Digital accessibility
Info & offers
Note: We share technical and organizational information here to the best of our knowledge. This does not replace legal advice*.
Many of our customers are wondering whether they are affected by the new Accessibility Improvement Act (BFSG).
The law will apply from June 28, 2025, to providers of digital products and services aimed at consumers (B2C).
In brief: Pure B2B websites, micro-enterprises, and informational or private pages without commercial digital offerings generally remain exempt.
Many companies choose to voluntarily make their website as accessible as possible, even though they are not subject to the regulation.
Who must act?
Online stores, platforms, apps, e-books, PDF downloads and other digital services are primarily affected.
PDFs are affected if they are themselves offered as a digital product or part of a service, such as product information, forms, contracts, invoices, brochures, instructions or learning content that users can download or purchase. Internal PDF documents, purely supplementary, voluntary downloads on information pages or PDFs are not affected if identical information is also provided on the website in an accessible format.
Micro-enterprises (less than 10 employees and ≤ € 2 million turnover) are exempt for services, but not automatically for “products”.
However, products here do not refer to goods that are sold via web stores, but to devices that consumers operate directly and which must therefore be accessible, e.g. televisions, ATMs, computers). Web stores of micro-enterprises therefore always remain exempt.
Checklist: Am I affected by the BFSG?
If you answer two or more of the points below with “Yes”, an accessibility implementation is likely required.
Click on a criterion to get more information:
Does your Website Target End Customers (B2c)?
The law generally applies to websites and online services aimed at end customers (B2C).
Pure B2B websites, i.e. digital offers that are exclusively addressed to business customers, are generally not subject to the obligation.
Does your Company Have 10 or more Employees (Full-Time Equivalent)?
A business is considered a micro-enterprise exempt from BFSG if it has fewer than 10 employees and its annual turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed €2 million.
In practice, the calculation of the number of employees is often crucial, especially for businesses that are close to the threshold:
Who counts as an employee?
Counting is not based on headcount, but on working hours – in so-called
Annual Work Units (AWU) or Full-Time Equivalents (FTE)*:
- Full-time employee → 1.0 AWU
- Half-time employee (50 %) → 0.5 AWU
- Part-time / mini-job → pro rata according to hours
- Apprentices → are included if employed
- Freelancers / external → do not count
- Owner / managing director → count if actively involved
Source:
Art. 5 Annex of EU Recommendation 2003/361/EC
Comment: Some regulations of the EU recommendation have little practical impact – for example, that trainees count fully as employees. However, this definition is binding throughout Europe as long as there is no judicial or legislative amendment.
How does this differ from data protection?
Other thresholds apply to data protection:
- Data protection officer: in accordance with Section 38 BDSG, generally only from 20 persons who regularly process data automatically.
- Record of processing activities: Obligation for all companies, simplification only for < 250 employees (Art. 30 para. 5 GDPR).
Comment: A company can therefore still be considered “small” in terms of data protection, but may already be obligated in terms of digital accessibility.
*Disclaimer: We assume no legal guarantee for the correctness and completeness of the test criteria mentioned here. In particular, if your company is close to the limit of 10 employees, we recommend an individual legal review to ensure a binding classification.
Is your Annual Turnover or Balance Sheet Total over €2 Million?
Even businesses with few employees can no longer be considered micro-enterprises solely due to high revenues, such as specialized professional practices, engineering firms, IT service providers, or architectural firms.
Does your Website Offer Digital Services or Ordering Functions?
I offer digital services or ordering functions via my website, e.g.
- Online store
- Booking,
- E-learning,
- E-Book,
- Customer account
Does your Website Only Provide Informational Content?
Pure information websites – i.e. websites without their own digital services or ordering options – are generally not subject to the BFSG.
Note: Newsletters, contact forms or simple call-to-action buttons are not considered digital services within the meaning of the law.
Private websites with purely personal content are also not affected.
Are You a Public Authority or a "Public Body"?
A special case are not only public authorities, but often also social associations and other projects, if these are carried out on behalf of or under the auspices of a public authority (e.g. museum with municipal sponsor, adult education center, public foundation), then it is considered a public body → BITV 2.0 obligation.
These may include Counseling centers, social institutions, participation projects, youth centers, municipal museums, municipal theaters, state museums, municipal libraries …
In these cases, even extended accessibility obligations apply (according to other laws, BGG/BITV 2.0), incl.
- Declaration on accessibility,
- Contents also in plain language and
- Content also in sign language.
It is sometimes complicated to determine when a public institution is involved, especially in the case of social associations. We strongly recommend that you have this clarified in legal terms and inform us of this in a binding manner.
Note: The mere receipt of public funds (e.g. subsidies, grants, prize money) does not automatically mean that an organization is legally considered a “public body”.
However, federal, state and local authorities are increasingly demanding in their funding guidelinesthat digitally published content or websites must be accessible as part of the funding .
