iOS Accessibility and European Accessibility Act Compliance
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) applies from 28 June 2025. If your iOS app provides consumer services in the EU, it must comply with EN 301 549 — regardless of where your company is headquartered. Fines vary by country and can reach €100,000 to €1,000,000 depending on the member state and severity.
At AtalayaSoft, accessibility is not a last-minute audit. Our iOS architect, Francisco José García Navarro, has worked on Juegos ONCE (the lottery app of Spain's National Organisation of the Blind, where the primary users are visually impaired) — an app where accessibility is the primary feature, not a secondary requirement. Users with visual impairments depend on every interface element working correctly with VoiceOver, Dynamic Type and assistive technologies.
That direct experience — making an app genuinely usable for people who depend on it — is what we bring to your team.
The EAA clock is already running
The European Accessibility Act is not a future goal. It is a binding obligation in force since June 2025 across all 27 EU member states. Here are the key facts:
Enforcement date: 28 June 2025 for new digital products and services. Existing services that undergo substantial modifications must comply immediately. French disability organisations issued formal legal notices to major retailers within days of the deadline.
It applies to you — wherever you are based: If your app provides consumer services to EU customers, you must comply regardless of where your company is headquartered. The EAA has extraterritorial reach: banking, e-commerce, transport, telecommunications and audiovisual services are all covered.
Fines vary by country — and they are significant:
| Country | Maximum fine |
|---|---|
| Germany | €100,000 per violation |
| France | €50,000 per non-compliant service, renewable every 6 months; +€25,000 for a missing accessibility statement |
| Italy | 5% of annual turnover (large companies) |
| Spain | €1,000,000 for very serious violations |
Ireland has even introduced criminal penalties for serious non-compliance.
Beyond fines: Non-compliant apps can be removed from the EU market, and companies may be excluded from public procurement across all member states.
Scope: 101 million people in the EU have some form of disability (1 in 4 adults). Accessibility is not niche — it is a quarter of your potential market.
What we do in iOS Accessibility
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iOS Accessibility Audit
Comprehensive review of your app against EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria. We identify every issue, classify it by severity and deliver a report with specific remediation for each case. -
VoiceOver Implementation
Correct element labelling, logical focus order, custom actions, descriptive hints and dynamic content management. We make your app genuinely navigable with VoiceOver, not just technically compatible. -
Dynamic Type and Visual Adaptation
Implementation of dynamic typography that respects user preferences, layouts that scale correctly and colour contrast compliant with WCAG AA (minimum ratio 4.5:1). -
Semantics and Navigation Structure
Definition of semantic roles, logical element grouping, navigation landmarks and notification management for screen readers. The structure users cannot see but need to use the app. -
EAA Compliance and Documentation
We prepare the mandatory accessibility statement, document the measures implemented and help you establish a continuous accessibility maintenance process — an explicit requirement of the directive. -
Development Team Training
Practical workshops so your iOS team learns to develop with accessibility from the start: Accessibility Inspector, VoiceOver testing, common patterns in SwiftUI and UIKit, and accessible acceptance criteria.
Real Accessibility, not theoretical
The difference between "passing an audit" and "being genuinely accessible" is learned by working with users who depend on accessibility every day. At Juegos ONCE, Francisco José García Navarro worked on an app built for visually impaired users. Every button, every transition, every notification must work perfectly with VoiceOver. There is no room for shortcuts.
That experience translates into a practical approach: we do not simply add accessibilityLabel to elements. We review the complete user flow with VoiceOver enabled, test with Dynamic Type at extreme sizes, verify focus order on every screen and ensure the app works for real people, not just automated auditing tools.
How we execute an Accessibility project
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01. Initial Audit
We review the app screen by screen against EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA. We test with VoiceOver, Switch Control and Dynamic Type. We deliver a report prioritised by severity.
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02. Remediation Plan
We define a correction roadmap ordered by impact: critical blockers first (inaccessible elements that prevent app use), then experience improvements.
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03. Implementation or Team Integration
Depending on your needs, we can implement fixes directly (as developers integrated in the team) or guide your team with pair programming and accessibility-focused code reviews.
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04. Validation, Documentation and Training
Final testing with real assistive technologies, preparation of the mandatory accessibility statement and a training workshop so your team maintains accessibility in future development.
Choose the accessibility audit level you need
EAA Diagnostic
Know where you stand
We review the 3–4 critical flows of your app with VoiceOver and Dynamic Type: sign-up, login, checkout, or whichever your business defines. You get a verdict on your EAA exposure and how serious it actually is.
- Delivery: A report with the 10 most severe blockers, classified by severity, and how to fix each one.
- Timeline: 3–5 business days
- Best for: Teams who need to know what they are facing before budgeting anything.
Full Accessibility Audit
EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA
We audit the whole app, screen by screen, against EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA: VoiceOver, Switch Control, Dynamic Type, contrast, focus order, labels and traits.
- Delivery: A severity-prioritised report, a remediation roadmap, a 30-minute call to walk through it, and a draft of your accessibility statement.
- Timeline: 7–10 business days
- Best for: Companies already under obligation who need a defensible plan and the document the directive requires them to publish.
Audit + Remediation
We audit it and we fix it
Everything in the Full Accessibility Audit, plus we fix the critical and high-severity issues ourselves, in your codebase.
- Delivery: Final validation with assistive technologies, the definitive accessibility statement, and 30 days of post-delivery support.
- Timeline: 15–25 business days
- Best for: Teams with no spare iOS capacity to carry out the remediation.
All prices exclude VAT. For apps with more than 60 screens we adjust timelines before starting. The cost of the audit is deducted if you go on to contract the remediation: you don't pay twice. Team training and content accessibility (captions, audio description, documents) are quoted separately.
Prices exclude VAT. We invoice from the EU (Estonia): companies with a valid EU VAT number pay no VAT (reverse charge).
Ongoing Accessibility
from €950/month (excl. VAT)Accessibility is not a one-off: any release can break it. We review the accessibility of every version before it ships, keep your accessibility statement up to date, and answer your team's questions. Roughly one day a month, three-month minimum. Available after a Full Accessibility Audit or an Audit + Remediation.
Companies we have worked with on Accessibility
We have implemented accessibility improvements in production apps for companies like Zara/Inditex, Juegos ONCE, Banco Santander and Conferencia Episcopal Española, where accessibility is not a "nice to have" but a requirement for millions of users.
Is your iOS app EAA-compliant?
In one week we tell you exactly where you stand and what concrete steps you need to take to comply with EN 301 549.
Testimonials
The team working on your project
Want to self-assess your app before talking to us? Use our iOS accessibility checklist for the EAA: 27 verifiable points with their WCAG criteria.
Frequently asked questions about Accessibility and the EAA
Is your iOS app compliant with the European Accessibility Act?
Let's talk about your iOS challenge
Book 30 minutes with Francisco José García Navarro, Senior iOS Architect, to review your project. No obligation.
Book a consultation