DEV Community: Simple Code

European Accessibility Act: What businesses need to know before June 28th, 2025

Robert Kavgić — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 16:16:30 +0000

A new EU law will soon affect how businesses operate across the digital space. If you run a business in the EU that offers websites, apps, digital tools, or online sales, it’s worth understanding what’s changing and how to respond.

The European Accessibility Act sets clear requirements to help people with disabilities access digital products and services. Starting June 28, 2025, these rules will apply across all EU countries, creating a single standard. That means fewer local differences and more focus on building useful, inclusive tools.

If your business is very small - under 10 employees and less than €2M in yearly turnover – you may be exempt. But even in that case, following accessibility principles can improve your product quality and user experience.

What will change for online shops and digital services?

If you run an e-commerce site or offer digital services, your website or app will need to follow accessibility best practices. That means clear structure, readable text, support for screen readers, keyboard navigation, good contrast, and more.

It’s not just about law. These changes help people use your product more easily, especially the 80+ million people in the EU with disabilities. Better accessibility leads to better UX, improved loyalty, and more people being able to complete purchases or use your service without friction.

What if your business builds or uses software?

The EAA also applies to digital tools and software. Any user-facing interface should be usable by people with different abilities. If you build your own tools, plan accessibility into your process from the start. If you use third-party tools, make sure they comply too.

Standards like WCAG 2.1 (for web) and EN 301 549 (for products and devices) are the main guidelines. Following them helps reduce risk and makes your tools more future-proof.

How to know if you’re compliant

Start by reviewing your website or product with accessibility in mind. Online tools can help give a quick idea, but a proper audit is the most reliable way to check. We help businesses do this. We look at what’s missing, what can be improved, and how to reach the needed level without making the process complicated or expensive.

The sooner you begin, the more time you have to improve and test your changes. We usually recommend tackling the basics first – navigation, text alternatives, contrast, structure – and growing from there.

Why this matters beyond legal compliance

Accessibility brings clear business benefits. It often leads to:

Better usability for everyone, not just people with disabilities
Improved SEO and site structure
Higher trust and brand reputation
Fewer legal risks or issues in the future

It’s also a mark of quality. Many customers, partners, and investors care about inclusion. A business that takes accessibility seriously is easier to work with and builds more trust.

Challenges and how to handle them

Adding or improving accessibility takes time. Some fixes are simple, like adding text descriptions or adjusting contrast. Others might mean redesigning workflows or retraining your team.

We usually suggest starting with a clear audit, setting practical goals, and prioritizing fixes that have the biggest user impact. You don’t need to do everything at once, but you do need a plan.

According to the European Commission, accessible websites see better engagement and lower bounce rates.

Common questions

Do small businesses need to comply? If you have fewer than 10 workers and less than €2M in annual income, you're not legally required to comply. But it's still a good idea. It improves usability and shows your business cares.
What happens if I ignore the law? Governments can block sales or issue penalties. It may also harm your brand reputation.
Does this apply outside the EU? If your business sells into the EU or serves EU users, then yes, it can apply.
What products or services are included? Websites, apps, e-books, transport platforms, online shops, ticketing, banking tools, and many more.
How do I know if my site or tool is compliant? We offer accessibility audits and improvements tailored to your platform. It’s a good place to start.
Is accessibility only for people with disabilities? No, it helps everyone. For example, captions help people in noisy places. Bigger text helps older users. Voice tools help in hands-free situations. These features are often appreciated by all users.

Conclusion

The EAA deadline is approaching fast. If your business offers digital services in the EU and isn’t exempt, it's time to check where you stand. Many changes improve user experience, reduce legal risk, and create better products overall.

The easiest way to start is by auditing your current website or tool. From there, define clear goals and take steady steps. If you’re unsure what to check or how to begin, we’re happy to help.

Discover more in our full blog

You can read the full article European Accessibility Act: how it affects your business in 2025 on our website.

WordPress vs TYPO3 vs Craft CMS

Robert Kavgić — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 14:53:51 +0000

WordPress, TYPO3, and Craft are Content Management Systems(CMS). CMS helps you create manage, and organize content on your website, allowing you to easily add, edit, and delete text, images, videos, and other elements on your website.

With a CMS you don’t have to manually code each webpage or update content directly in the website’s code.

