Which accessibility laws apply to my site

Each law draws its line somewhere different, so one question doesn't settle it. These four point to the text to read. They don't show that a law binds a site; that takes a lawyer and the facts.

The columns don't line up, so meeting one law doesn't settle another. Section 508 names an older WCAG than the Title II rule, and Title III names none. What each standard adds is on what EN 301 549 asks of a website beyond WCAG, and what a conformance claim needs is on what it takes for a page to conform to WCAG.

The European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882, has applied since 28 June 2025 (Article 31(2)) to these services provided to consumers (Article 2(2)):

Sellers outside the EU. A service provider is "any natural or legal person who provides a service on the Union market or makes offers to provide such a service to consumers in the Union" (Article 3(4)). The definition names no place of establishment.

The exemption for the smallest businesses. Article 4(5) exempts microenterprises providing services from the service requirements, and Article 3(23) sets the test:

How it is shown. The Act names no standard. Annex I, Section III(c), asks for websites and apps to be made "perceivable, operable, understandable and robust". A service that meets a harmonised standard with a reference in the Official Journal gets a presumption of conformity (Article 15(1)), and Annex V says a provider "may apply" such standards "in full or in part". EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (September 2026) is the edition written for the Act; on 6 November 2026 we found no Official Journal reference for it under the Act. V3.2.1's reference was published under the Web Accessibility Directive, by Decision (EU) 2021/1339. A provider must also publish how its service meets the requirements (Article 13(2), Annex V), which accessibility statements that are missing or say nothing covers.

What it leaves out. Article 2(4) excludes older pre-recorded media and office files, archives, some online maps, and third-party content the provider neither funds, develops nor controls. Article 14 limits the requirements where meeting them would fundamentally alter the service or impose a disproportionate burden. Service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may continue unaltered until they expire, but no longer than 5 years from that date (Article 32(1)).

It is not one law across the EU. A directive works through transposition: each member state writes it into national law (Article 31(1)), so what a seller meets is that national law, not the Act's text. The Act leaves each state to name the authority that checks services (Article 23(2)), set the penalties (Article 30) and decide on the built environment (Article 4(4)), so these can't be assumed to match from one state to the next.

To see a state's law, use the national transposition list on EUR-Lex. On 6 November 2026 it had entries for all 27 states. EUR-Lex says member states alone are responsible for what they report there and that the Commission checks it separately, so an entry shows that a state notified something, not that its law is complete.

The Web Accessibility Directive, Directive (EU) 2016/2102, covers the websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies (Articles 1(2) and 3(1)). Its last application date, for mobile apps, was 23 June 2021 (Article 12(3)). It excludes public service broadcasters and some NGOs (Article 1(3)), and content such as live media and older intranets (Article 1(4)). It requires an accessibility statement with a feedback mechanism (Article 7), and lets a member state go further (Article 2). A feedback mechanism takes a way to reach someone, and support that can only be reached by phone shows how that way can be closed. The clauses that give its presumption of conformity are on what EN 301 549 asks of a website beyond WCAG.

ADA Title II web rule. 28 CFR Part 35, Subpart H, published on 24 April 2024, sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA for the web content and mobile apps a state or local government provides "directly or through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements" (§ 35.200). An interim final rule of 20 April 2026 moved each compliance date later:

These dates could move again. The Department of Justice says it "will consider issuing" a proposal on the rule's substance during the extension, and that without one, and if nothing else calls for delay, it "fully anticipates implementing the regulation at the new deadline". A suit filed on 21 May 2026, National Federation of the Blind v. Department of Justice (D. Md.), asks a court to set the extension aside; the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse showed no ruling on 6 November 2026, though the last docket entry it listed was from 13 July 2026. The Federal Register showed no later document under the interim rule's number, RIN 1190-AA82, or the 2024 rule's, RIN 1190-AA79. ADA.gov's fact sheet is the place to check.

The rule has five exceptions (§ 35.201): archived content, documents posted before the date that aren't used to reach a service, third-party content not posted under an arrangement with the government, individual secured documents and older social media posts. The extension changes only the dates, and the Department adds that "covered entities have an ongoing obligation" under Title II regardless of them.

ADA Title III covers a public accommodation, a business open to the public, and has no web rule. The Department's guidance of 18 March 2022 says it "does not have a regulation setting out detailed standards", that businesses "can currently choose how" they make online goods and services accessible, and that WCAG and the Section 508 Standards give "helpful guidance". So what a business's site owes is argued in court. A Congressional Research Service note of 20 October 2022 says "courts have split", in three camps:

• The ADA applies to websites without restrictions.
• It applies only to physical places, so not to websites.
• It applies to some websites, depending on their connection to a physical business. This is how the Ninth Circuit ruled on a restaurant chain's online ordering.

That note also says many circuit courts hadn't addressed the question. We haven't reviewed case law since it.

Section 508, 29 USC 794d, requires each federal department or agency to ensure access when "developing, procuring, maintaining, or using" technology, for its staff and the public, unless that would be an undue burden. The standards say technology "procured, developed, maintained, or used by agencies" shall conform (E201.1), and public-facing content is measured against WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA (E205.2, E205.4). The duty is the agency's. A vendor meets it when an agency asks about a purchase, which is on reading a vendor's VPAT before you buy, and what to ask next.