European Accessibility Act for Ticket Shops

Since 28 June 2025, online ticket shops that sell to consumers in the EU fall under the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) as "e-commerce services". They must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust, including the payment step, and the provider must publish information on how the service meets the requirements. Microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 staff and no more than €2 million turnover or balance sheet) are exempt. In practice, the benchmark is the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which points to WCAG 2.1 level AA. If you sell through a ticketing platform, the shop duties mainly sit with the platform in our reading. Your event pages, your own website and the venue are still on you.

Key takeaways

The EAA covers services provided to consumers after 28 June 2025, including e-commerce. Online ticket sales to consumers fit that definition. Pure B2B sales do not.

Microenterprises providing services are exempt: fewer than 10 people employed and annual turnover or balance sheet total of at most €2 million.

Conformity with harmonised standards gives a presumption of conformity. For websites, that is EN 301 549, which references WCAG 2.1.

Each country enforces through national law and authorities. Germany allows fines up to €100,000; France up to €50,000 (as of November 2026).

Accessibility doesn't stop at checkout: step-free access, companion tickets, clear information and briefed staff matter just as much.

This guide is not legal or tax advice.

What is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is an EU directive that sets common accessibility requirements for selected products and services, so that people with disabilities can use them on an equal basis. It was adopted in 2019. Member States had to transpose it by June 2022 and apply the national rules from 28 June 2025 (Art. 31).

The EAA covers products such as computers, smartphones and ticketing machines, and services such as banking, e-books, passenger transport and e-commerce. It defines e-commerce services as "services provided at a distance, through websites and mobile device-based services by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract" (Art. 3(30)). The recitals add that these obligations apply "to the online sale of any product or service". An online ticket shop for concerts, parties or festivals fits squarely.

EAA at a glance	Content
Legal act	Directive (EU) 2019/882, transposed into national law
Applies from	28 June 2025, for services provided to consumers after that date (Art. 2(2))
Relevant service	E-commerce services (Art. 3(30))
Requirements	Annex I, Sections III and IV(g)
Information duty	Annex V, via terms or an equivalent document
Exemption	Microenterprises providing services (Art. 4(5))
Standard	Harmonised standards give a presumption of conformity (Art. 15); in practice EN 301 549
Transition	Service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may run until they expire, max. five years (Art. 32)

A mixed concert audience with and without disabilities enjoys an indoor concert together in warm stage light

Does the EAA apply to your ticket shop?

Work through these questions in order:

Question	If yes	If no
1. Can consumers buy tickets on the site or app?	go to 2	not covered (for example a pure B2B trade fair, an info page without checkout)
2. Are you a microenterprise providing services?	exempt from the service requirements	go to 3
3. Do you run the shop yourself (your own shop software)?	you are the service provider	go to 4
4. Do you sell through a platform that runs the checkout?	shop duties mainly with the platform (our reading); your own content and site remain yours	–

The microenterprise exemption

Art. 4(5) says "microenterprises providing services shall be exempt from complying with the accessibility requirements" for services and related obligations. A microenterprise "employs fewer than 10 persons and … has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million" (Art. 3(23)). The staff condition and one of the financial conditions must both be met.

Examples (our assessment, as of November 2026):

A volunteer-run sports club with one part-time employee and €60,000 turnover: microenterprise, exempt.
A club venue with 25 casual staff and €900,000 turnover: not a microenterprise, because it has 10 or more staff.
A concert promoter with 6 employees and €3.5 million ticket revenue: not a microenterprise, unless its balance sheet total is €2 million or less.

How part-time and casual staff are counted, and how connected companies are grouped, depends on national guidance. Germany's labour ministry has published guidelines for microenterprises, as the directive requires Member States to do (Art. 4(6)). In borderline cases, ask an adviser.

Who is responsible on a ticketing platform?