This is not a statutory but a contractual obligation; it arises from the grant notification or funding agreement. Depending on the contractual arrangements, the website must then be made accessible.
Practical examples from our everyday lives:
| Example | BFSG? | Reason |
| Corporate website with online shop for consumers | Yes* | Digital service for consumers |
| Medical practice with integrated appointment scheduling or form | Yes* | Digital service for consumers |
| Medical practice with external appointment booking (e.g. Doctolib) | No (for the practice) | Accessibility lies with the portal; the practice website only needs to keep access barrier-free |
| Industry website with product catalog without store | No | B2B information only |
| Artist or association site without sales function | No | No commercial service |
| Intranet or extranet | No | No public offer |
*Exception: Micro-enterprises – usually no BFSG obligation.
Complex example “Booking”
(by type of service):
| Example | BFSG? | Reason |
| Restaurant website with information, menu, contact, telephone reservation | No | Not a “digital service” within the meaning of the law |
| Online table reservation with form or booking system | Yes* | Digital service for consumers |
| Ordering system / delivery service via own website or app | Yes* | Digital provision of goods/services |
| Profile at Lieferando or similar. | Indirectly | Accessibility lies with the portal, usually not with the restaurant |
| Intranet / backend for employees | No | No public offer |
| Hotel website with online booking system | Yes* | Digital service for consumers |
*Exception: micro-enterprises – usually no BFSG obligation.
Consequences of the BFSG
Accessibility is no longer a special case, but is becoming the standard for digital services and products. Important requirements for websites are then, for example:
- clearly structured, keyboard-operated navigation,
- Correct labeling of forms and buttons,
- Sufficient color contrasts and clearly visible focus markings,
- Alternative texts for images and media,
- revised PDFs if necessary,
- an easy-to-find explanation of accessibility.
As mentioned above, the same accessibility requirements apply to PDFs as for websites or apps – e.g. tagged PDF structure, correct reading order and alternative texts for images.
Moreover, these are generally not one-off tasks, but ongoing adjustments and processes (similar to web maintenance).
How much effort is to be expected?
The effort involved can vary greatly depending on the content management system, theme and plug-in used – from manageable adjustments to partial or complete reprogramming of the website.
What does the TBA offer?
- New websites delivered by TBA since 2025 are already well prepared for accessibility requirements thanks to the careful selection of software components and can usually be implemented in full compliance with just a few additional measures.
- We offer sophisticated upgrade solutions for older websites that we have programmed.
- Documentation obligations, analyses, corrections and ongoing monitoring to provide assurance to inspection bodies or clients also remain tasks that regularly arise even with a technically compliant website. These ongoing processes ensure long-term quality, verifiability and future-proofing.
Accessibility and website maintenance
Is accessibility part of website maintenance?
No. Accessibility as defined by EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA is not automatically part of our regular maintenance services. These requirements are only implemented as a special service if expressly commissioned.
Why?
The new Accessibility Reinforcement Act (BFSG) only affects a small proportion of our customers. Most of our customers have B2B web projects in operation.
The technical adjustments, tests and proofs required for conformity with the BFSG are very extensive and are therefore not suitable as a blanket service within general website maintenance. If such measures were included as standard in all maintenance packages, the price would have to rise for everyone, including customers who are not subject to the BFSG obligation.
That’s why we offer accessibility conversions individually as an add-on for maintenance.
Does accessibility require additional website maintenance?
Yes, accessibility implementations require parallel technical maintenance.
Software updates for themes, plug-ins or the content management system can have an impact on previously implemented accessibility measures. Regular website maintenance ensures that accessibility is maintained even after updates and that technical standards such as WCAG or EN 301 549 continue to be met.
Once again, please note that both accessibility and website maintenance are usually ongoing processes, not one-off procedures.
And what about “plain language”?
Only authorities and public institutions (e.g. cities, schools, universities) must also offer some content in plain language and sign language, in accordance with Section 11 of the Disability Equality Act (BGG) and Section 4 BITV 2.0.
For private companies, plain language is not a statutory component of the requirements as long as they are not considered a public body. The BFSG is primarily concerned with “functional accessibility” in accordance with technical standards (EN 301 549): perceptible, operable, comprehensible and robust. This means clear language and well-structured content, but not necessarily plain language in accordance with DIN ISO 24495-1.
Nevertheless, plain language can also be a useful additional service, especially for projects in the social, medical or educational sectors. It improves comprehensibility for many user groups and strengthens inclusion.
We have experience in adding easy-to-read content to websites and are happy to assist with the planning, structure and integration of this additional feature.
Note: We provide information here to the best of our knowledge about technical and organizational aspects of digital accessibility and our services. This content does not constitute legal advice. For binding information on legal obligations or deadlines, we recommend consulting a specialist lawyer for IT or media law.
