If your business serves customers in Germany, the European Accessibility Act reaches you through one specific law: the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) — the Accessibility Strengthening Act, enacted 16 July 2021 and operative for in-scope private-sector services since 28 June 2025.
The BFSG isn't a separate standard from the EAA — it's Germany's transposition of it. The core obligation is the same everywhere in the EU: WCAG 2.1 AA conformance (via the harmonised standard EN 301 549), and a published accessibility statement.
Who it applies to
The EAA — and by extension the BFSG — covers specific categories of digital services, most notably e-commerce. The general threshold exemption is for genuine microenterprises: fewer than 10 employees and turnover or balance-sheet total under €2 million. Both conditions have to hold — a 5-person company doing €3m in revenue is still in scope.
The part nobody's telling you
Germany runs BAFA Beratungsförderung, a nationwide funding programme active through the end of 2026. It reimburses 50% of eligible accessibility costs in the former West German states and 80% in the former East German states, up to €2,800 per project. Bavaria separately runs Digitalbonus Bayern (through end of 2027), covering up to 50% of spend, capped at €7,500.
Put plainly: a German SME's accessibility audit, after the subsidy, can cost a few hundred euros out of pocket — and it comes out of a grant budget, not a discretionary spend decision. Almost nobody selling into this market talks about it.
What you actually need
Same three things every EAA jurisdiction requires: a real report against WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549, a published accessibility statement citing the BFSG specifically, and a plan to reassess at least every 5 years or whenever your site changes materially.
I write about EU web accessibility law at Cluesia — this post originally appeared there, where you can also run a free check on your own site.
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