Instead, you use a simple dashboard or editor to make changes, and the CMS takes care of the rest, automatically updating your site’s design and layout. CMS platforms come with various features and functionalities that offer flexibility and different website needs.

Overview

WordPress

WordPress is an open-source, user-friendly CMS made for blogging. WordPress boasts a simple and intuitive interface, making it accessible to users with limited technical expertise. It offers an extensive library of themes and plugins, allowing users to customize their websites without the need for extensive coding knowledge.

TYPO3

TYPO3 is an enterprise-level CMS known for its robustness, scalability, and flexibility. It provides a comprehensive set of features, making it suitable for large-scale websites and complex web applications. TYPO3 offers advanced content management capabilities, including powerful workflow management, sophisticated access control, and multilingual support. It is highly customizable, allowing developers to create tailored solutions for specific business requirements. It’s built for more experienced users with coding expertise.

Craft

Craft emerged as a solution that was intended from the start to be an advanced and flexible content management system (CMS), a popular alternative to WordPress. The system is built on a foundation in the form of a PHP framework called Yii, and it is mostly focused on technically experienced users because it comes without themes or blocks.

Ease of Use

Looking from a technical perspective WordPress was designed with beginners in mind, earning it a reputation for user-friendliness over the years. Users don’t need coding knowledge or previous experience to create a website. It offers a simple easy-to-use interface, an intuitive content management system with a block-based editor, and an extensive theme & plugin library. Due to its popularity, it has very large community support.

TYPO3 on the other hand has a steeper learning curve because out of the box it comes with more features and advanced functionalities. User interface is much more complex, so you may need some technical expertise to navigate efficiently. It also comes with an intuitive content management system that uses a block-based editor.

CraftCMS like TYPO3 isn’t tailored for users with no programming experience. It offers a relatively straightforward learning curve, with an intuitive interface for content creators.

Developers may need some familiarity with its structure for optimal usage because it comes without themes and with a very simple editor that offers almost no blocks.

Themes & templates

Themes & templates offer the visual appearance and functionality of a website. By changing the theme user can easily update the appearance of the content. Both TYPO3 and WordPress come with preinstalled themes, unlike Craft which after installation comes without any themes or templates so users need some programming experience to build their themes.

WordPress by default doesn’t use any templating engine, just a mixture of HTML and PHP code.

Craft CMS uses Twig templating language for PHP while TYPO3 uses a Fluid Template Engine.

Due to its popularity, WordPress has a large collection of free and premium themes and predesigned templates with different customization options. Looking at theme forest there are more than 10000 offered themes and templates. TYPO3 also offers a wide range of templates, but the selection may not be as extensive as WordPress due to not being that popular.

Users with some programming knowledge can extend base themes by creating child themes. This feature can be done both in WordPress and TYPO3.

Editor experience

Through the page editor users can manage content, and add different blocks, elements, and lists to build the visual appearance of the page. WordPress uses a Gutenberg block editor that offers a full-page editing experience with a very modern UI. WordPress initially comes with over 40 blocks that have a wide variety of options and settings. Blocks can simply be dragged and dropped anywhere in the editor, and some blocks can be nested. It also provides block patterns that are predefined combinations of blocks. For more experienced users with the ACF plugin (Advanced custom fields), it is easy to extend blocks or create new ones.

Craft out of the box comes with simpler UI, and no blocks, just field types. So users need to have programming skills to build blocks that will in the end be used in the editor.

Craft offers matrix fields to easily build flexible pages by creating a collection of block types inside each matrix field.

In TYPO3 blocks are called content elements that are divided into few groups, like Wordpress comes with few of them out of the box. Editor has a simple UI, editing is a bit different then with Wordress and Craft because each block editing has its own page.

Blocks also offer lots of customization options, so programming skills are a must like in Craft when it comes to editing and block creation.

Plugins

Plugins/extensions are used to extend or add new functionality to CMS, ranging from simple solutions to more advanced ones. WordPress has an extensive plugin repository that offers more than 60000 plugins, free or premium ones. So, the big advantage is in this massive collection where you can find almost any functionality that you need, but also this is a drawback. Plugin code doesn’t have that strict quality control so they may degrade performance, often plugins become abandoned or don’t have regular updates which may cause site crashes or security vulnerabilities.

Craft also has a built-in repository, but the number is much smaller compared to WordPress due to its popularity. With a smaller repository code quality should be better, and regularly updated, and plugins can be installed and tested before purchase. The disadvantage of a much smaller plugin repository is that you are more likely to have to write the needed functionality yourself.

