The European Accessibility Act (EAA) comes into effect at the end of June 2025, introducing new legal obligations for digital services in the EU. It offers a chance for businesses to modernize their digital services and deliver more inclusive, user-friendly experiences. For organizations using legacy Java apps — especially in ecommerce, banking, or transportation — this is an opportunity to future-proof your applications and create real value for all users.
If you’re maintaining an app built with Vaadin 7, 8, or 14, this regulation could shape your roadmap. In this post, we'll explore what’s changing, why accessibility matters, and how Vaadin 24 can help you prepare.
We will talk about:
- What is the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and why does it matter to you?
- The business case for accessibility in web apps
- The compliance challenge: From scratch vs. built-in accessibility
- Why legacy Vaadin apps may be at risk
- Vaadin 24: A better foundation for accessible business apps
- Modernize your Vaadin app and unlock better usability
- Next steps
- FAQ
What is the European Accessibility Act (EAA), and why does it matter to you?
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is not just another regulation. It represents a pivotal shift in how digital products and services in the European Union must serve everyone — including the 87 million people in the EU who live with some form of disability. Coming into force on June 28, 2025, this directive ensures that digital technologies, from e-commerce platforms to banking apps and public transportation booking systems, are accessible without barriers.
But accessibility isn’t just about meeting the needs of those with recognized disabilities like impaired vision or mobility challenges. It’s about creating inclusive digital experiences for all users. Consider:
- 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women are affected by color blindness.
- Millions of people rely on high-contrast settings when working outdoors, for example, on a laptop in bright sunlight.
- Temporary situations, like a broken arm, an eye infection, or even simply being distracted, can make an inaccessible design frustrating or unusable.
In the end, accessibility helps everyone and the EAA just makes it a legal requirement.
Who must comply?
The EAA applies to commercial entities that provide products or services to consumers in the EU. This includes both EU-based companies and global companies that offer their digital services or products in the EU, whether you’re running an online shop, a financial app, a ticketing service, or similar.
Note: Public sector organizations are covered separately under the EU Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102), which has applied since 2018.
The business case for accessibility in web apps
Accessibility is more than meeting compliance requirements. It’s about building better business applications that are usable, resilient, and ready for the future.
Yet, many businesses are still catching up. Recent research highlights that only 25% of European businesses are fully prepared to meet the EAA’s requirements. While many organizations recognize accessibility as a priority, the reality is that most still have work to do to ensure their digital products and services meet the standard.
Here’s why accessibility is worth making a priority:
- Reach more users: Accessible apps serve a wider range of people. That includes those with permanent disabilities, but also people in everyday situations — like using a laptop in bright sunlight or navigating your app with one hand on a phone. Removing barriers helps more people get value from your app.
- Reduce risk and avoid costly fixes: Regulations like the EAA mean accessibility is becoming a requirement, not a choice. Addressing it early helps you avoid potential legal issues and the cost of rework later on. It also shows your commitment to creating inclusive, responsible digital services.
- Improve the experience for everyone: Accessible apps are easier to use. Clear structure, good contrast, and keyboard-friendly navigation benefit all users, not just those who rely on assistive technologies. Accessibility and usability go hand in hand.
- Keep your app future-ready: By building accessibility in now, you reduce technical debt and simplify future updates. You’re setting up your app, and your team, for success as standards and expectations continue to evolve.
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The compliance challenge: From scratch vs. built-in accessibility
Building an accessible application from the ground up can require a considerable investment of time and expertise. It typically involves:
- Running detailed accessibility audits at different stages of development
- Implementing ARIA roles, ensuring keyboard navigation, managing focus states, and meeting color contrast requirements
- Testing with screen readers, voice input tools, and other assistive technologies
- Continuously maintaining and updating accessibility features as the application evolves
This is not a one-time task but an ongoing responsibility that needs to be embedded in the development process.
Frameworks that provide accessibility as part of their component design can help reduce this effort. For example, in Vaadin, accessibility is considered from the start in the design of components and frameworks. This allows teams to:
- Work with components that already follow accessibility best practices
- Focus more on business logic and the specific needs of their users
- Lower the risk of overlooking critical accessibility details
This approach doesn’t remove the need to understand accessibility; however, it helps teams go further, faster, with fewer barriers along the way. Learn more about our commitment to accessibility in the Vaadin platform.
Why legacy Vaadin apps may be at risk
If you’re still using Vaadin 7, 8, or even 14, you’re working with frameworks that weren’t designed for today’s accessibility requirements. While these versions may still be functional, they haven’t gone through the same rigorous, ongoing accessibility testing as the latest Vaadin components – especially in areas like keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and semantic HTML.
