Accessibility Becomes Mandatory: What the German Accessibility Strengthening Act Means for Digital Services from 2025
Accessibility has been mandatory for many digital products and services since mid-2025. We already explained this in our article "Accessibility Will Be a Recommendation – and a Requirement." Beyond technical implementation, it's important to note that an Accessibility Statement (AS) is legally required, and incorrect formulation can lead to warnings or regulatory pressure.
Contents of this blog post:
- Why an Accessibility Statement according to BFSG is legally required
- What this statement must contain
- A proposal for a possible accessibility statement / AS
- Brief explanation of where you should customize the statement individually and truthfully to your service
- Our experience with legal consultation on formulation
- What consequences non-compliance may have
Reading time: approx. 15 minutes
What is the BFSG and Accessibility Statement About?
The German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) requires digital offerings such as online shops, banking apps, or booking portals to be accessibly designed since June 28, 2025. This follows the EU-wide European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the EN 301 549 standard, which usually defines WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical target. Micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and less than 2 million € annual turnover are exempt.
According to § 14 BFSG and Annex 3, providers must publish an accessibility statement that contains the following points:
- General description of the digital service
- Compliance status of accessibility requirements (e.g., WCAG, EN 301 549)
- Contact options of the service provider for feedback on barriers
- Market surveillance authority as the responsible control body
- Optional information: Date of last review, review methodology, feedback mechanism
There is no official template for the accessibility statement. To our current knowledge, none is planned either.
Therefore, we will discuss below what such an Accessibility Statement could look like.
Our Template for Your AS
Accessibility Information
We commit to implementing the requirements of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) as well as the underlying EU Directive (EU) 2019/882 on accessibility requirements for products and services. Our goal is to design our digital offerings – especially web applications and online services – so that they are accessibly available to all people, regardless of individual abilities or technical assistive devices.
Service Description
You must individually adapt this part to your digital service. We have provided an example for a classic online shop at this point.
Our online shop enables users to obtain information about products, digitally select and purchase products. The goods are each offered on their own product page with description, price, and possibly available variants such as size or color.
The desired products can be added to a virtual shopping cart. After selecting all items, the ordering process leads through the checkout area, where a delivery address and possibly different billing address must be entered, and a payment method must be selected.
After successful ordering, order confirmation and shipping confirmations are sent via email to the email address provided during ordering. Redirection to third-party services for processing payments may occur. We have limited influence on the design and technical execution of these services.
Adapt to individual service
You don't necessarily need to provide the following part. However, it clarifies your previous efforts and measures, as well as your commitment in the area of accessibility, and offers a point of contact beyond the market surveillance authority.
Accessibility Status
Our website and digital services are continuously adapted to applicable accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549). We actively pursue the goal of identifying, reducing, and ultimately completely eliminating existing barriers.
Despite all care, temporary or partial barriers may occur in individual cases. This can particularly happen:
- due to ongoing editorial or technical revisions of individual content and pages,
- due to different interpretations of technical accessibility requirements,
- or with complex functionalities for which no completely accessible solution is yet available.
We continuously work to identify such deviations and develop solutions to enable all users low-threshold and equivalent access.
Last Review
The last exemplary accessibility review took place on [Date of last review] by [Enter company – an external company is better here]. A selection of representative pages and functions was examined for compliance with the requirements of WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549. Not all content or pages were individually tested. The selection was based on usage frequency and central functionalities of our online offering.
Feedback and Contact
Should you notice barriers when visiting our digital offerings, we ask you to inform us. Every hint helps us better understand existing weaknesses and improve them in a targeted manner.
Contact for accessibility feedback:
[Name or department]
[Company]
[Address, optional]
[Email address]
[Phone number, optional]
We assure you that we will editorially and technically review incoming feedback as quickly as possible and, if possible, remedy it within a reasonable timeframe. Should a short-term technical solution not be possible, we will work with you to find alternative access routes or supporting measures to still enable you to use the service.
optional
The following part is important again, as the market surveillance authority must be named here and you should refer to the currently valid Terms and Conditions, which may close possible gaps in the description of the service or product.