Typo3 plugins are called extensions, it has about 1000 extensions in its repository. Like with Craft, its smaller repository is an advantage. Extensions have better code quality and higher standards.

E-commerce

WordPress, Craft, and Typo3 offer e-commerce solutions. WordPress does so through a very popular free plugin called WooCommerce, Craft CMS has an e-commerce product called Craft Commerce and Typo3 has an e-commerce extension called Aimeos shop.

Unlike Craft and Typo3 which only offer a single solution WordPress as the most popular CMS has multiple e-commerce solutions but most of them are paid premium.

Conclusion

Each CMS has unique strengths and serves different purposes, meeting different user needs:

WordPress

This CMS shines in its affordability and broad feature set, making it ideal for smaller businesses, blogs, or informational websites that require minimal technical expertise. An extensive library of plugins and themes allows for significant customization, but users should be wary of compatibility and quality issues when integrating third-party plugins.

TYPO3

Known for its robustness and flexibility, TYPO3 is tailored for enterprise-level projects. It is suitable for large corporations and organizations that need secure, scalable solutions with advanced workflow management. However, the steeper learning curve and complex features require technical expertise to use effectively.

Craft CMS

Built for tech-savvy users, Craft CMS is designed for projects that require complete control over content and appearance. It is suitable for creative agencies or companies with unique branding needs. The simplified architecture facilitates sophisticated customization but requires advanced programming skills.

To make sure you follow the latest content, make sure to check out our original post at Simple Code website.

How to Setup a New Google Maps API Key

Robert Kavgić — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 10:31:00 +0000

Google Maps is an incredibly powerful tool for businesses worldwide, enabling them to integrate maps, geolocation services, and place searches into their websites and applications. Whether you're developing a location-based service, enhancing your customer's user experience, or simply displaying your business location, Google Maps APIs play a crucial role in connecting your services with the vast data Google Maps offers.

This guide will walk you through creating a new Google Maps API key and adding specific features like Maps, Places, and Geolocation APIs to it. Not all projects require all these features, so we'll cover how to customize your API key according to your needs.

Step 1: Access the Google Cloud Console

The entire process takes place within Google Cloud Console. To access the Google Cloud Console, you can follow this link: https://console.cloud.google.com/. You will need to log in with your Google account. If you don’t have one, you will need to create it.

If you don’t have a Google account and need to create it, you can follow the steps on the following link: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/27441?hl=en.

When you open the Console, you should see a screen similar to the one below. If you’re opening it for the first time, it might ask you to accept the Terms and cookies.

Step 2: Create a New Project

Once logged in, you’ll need to create a new project for your API key.

Click on the project dropdown at the top of the page labeled “Select a project”. If you have any projects from before, it might default to it, so instead of seeing “Select a project”, you might see a project name.

A modal should appear. At the top right corner of the modal, click on NEW PROJECT.

Give your project a name, select an organization (if you have it) and provide a location. At this stage, the name is the most important part on this screen. After you fill in all the required fields, click on CREATE.

You should be redirected back to the Console. A notification pop-up should show your project being created and after it’s done, it should show a success. Click on SELECT PROJECT in the pop-up to select the project.

You should now be redirected to the project screen. If, for some reason, the notification from point 4 didn’t show up, give it a few minutes, reload the page, and select the project from the dropdown from point 1.

Step 3: Create the API Key

Now that your project is set up, you can create the API key. It can be created from multiple locations.

If you’re on the project screen from Step 2, you can scroll down a bit to the Getting Started section and look for Explore and Enable APIs.

Another way is to click on the menu in the upper left corner to open the left sidebar. In the sidebar, if it’s not pinned by default under PINNED PRODUCTS, look for APIs & Services under MORE PRODUCTS. Hover over it and click on Enabled APIs & services.

Either way, you should now be redirected to the APIs screen.

From this screen, do the following:

Click on + ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES. You should be redirected to the API Library screen.

The essential API for adding maps to web pages is the Maps JavaScript API. Click on it. It should redirect you to the Maps JavaScript API screen.