The EAA places duties on the service provider (Art. 13). If a platform operates the shop, basket, checkout and payment, it is the one providing the e-commerce service, and in our reading it carries the requirements for those parts. No court or authority has ruled specifically on ticketing platforms yet. Typically, responsibilities split like this:

Area	Responsible (assessment)	What you can do
Checkout, basket, payment	Platform	Ask for its accessibility information
Event texts, images, ticket descriptions you upload	You	Plain language, alt text, no key info only inside images
Your own website leading to the shop	You, if not exempt and purchase happens there	Accessible navigation to the ticket link
Embedded widget on your site	Shared	Don't override contrast or focus styles
PDFs, venue maps, directions	You	Provide as text, not just images
Venue, entrance, staff	You (not EAA, but good hosting)	See the section on accessible events

What does an accessible ticket shop need?

Annex I, Section III requires services to provide information through more than one sensory channel, in text that assistive tools can use, with adequate font size, contrast and spacing, and to make websites and apps "perceivable, operable, understandable and robust". For e-commerce, Section IV(g) adds that identification, security and payment functions must meet the same four principles, and that accessibility information about the products sold must be passed on where the responsible operator supplies it.

EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 AA

Art. 15 gives a presumption of conformity to services that comply with harmonised standards published in the Official Journal. For digital services, the standard the market works with is EN 301 549. Its web chapter maps to the success criteria of WCAG 2.1, and audits usually test against level AA. Germany's federal accessibility agency names EN 301 549 V3.2.1 as the central reference and notes that a revision based on WCAG 2.2 is in progress. Check the current status before commissioning an audit, and write the version into the contract.

Check	Typical ticket shop failure	Fix
Contrast	Pale grey prices, white text on a brand-colour button	At least 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (WCAG 2.1, 1.4.3)
Keyboard	Quantity only changeable with a mouse	Every control reachable by Tab, visible focus
Forms	No labels, errors shown only in red	Visible labels, error text explaining how to fix it
Images	Flyer as the only source of date and venue	Date, venue, price as text; alt text
Time limits	Basket expires silently	Warning and a way to extend
Language	Jargon and abbreviations	Plain wording: "price includes booking fee"
CAPTCHA	Visual puzzle only	An alternative that doesn't depend on sight
Payment	Payment pop-up unusable with a screen reader	Accessible payment methods, focus stays in the dialog
Ticket PDF	QR code only	Event name, date, venue and ticket type as real text

Disproportionate burden

Art. 14 lets a provider apply requirements only as far as they don't impose a disproportionate burden or fundamentally alter the service. You must document that assessment using the criteria in Annex VI, keep it for five years and renew it at least every five years. The recitals are clear that "lack of priority, time or knowledge" is not a legitimate reason. Treat this as a narrow exception, not a way out.

What goes into an accessibility statement?

Art. 13(2) and Annex V require the provider to explain how the service meets the requirements, in the terms and conditions "or equivalent document", available to the public in an accessible way. The information should contain:

a general description of the service in accessible formats
descriptions needed to understand how the service operates
a description of how the relevant requirements of Annex I are met
where national law requires it, the competent authority (Germany, for example, asks for the market surveillance authority)

Example structure (adapt it to your situation):

Accessibility of our ticket shop

You can buy tickets for our events in this shop. Buying consists of choosing tickets, entering contact details, paying and receiving your ticket by email.

We follow EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 level AA. All functions work with a keyboard, text has sufficient contrast, form fields are labelled and errors are shown as text. Known limitations: [list them honestly].

Report a barrier: [email, phone]. Competent authority: [national authority].

If you use a platform, ask for its accessibility information and link to it from your own website.

How is the EAA enforced across Europe?

Each Member State sets penalties (Art. 30) and names authorities. Selected examples, as of November 2026:

Country	National law	Enforcement
Germany	Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG), § 3(3) exempts microenterprises providing services	Joint market surveillance body of the federal states (MLBF) in Magdeburg, active since September 2025; fines up to €100,000 (§ 37 BFSG)
France	Loi n° 2023-171, art. 16, and Décret n° 2023-931	Fines up to €50,000 (secondary compilation)
Netherlands	Implementation act (Stb. 2024, 87); e-commerce rules in the Civil Code (art. 6:230fa)	Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM)
Ireland	S.I. No. 636/2023, covering "e-commerce services"	Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)

In Germany, almost 700 reports reached the MLBF by 1 June 2026. We know of no fines against ticket shops so far; an order to fix barriers is the likelier first step.

