European Accessibility Act in Austria: what small online businesses need to know
How the EAA applies in Austria: the national law, who enforces it, the fines, the microenterprise exemption and the duties that catch small businesses out.
Last checked: 3 November 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
The law
Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), BGBl. I Nr. 76/2023, in force since 28 June 2025.
Who enforces it
The Sozialministeriumservice (Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen), with its Upper Austria office acting as the central market surveillance authority.
Fines
- Up to €80,000 for a non-compliant product or service — up to €50,000 for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (§ 36(1)).
- Lower maximums for documentation and information duties, again reduced for SMEs.
Are small businesses exempt?
Exempt for services: fewer than 10 staff, and annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most €2 million (§ 3 Z 19, § 6).
What to watch for
- Publish the accessibility information in written and spoken form, accessibly, for as long as the service is offered (§ 14(2)).
- Anyone can report a suspected breach; the authority must answer in writing, accessibly, within eight weeks (§ 35).
- Service contracts signed before 28 June 2025 may run unchanged until they end, for at most five years.
Not yet confirmed
We only state what we could confirm. These points still need checking against the official text:
- The official RIS database was unavailable during research, so section texts were read on a private mirror of it — re-check exact wording on RIS.
- Where exactly the accessibility information must be placed (the content of Annex 3).
Sources
- BaFG — RIS (official, was unavailable when checked) (official)
- BaFG section texts — jusline.at (private mirror of RIS) (secondary)
- Federal Chancellery — Council of Ministers paper on the BaFG (official)
Where do you stand?
The free 5-minute EAA checklist gives you a readiness score and a prioritised fix list, and Coffer for Business can scan your site automatically.