Additional Information
Please note that the use of our digital services and all associated functions is additionally subject to our General Terms and Conditions (GTC). These GTC regulate, among other things, contract conclusion, payment processing, and delivery. In case of contradictions or deviations, the GTC in their current version apply, insofar as they do not restrict or override accessibility requirements. An accessible version of our GTC is available here: [Link to GTC]
We understand accessibility not as a one-time measure, but as an ongoing process. Therefore, our content and systems are regularly reviewed and revised. In individual cases, this may temporarily lead to limitations in accessibility. We ask for your understanding.
For further information on the German Accessibility Strengthening Act, we refer to the responsible national enforcement agency:
German Federal Agency for Accessibility (Operated by: Knappschaft-Bahn-See)
Responsible Market Surveillance Authority
Market Surveillance Authority of the States for Accessibility of Products and Services (MLBF) in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt.
MLBF (under establishment)
c/o Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Equal Opportunities Saxony-Anhalt
P.O. Box 39 11 55
39135 Magdeburg
Phone: 0391 567 6970
Email: MLBF(at)ms.sachsen-anhalt.de.
Note:
According to https://bfsg-gesetz.de/anlage-3/ §1 c,
"a description of how the service fulfills the relevant accessibility requirements
listed in the regulation to be issued pursuant to §3 paragraph 2;"
should be included – i.e., a precise description of how the service was designed to be accessible.
Example of a Description of Concrete Measures
Below is an example of concrete measures as we typically provide and implement as an agency for our clients in projects.
These measures would need to be truthfully and individually adapted to your measures.
Concrete Implementation of Accessibility Requirements
To fulfill legal accessibility requirements, the following technical and design measures have been implemented:
Technical Structure and Semantics
The HTML structures of our website correspond to the semantic purpose of the respective content and interaction elements. Additionally, ARIA markups were used to make complex functionalities and their status accessible to assistive technologies.
Content Design and Editorial Measures
Editorially responsible persons have been trained in the correct use of text structures and hierarchical heading levels. When creating content, attention is paid to clear, understandable language. Complex matters are presented in a structured manner and organized with subheadings. Link texts are meaningfully formulated and clearly describe the destination of the link. Lists and other structuring HTML elements are strategically used to clarify content structure. Tables are provided with appropriate headings and descriptions to make their content and structure understandable.
Visual Design and Responsive Design
In color design, attention was paid to high-contrast presentation according to WCAG Level AA. Information is not conveyed exclusively through visual properties such as color, shape, or position, but supplemented by additional textual or structural hints. The website is responsively designed and usable on various output devices. Text size can be adjusted using browser zoom to at least 200% without loss of functionality. Navigation and control elements are consistently designed and positioned in comparable locations.
Text Alternatives, Media and Time-based Content
Provisions have been made for all images and graphics so that users can create meaningful alternative texts when creating content or mark pure decorative graphics with empty alternative texts. Video content, insofar as it is under our control, is provided with subtitles. Time-controlled displays or automatic notifications have been avoided. If such elements are necessary for functional reasons, they can be paused and controlled by users. Content that might require attention does not blink or flash.
Navigation and Operation
The website is fully keyboard operable. The keyboard focus is always clearly visible and follows a logical order corresponding to the page structure. Unnecessary focus movement within a page as well as unintended reset when reloading pages are avoided to prevent context and orientation loss.
Forms and Input
In all forms, clear label assignments to the corresponding form and control elements are provided. Error and status messages are presented clearly and accessibly to facilitate operation and understanding of inputs.
Additional Measures
- Automatic page redirections without user interaction have been avoided.
- Click and touch targets have sufficient minimum size for easy operation.
- In linear navigation through assistive technologies, content follows a meaningful and understandable order.
These measures ensure a high degree of compatibility with common assistive technologies and enable equivalent use of our digital services for people with different abilities.
Adapt to individual service
Possible Short Version:
We design our digital offerings according to the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) and applicable standards (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA) to be accessible and continuously expand this accessibility.
Despite all care, temporary or technical limitations may occasionally occur. We welcome feedback on barriers and strive for quick solutions. [Here's the link to complete accessibility information](LINK)
Note:
Do not incorporate the AS/IBE into the GTC, as this might influence other
"legal transactions."
Instead, place an individual "Accessibility" link in the footer
that refers to the "Accessibility Information" as a standalone page.
"The service provider indicates in relation to their service within the meaning of § 1 paragraph 3 in their General Terms and Conditions or in another clearly perceptible way how they fulfill the accessibility requirements of the regulation to be issued pursuant to § 3 paragraph 2."