The good news? Vaadin 24 provides a stronger foundation to help you build accessible apps and meet these new requirements.
Vaadin 24: A better foundation for accessible business apps
Vaadin 24 includes updates across components, layout systems, and theming that make it easier to build accessible apps. It’s not a silver bullet, but it gives you the tools to meet compliance goals more efficiently, and deliver great UX across devices.
What’s improved in Vaadin 24:
- UI components refactored to better support assistive technologies like screen readers.
- APIs for setting ARIA attributes and other accessibility-related features.
- Default styling adjusted to comply with color contrast requirements.
- Improved keyboard usability.
Accessibility and usability are baked into Vaadin’s rigorously tested UI components. With Vaadin 24, you can ship Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)-compliant interfaces out of the box, without extra training or manual tweaking.
We’ve done the heavy lifting on accessibility so your team can focus on what matters: building business apps that are user-friendly and accessible by design.
Modernize your Vaadin app and unlock better usability
If you’re maintaining a Vaadin application on legacy versions such as Vaadin 7, 8, or 14, now is a great opportunity to bring your app up to modern standards. With Vaadin 24, you can offer a more accessible, responsive, and future-proof experience for all your users, while ensuring compliance with the EAA.
Your path from V7/8 to Vaadin 24
Upgrading from Vaadin 7 or 8 to Vaadin 24 is a significant step forward — unlocking better accessibility, performance, and long-term maintainability. The Vaadin Modernization Toolkit (MTK) is designed to make this transition smoother by automating much of the upgrade process, so you don’t have to start from scratch.
With MTK, you can:
- Scan and analyze your Vaadin 7 or 8 codebase using the free Modernization Toolkit Analyzer (for Eclipse or Maven)
- Identify clear migration paths and modern equivalents for legacy components
- Automate repetitive refactoring tasks, reducing manual work and the risk of errors
- Upgrade in stages, so you can modernize at a pace that suits your team
- Transition confidently to Vaadin 24, where accessibility improvements and modern web standards are part of the foundation
By automating key steps, MTK helps you focus on delivering value while minimizing disruption to your business-critical process and end users.
Your path from Vaadin 14 to 24
If you’re using Vaadin 14, you’re already on a modern foundation. Upgrading to Vaadin 24 ensures your app benefits from the latest accessibility improvements, performance enhancements, and long-term support. While there’s no dedicated tooling for upgrading Vaadin 14 applications to the latest version, most developers are able to complete the upgrade on their own by following our upgrading guide.
Next steps
The European Accessibility Act raises the bar for digital services. By upgrading now, you can deliver inclusive experiences, reduce regulatory risk, and set your applications up for long-term success.
If you’re on Vaadin 7 or 8, the Vaadin Modernization Toolkit (MTK) helps automate key steps of the upgrade process, making it easier to move directly to Vaadin 24 and meet today’s growing user experience standards. Learn more about MTK.
If you’re upgrading from Vaadin 14, and need help mapping out your path forward, our experts are here to support you. Contact us to start the conversation.
You can also turn to the Vaadin Forum to get guidance and insights from the community as you plan your next steps.
FAQ
What does the European Accessibility Act cover?
The EAA covers a wide range of technologies and services that are essential for people with disabilities. These include computers and operating systems, self-service terminals (like ATMs, ticketing and check-in kiosks), smartphones, digital TV and telephony equipment, banking and payment services, e-books, e-commerce platforms, and various transport-related online services (e.g. ticket booking sites and travel apps).
Who needs to comply with the European Accessibility Act?
All organizations, regardless of where they are based, must comply if they offer any EAA-covered product or service in the EU. This rule applies even to companies outside Europe if their software or app is used by people in the EU. The only notable exemption is for microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and under €2 million annual turnover) providing services, which do not have to comply with the EAA.
When does the EAA come into force?
The EAA’s requirements become enforceable on June 28, 2025, by which point EU member states will have transposed the directive into national laws. In practice, any new or updated software, website, or digital service offered to EU users after that date must meet the EAA’s accessibility standards to be legally placed on the market.
What happens if you don’t comply with the EAA?
Non-compliance with the EAA can lead to serious penalties enforced by EU authorities. Companies may face steep fines (in some cases up to around €3 million), removal of non-compliant products or services from the market, or even suspension of the right to do business in the EU. In addition, failing to meet these accessibility requirements exposes your organization to lawsuits, loss of contracts, and significant reputational damage now that accessibility is a legal obligation