchanged. A screen reader still reads the underlying HTML. If headings are missing, form fields unlabelled, or a menu unreachable by keyboard, the overlay changes none of that.

Among users of assistive technology these overlays are correspondingly unpopular. There is a well-known professional pledge against their use, and in the United States companies have been sued despite having an overlay installed.

Accessibility is built in the code, not in a layer above it. Anyone selling you a widget as a complete solution is selling you a false sense of security.

Enforcement and penalties

Market surveillance is handled by a joint body of the German federal states. It acts on complaints and conducts sample checks, first requiring remediation and, where violations persist, imposing fines. The range extends to €100,000 depending on the violation. In serious cases the provision of a service can be prohibited.

On formal warning letters: whether competitors can issue warnings for BFSG violations is legally contested and had not been conclusively settled at the time of writing. Anyone selling you an imminent wave of legal actions as a certainty is overstating the position. That does not change the underlying obligation if you are covered.

What compliance costs

The honest answer depends on the state of your site.

Retrofitting an existing site: on a cleanly built site, targeted corrections to contrast, alternative text and keyboard operability are often enough. On older sites with accumulated structure and many plugins the effort can be substantial. Market rates run €2,000–5,000, more in individual cases.

An audit typically costs €900–2,000 depending on scope. It should combine automated testing with tools such as axe or Lighthouse with manual review. Automated tests reliably find only a portion of issues. Keyboard operability and the quality of alternative text cannot be assessed automatically.

Building accessibly from the start costs barely more than building without. Semantic HTML, adequate contrast and keyboard-operable components are part of competent work. The additional effort lies mainly in more thorough testing.

The practical takeaway: if a redesign is happening anyway, build accessibility into it. Retrofitting is almost always the more expensive route.

Worth doing even without the obligation

Suppose you fall under the micro-enterprise exemption. Is accessibility still worth pursuing?

In most cases yes, though not for legal reasons.

An accessible site is better structured technically. A sensible heading hierarchy, labelled form fields, meaningful alternative text and semantic HTML are precisely the signals search engines read. Accessibility and technical SEO overlap substantially.

Then there is plain reach. People with visual impairments, older users, someone with a broken arm, someone in bright sunlight on a phone: all benefit from good contrast, clear structure and operable forms.

And there is a point at which the exemption may lapse. If your business grows past ten employees, the law applies to you.

Frequently asked questions

Does the BFSG apply to every website? No. It covers digital services and certain products directed at consumers. A purely informational site with no transactional element is generally outside scope.

I have five employees and offer online booking. Am I covered? For a service business with fewer than ten employees and no more than €2 million turnover, the micro-enterprise exemption applies. Online booking does not change that. Check both criteria, as they must be met together.

Is an accessibility plugin or overlay sufficient? No. Overlays do not change the underlying structure and do not resolve the actual barriers.

How do I check my own site? Free tools give a first impression: the Lighthouse audit in Chrome, or the axe DevTools and WAVE browser extensions. Then the most important manual test: put the mouse aside and operate your site using only the Tab key. If you get stuck anywhere or cannot see where you are, you have found your first issue.

Do I need an accessibility statement? If you fall within scope, yes. It describes the current accessibility status of your offering and provides a contact channel for feedback.

What is the difference between the BFSG and the BITV? The BITV applies to public sector bodies and has existed for longer. The BFSG addresses private economic operators. The technical requirements are similar, the scope differs.

Summary

Start by establishing whether you are covered at all. Two questions are enough for an initial assessment: is your digital offering directed at consumers, and are you above the threshold of ten employees or €2 million turnover?

If both answers are yes, you should act. If not, you have time and can approach accessibility as a quality matter rather than an obligation.

Either way, the cheapest moment for accessibility is whenever work on the site is happening anyway.

If you are unsure whether and to what extent you are affected, describe briefly what your business offers digitally. You will get an honest assessment, even if the answer is that you need do nothing.

This article provides general orientation and does not constitute legal advice. For a binding assessment of your situation, consult a qualified lawyer.