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EAA Timeline

Key milestones for EN 301 549 and the European Accessibility Act - version releases, transposition deadlines and compliance dates.

  1. European Accessibility Act transitional period for existing products ends

    Directive (EU) 2019/882 gives service providers a transitional period ending 28 June 2030, during which they may keep providing services using products that were lawfully in use before 28 June 2025; service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may also run on for no more than five years. After this date those legacy products and contracts must meet the Act's accessibility requirements, for which EN 301 549 provides the technical means of conformance.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2019/882, Article 32

  1. Conflicting national standards to EN 301 549 V4.1.1 withdrawn (dow)

    National standards that conflict with EN 301 549 V4.1.1 — including national editions of the older V3.2.1 — must be withdrawn by this date. After it, V4.1.1 (WCAG 2.2 AA based, with Annex ZA for the Web Accessibility Directive and Annex ZB for the European Accessibility Act) is the only national version of the standard in force.

    Source: ETSI

  1. EN 301 549 V4.1.1 national adoption deadline (dop/e)

    By this date the national standards bodies of CEN/CENELEC/ETSI members must publish EN 301 549 V4.1.1 as an identical national standard or endorse it. The date is fixed in the published standard, which also records its adoption on 24 August 2026 and a national announcement deadline (doa) of 30 November 2026.

    Source: ETSI
  2. Forecast

    EN 301 549 V4.1.1 Official Journal citation expected (estimated, not confirmed)

    No official date has been announced for citing V4.1.1 in the EU Official Journal — a widely-repeated claim of "October 2026" circulating on accessibility blogs has no primary source behind it. This estimate instead extrapolates from V3.2.1's own precedent: published March 2021, cited in the Official Journal roughly five months later, in August 2021. Applying the same gap to V4.1.1's September 2026 publication suggests citation around early 2027 — still an estimate, not a confirmed date. Check the Official Journal directly before relying on it.

    Source: Legalithm

  1. National announcement deadline (doa) for EN 301 549 V4.1.1

    EN 301 549 V4.1.1 sets 30 November 2026 as the date of latest announcement (doa) — the deadline by which national standards bodies in CEN/CENELEC/ETSI member countries must announce the new version at national level. It is the first step of the national rollout that continues with national publication/endorsement by 31 May 2027 and withdrawal of conflicting national standards by 31 May 2028, so testers should expect national versions of the V4.1.1 text to start appearing from this point.

    Source: ETSI — EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (2026-09)

  2. EN 301 549 V4.1.1 published

    Finalised version of EN 301 549, moving Clauses 9–11 to WCAG 2.2 AA. Not yet a cited harmonised standard under the EAA — see the expected Official Journal citation below. V3.2.1 (WCAG 2.1 AA) remains the version with legal effect until then.

    Source: ETSI

  3. EN 301 549 V4.1.1 adopted by the European Standards Organisations

    The foreword of the published standard records 24 August 2026 as the date of adoption of EN 301 549 V4.1.1 by ETSI/CEN/CENELEC, the formal approval step that closed the V4.1.0 draft and vote process and fixed the text ahead of ETSI publication in September 2026. Adoption fixes the technical content (including the move to WCAG 2.2 AA, the new Annex ZB and clause A.2 for the European Accessibility Act) that conformance work should now be based on, even though legal presumption of conformity still depends on a later Official Journal citation.

    Source: ETSI — EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (2026-09)

  1. EN 301 549 V4.1.0 published as draft for public enquiry

    Draft version updating Clauses 9–11 (web, non-web documents, software) to align with WCAG 2.2 AA (W3C Recommendation, December 2024), released for ETSI's public enquiry and vote ahead of finalisation.

    Source: ETSI

  2. European Accessibility Act: compliance deadline for businesses

    In-scope products and services placed on the EU market must meet EAA accessibility requirements from this date.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2019/882, Article 31

  1. European Accessibility Act: member state transposition deadline

    EU member states must have adopted and published the laws, regulations and administrative provisions needed to comply with the EAA.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2019/882, Article 31

  1. Web Accessibility Directive: monitoring and reporting begins

    Member states must have monitoring methodologies in place and begin publishing accessibility monitoring reports.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102, Article 8

  2. EN 301 549 V3.2.1 cited in the EU Official Journal

    Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1339 (adopted 11 August 2021, published in OJ L 289 on 12 August 2021) cites V3.2.1 as the harmonised standard under the Web Accessibility Directive, giving it a presumption of conformity — the version still in legal effect today.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1339

  3. Web Accessibility Directive: mobile apps must conform

    All public sector mobile apps must meet WCAG 2.1 AA.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102, Article 12

  4. EN 301 549 V3.2.1 published

    Refines WCAG 2.1 AA alignment across web, software and hardware clauses. Became the version in legal effect once cited in the Official Journal a few months later (see below).

    Source: ETSI

  1. Web Accessibility Directive: existing public sector websites must conform

    All existing public sector websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102, Article 12

  1. EN 301 549 V3.1.1 published

    Updated edition of EN 301 549, continuing WCAG 2.1 alignment.

    Source: ETSI

  2. Web Accessibility Directive: new public sector websites must conform

    All new public sector websites (published on or after 23 September 2018) must meet WCAG 2.1 AA.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102, Article 12

  3. European Accessibility Act adopted

    Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services is formally adopted.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2019/882

  1. Web Accessibility Directive: member state transposition deadline

    EU member states are required to have transposed the Web Accessibility Directive into national law.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102, Article 12

  2. EN 301 549 V2.1.2 published

    First version of EN 301 549 to align its web content requirements with WCAG 2.1.

    Source: ETSI

  1. Web Accessibility Directive enters into force

    Directive (EU) 2016/2102, requiring accessible websites and mobile apps for public sector bodies, enters into force.

    Source: EUR-Lex — Directive (EU) 2016/2102