The European Accessibility Act (EU Accessibility Act) officially kicked in on June 28, 2025, and yeah, that means we’re past the deadline and into real enforcement territory now.

Now before you roll your eyes and think “Michelle, I don’t even sell books in Europe, why should I care?” – stick with me here. Remember when GDPR happened and suddenly every website on the planet started asking about cookies? This is heading in the same direction, where European laws end up changing how everyone does business worldwide.

What Is the EU Accessibility Act Really About?

Think of the EU Accessibility Act as the EU saying, “Hey, let’s make sure everyone can actually read the books we’re selling, regardless of their abilities.” It’s not just about being nice – it’s now legally required for anyone wanting to sell ebooks in the European Union, and enforcement has officially begun.

The legislation covers the entire publishing ecosystem. Publishers need to create accessible content, retailers need accessible websites and purchasing processes, and the whole supply chain needs to work together to ensure that someone with a visual impairment can discover, buy, and read your book just as easily as anyone else.

The Reality of Who This Affects

The EU Accessibility Act applies to pretty much everyone in the publishing supply chain – publishers, retailers like Amazon and Apple, self-published authors, and even the platforms we use to create and distribute our books. If you’re selling ebooks to EU customers, this touches your business in some way.

There is some good news though. If you’re running a microenterprise – meaning fewer than 10 employees and less than 2 million euros in annual turnover – you might be exempt from direct compliance requirements. That covers most indie authors and small publishers. But here’s the catch: even if you’re technically exempt, the platforms you sell through might still require accessibility compliance to protect themselves from legal issues.

It’s similar to how many small websites still had to deal with GDPR requirements because the platforms they used implemented blanket policies. The major retailers aren’t going to create different rules for different sized publishers – they’re just going to require everyone to meet the standards.

The File Format Reality Check

From a practical view, it’s important to note that not all ebook formats are created equal when it comes to accessibility, and some choices you might have made years ago could now be problematic.

EPUB3 format is your best friend here. It’s built on web technologies like HTML and CSS, which means it naturally supports the kind of flexibility that accessibility requires. Text can reflow to different screen sizes, readers can adjust font sizes and spacing, and screen readers can navigate through the content logically. Most major retailers already prefer EPUB files, and Amazon even announced back in 2021 that they’re moving away from their proprietary formats and recommending publishers provide EPUB files instead.

PDF files, on the other hand, are essentially digital photocopies. They look the same on every device, which sounds good until you realize that “looking the same” means they can’t adapt to different reading needs. Someone who needs larger text or different contrast settings is often out of luck with PDFs. They’re particularly problematic for screen readers, which need to understand the structure and flow of content to read it aloud properly.

If you’ve been selling PDF-only versions of your books, especially if you market them as “ebooks,” this is probably the biggest immediate concern you’ll face with the new regulations.

What Makes Content Actually Accessible

The technical requirements might sound intimidating, but they’re really about common-sense design principles that make content better for everyone.

Proper structure is fundamental. This means using actual heading styles in your document instead of just making text bigger and bold. It means having a complete table of contents that accurately reflects your book’s organization. Screen readers and other assistive technologies rely on this structural information to help people navigate through your content efficiently.

Images need alternative text descriptions. Every chart, photo, diagram, or decorative element should have a text description that conveys its meaning or purpose. This isn’t just for people who can’t see the images – it’s also helpful when images don’t load properly or when someone is listening to your book while driving.

Your content needs to work well with text-to-speech technology. This means avoiding weird formatting tricks that might look clever on screen but completely confuse a screen reader. It also means thinking about how your content flows when it’s being read aloud rather than just when it’s being read visually.

The content should be flexible enough to adapt to different reading preferences and needs. Readers should be able to adjust font sizes, change color schemes for better contrast, and navigate through your book using just a keyboard if necessary.

Tools & Services

The good news is that you don’t need to become a technical expert to create accessible content. There are tools and services available at every budget level.

If you’re looking for free options, Draft2Digital* will format your book as an accessible EPUB at no cost – you don’t even have to publish through them to use this service.

Calibre, the popular ebook management software, also has accessibility features built in.

The DAISY Consortium, which specializes in accessible publishing, offers free validation tools to check whether your EPUB files meet accessibility standards.

For those willing to invest in paid tools, here are some other options to research:

• Vellum
• Atticus
• Professional formatting
• Dibbly Create

The key is choosing tools and services that understand accessibility isn’t an add-on feature – it should be built into the creation process from the beginning.

The Global Ripple Effect

Even if you never sell a single book in Europe, this legislation is likely to affect you. Major retailers are implementing accessibility features worldwide because it’s easier to have one set of standards than to maintain different systems for different markets. Accessibility requirements are spreading to other countries as well – the principles behind the EU Accessibility Act align with disability rights legislation that’s being developed or strengthened around the world.

More importantly, accessible content just reaches more people. The techniques that make books accessible to people with disabilities also make them more usable for people reading on different devices, in different lighting conditions, or while multitasking. It’s better design, period.

Taking a Practical Approach

So, what should you actually do right now? The most important thing is to start building accessibility awareness into your publishing process going forward. If you’re working on new books, learn about accessible formatting practices and implement them from the beginning. If you’re using professional services, ask about their accessibility capabilities.

For your existing catalog, start with your most important titles – your bestsellers, your newest releases, or the books that generate the most EU sales. Use free tools to check their current accessibility status, and prioritize improvements based on both the severity of issues and the commercial importance of the titles.

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Focus on the most critical accessibility barriers first – things like completely missing navigation structure or images without any alternative text. You can always make additional improvements over time.

If you’re planning to hire formatting services or buy new software, make accessibility support a key criteria in your decision. It’s much easier to create accessible content from scratch than to retrofit it later.

The Bigger Picture of the EU Accessibility Act

The European Accessibility Act represents a shift toward inclusive design becoming the standard rather than the exception. It’s part of a broader movement recognizing that accessibility isn’t a special accommodation – it’s good design that benefits everyone.

For authors and publishers, this means thinking about accessibility from the very beginning of the content creation process. It means considering how your book will work for people with different abilities, different devices, and different reading preferences. It means seeing accessibility not as a compliance burden but as an opportunity to reach more readers with better-designed content.

The deadline has passed, and enforcement has begun. But rather than seeing this as a crisis, we can view it as an opportunity to create better, more inclusive content that serves all our readers well.

The tools exist, the knowledge is available, and the benefits extend far beyond legal compliance.

The authors and publishers who embrace accessibility now will be ahead of the curve as these standards continue to spread globally. They’ll also be creating content that’s simply better designed and more widely usable.

And ultimately, that’s what good publishing has always been about – getting great content to as many readers as possible, in the most effective way possible.

---

Why waste time wrestling with formatting when you could be writing your next book?

As an author, your expertise is in creating valuable content that serves your readers. My expertise is in making sure that content reaches your audience in a format that’s professional, accessible, and actually works across all devices and platforms.

Check out my design services here.