Our Experience with Legal Consultation on This Topic
It should be noted that among the legal advisors we have had contact with over time on this topic, there has been some discourse regarding the implementation of the measures described in the law. The distinction between a narrow and broad interpretation of accessibility requirements is primarily the starting point for the required level of detail and depth of described measures.
Many law firms dealing with digital accessibility recommend:
- Not integrating the AS into the GTC, but maintaining it as a standalone, easily findable page – such as under /accessibility and then linking it in the website footer.
- The AS must explicitly refer to the GTC (e.g., to close explanatory gaps in business activities, etc.)
- Avoid legally binding assurances ("complete accessibility", "guaranteed conformity") if these cannot be fulfilled 100%
- Name a contact person for feedback – preferably with email address and optionally phone number
- Specifically: To avoid being caught in warning campaigns, the corresponding legal text should be adopted almost verbatim. This reduces the risk of being targeted for omissions in the statement during (semi-)automatic reviews (copy or cite BFSG Annex 3)
A Possible Additional Formulation for Improved Defense Against Warnings
Service Design for Accessible Access
Our digital service has been designed to enable people with various limitations equivalent use. We base this on the following principles:
- High-contrast user interface design
- Providing information on multiple perception levels (text-based, auditory, visual)
- Alternative content for visual or auditory media
- Operation of all functions via keyboard
- Support for screen readers and comparable assistive technologies
- Avoiding time-critical interactions without accessible alternatives
- Using simple language and understandable content
- Intuitive navigation and logically structured content
General Accessible Information Provision
Information about our services is conveyed to users so that they:
- can be perceived through multiple user senses (e.g., visually and/or auditorily),
- are provided in an easily findable way for users,
- are written in an understandable manner,
- are available in a universal text format (font, size, contrasts, spacing) to enable conversions to assistive output forms,
- are designed with easily readable font size, appropriate typography, and sufficient contrast and spacing,
- provide alternative textual descriptions for non-text content,
- are digitally designed to function consistently, accessibly, intuitively, and stably.
Both our web offerings, digital services, and mobile applications follow these principles. The design consistently follows the principles of Perceivability, Operability, Understandability, and Robustness (according to WCAG criteria).
Accessibility of Supporting Services
When additional support services such as support hotlines, training offerings, or technical consulting are provided, we ensure that these services also make accessibility information and compatibility accessible through accessible means.
Functional Requirements for Special Limitations
Our services consider the following accessible interaction forms for users:
- For visual limitations: at least one option without visual elements and one that functions independently of color distinction.
- For people with hearing limitations: at least one usage option without sound and one with adjustable audio functions.
- For vocally limited users: at least one operating variant without voice input.
- For motor-limited users: at least one operating form without complex movement sequences or muscle strength, as well as an option for limited reach.
- For people with cognitive limitations: user-friendly structures, reduced complexity where possible, and supportive hints.
- For all accessibility functions: User privacy is maintained.
These measures are oriented toward the requirements of the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) and have been integrated into our technical and design processes to ensure the most comprehensive accessibility possible.
What Are the Consequences Without an AS?
Without a valid and verifiable statement, according to § 37 BFSG, the following can happen:
- Operating or distribution ban (of the respective services or products)
- Fines up to 100,000 euros (depending on the violation)
- Formal objection by market surveillance
- Warnings from competitors or consumer organizations
This is particularly relevant because any institution, company, or natural person can alert inspection bodies to a violation of the BFSG. Thus, it can be assumed that at least your competition will pay close attention to this!
Conclusion - Clarity Protects Against Warnings
The Accessibility Statement is only a small part of your digital service but with great impact. Those who take it seriously and individually tailor it to their own service show not only legal compliance, but also respect toward all users. It also protects against legal pitfalls and economic damage.
If you need support in creating or formulating one, please contact us. We help create accessible web applications and show how you can meaningfully implement legal requirements.
Legal Notice
This blog post does not constitute legal advice and does not replace legal review of your accessibility statement. The contained formulations and hints have been carefully researched, but make no claim to completeness or legal binding. For actual implementation according to BFSG and applicable regulations, legal review in individual cases is recommended.
Note on Creating This Post
This post was also created and translated with the help of AI OpenAI GPT-4 (2024-06, Model: GPT-4o). The basis was editorial research, personal experiences, legal sources, and a company template. Final editing and professional approval were done by the article author and accessibility officer Dr.-Ing. Jens Bornschein.
