From Jun 28, 2025 compliance under EAA for new digital products is enforced in the 27 European Union (EU) member states.
What is European Accessibility Act (EAA)?
In the EU, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) was adopted as an Accessibility Directive in April 2019 to harmonize the diverse rules and standards across EU member states. It sets out the absolute minimum requirements for accessibility for each state to build into their laws.
- The EAA requires industries operating in or selling within the EU to ensure accessibility in their products and services.
- The directive also applies to enterprises outside of the EU providing services or selling products to consumers within the EU.
- The EAA requires conformance with WCAG 2.1 A & AA. It references EN301 549 as the procurement standard for digital accessibility.
D2L product compliance or accessibility status in relation to EAA
EAA references EN301 549 which requires Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA compliance as the standard for digital products. The accessibility of Brightspace is beyond this basic requirement and conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level AAA, the most recent version.
How D2L supports customers?
We support our customers by offering
- An accessible platform with inclusive features and tools
- Continuing support for accessibility
- Features and partner tools for accessibility audit and fixing of content
- AI-generated captions and transcripts for videos