Click on ENABLE to enable this API. It will ask you for certain information, like country, etc. After filling all the data, click on AGREE & CONTINUE. Next, it’s going to ask you to provide information about your account type, address, contact info, etc. After filling all the information, click on START FREE. This will ask you for credit card information in order to use the services. Also, you’ll need to verify it’s a legit credit card. Don’t worry, they won’t charge you anything.
After you complete all the verification steps, go back to the APIs & Services screen. It should look a bit different now. It should show the enabled Maps JavaScript API.

Click on the Maps JavaScript API in the table. A modal should appear with some questions about your business, development experience, etc. After you fill those fields, another modal should appear with your API key.

We recommend disabling the first option, Enable all Google Maps APIs for this project, in order to select only the ones you want manually. If you want to use all the APIs out of the box, leave this option selected. Make sure to store the API key somewhere so you can refer to it later. Once you stored your key, click on GO TO GOOGLE MAPS PLATFORM.
A modal should open with restrictions. We recommend selecting HTTP referrers (web sites) option.

A modal is going to add another field in which you want to add your website’s URL.

That’s it. Your API key is ready. If you didn’t store your API key, don’t worry, you can access it from the Google Maps Platform. On the Google Maps platform, click on Keys & Credentials in the left sidebar and click on SHOW KEY in the table, next to you Maps API Key. A modal is going to open with your key.

To quickly access Google Maps Platform, you can try using this link: https://console.cloud.google.com/google/maps-apis

Step 4: Enabling different APIs (e.g. Places API, Geolocation API, etc.)

Enabling different Google Maps APIs is relatively simple. In the Google Maps Platform, click on APIs & Services in the sidebar. From here, look for the APIs you want to enable and click on the ENABLE button in the card’s upper right corner. It’s going to take a few seconds and enable the selected API.

Conclusion

You've now successfully created a Google Maps API key and customized it with the necessary features for your project. Remember to monitor your API usage through the Google Cloud Console to keep track of any potential billing issues.

To make sure you follow the latest instructions, make sure to check out our original post at Simple Code website.

How we build stronger client relationships

Robert Kavgić — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:51:01 +0000

In the constantly changing world of project management and client services, the key to success lies in two essential elements: efficient communication and client happiness. We have chosen to enhance our strategy, making certain that every project meets our client's expectations.

This blog post outlines our strategic blueprint for improving client satisfaction and engagement through project assessment and workflow enhancement.

Initial project documentation review

Our first step towards improvement involves a thorough examination of our project documentation. We ask ourselves critical questions:

Is the documentation detailed enough to cover all aspects of the project?
Have we adequately addressed all variables and RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) elements?
Are disclaimers and scope definitions clear, and have we maintained flexibility for agile adjustments where necessary?
How do these factors relate to any deficiencies reported?

This introspective look helps us identify areas for enhancement, ensuring that projects are documented with precision and clarity, setting a solid foundation right from the start.

Project management processes review

Engaging with our team members, we discuss the project management processes to polish them:

The team's familiarity with project details and whether due dates are realistic
Clarity of roles, responsibilities, and task flows
The frequency and effectiveness of project status checks
Timeliness of task completion and resolution of team queries
The comprehensiveness of the testing process

This review enables us to streamline our project management practices, fostering a more cohesive and efficient team environment.

Client relationship maintenance review

A key component of our strategy is assessing our communication with clients to ensure:

Project documentation explicitly specifies communication protocols
Regular and detailed project updates are provided through appropriate channels
Responses to client inquiries are prompt and comprehensive, with all feedback duly logged and addressed
Product features are regularly delivered for client testing and feedback

This ensures our communication is not only consistent and informative but also tailored to meet our client's needs.

Our commitment to continuous improvement

Learning: The crux of our strategy lies in our commitment to continuous improvement. By asking ourselves what we could do differently and whether our learnings should be applied to future projects, we embrace a culture of adaptability and growth.

Client Engagement: Our revised client communication plan is designed to foster deeper engagement and trust. By ensuring regular, clear, and meaningful interactions, we aim to keep our clients informed and involved every step of the way.

Client Satisfaction: We understand that our success is measured by the satisfaction of our clients. Our strategic improvements in communication and project management are aimed at delivering outstanding results that not only meet but exceed our clients' expectations.

Conclusion

Our goal is clear - to level up satisfaction and engagement among our clients. We believe that through effective communication, meticulous project management, and a commitment to continuous improvement, we can achieve exceptional outcomes for our clients and build lasting relationships based on trust and excellence.