Selling cross-border? A Belgian or Austrian buyer brings that country's transposition into play, and providers outside the EU, including UK businesses, are not automatically out of scope.

How do you make the event itself accessible?

The EAA only covers the digital sale. Whether disabled guests can actually attend is decided at the venue. The best practical lists come from national accessibility agencies and disability organisations: accessible booking and information, getting there, step-free routes and accessible toilets, support such as sign language interpretation or hearing loops, and trained staff.

Companion tickets

Many people need a companion or personal assistant to attend at all. Rules on free companion entry vary. In Germany, for example, the "B" mark in a disability ID card shows that the holder is entitled to bring a companion, but there's no general legal duty for private organisers to admit them free. Many organisers offer a free companion ticket anyway, because the companion is a precondition for attending, not a choice.

Create a separate ticket type "Companion" at €0 with its own capacity.
Ask to see proof at the door; don't store copies.
Sell wheelchair spaces as their own ticket type with a small capacity.

Information before the event

Write into every event description:

step-free access yes or no, door widths, lift
accessible toilet and where it is
seating at standing gigs
volume, lighting effects, strobe
a named contact for access questions, with email

For door planning, see event entry and queue management and the event planning checklist.

A sign language interpreter at the side of a concert stage, in front of an enthusiastic audience with raised hands

Checklist: accessible ticket shop and event

Legal

Check whether you are a microenterprise (under 10 staff and at most €2 million turnover or balance sheet).
Clarify who runs the shop: you or a platform.
Request the platform's accessibility information and link to it.
Note the national law and authority for each country you sell into.

Shop and website

Check colours for contrast (4.5:1 for normal text).
Complete a whole purchase with the keyboard only.
Test once with a screen reader (NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on iPhone or Mac).
Put all event information in text, add alt text to images.
Publish an accessibility page with the Annex V content.
Name a contact for barrier reports and answer within days.

Event

Check the venue for step-free access, door widths and an accessible toilet.
Set up companion and wheelchair ticket types.
Add access, toilet, volume and lighting information to the event page.
Brief door staff on companions, assistance dogs and alternative entrances.
For talks and conferences, ask early about sign language or captions.

How to do this with Eventoren

On Eventoren, you create ticket types, each with its own capacity and a max-per-order limit. That lets you run wheelchair spaces and a free "Companion" ticket separately from general sale, and free tickets cost nothing. If the companion ticket shouldn't be publicly bookable, mark the type "nur mit Freischaltcode": on request, the Eventoren team generates one-time unlock codes, and you hand a code to each guest who asks.

Buyers check out as guests without an account and receive a PDF ticket with a QR code by email. Each ticket carries a participant name that you can edit. At the door, helpers scan in the smartphone browser and can type the code manually if a scan fails. The guest list supports 0–5 companions per entry, which suits personal assistants you add by name.

Please note that Eventoren's interface is German and it sells in EUR only. For information on the accessibility of the Eventoren ticket shop itself, ask us via the contact form. Your own event texts and images are your responsibility: always put date, venue, price and access details in the text. More on the door process in QR code ticket check-in.

Frequently asked questions

Does the European Accessibility Act apply to online ticket sales?

Yes, if consumers can buy tickets through the website or app and you are not an exempt microenterprise. Online ticket sales are an e-commerce service under Art. 3(30) of Directive (EU) 2019/882, and the rules apply to services provided after 28 June 2025.

Are small clubs and organisers exempt from the EAA?

Usually yes. Microenterprises providing services, meaning fewer than 10 staff and at most €2 million annual turnover or balance sheet total, are exempt (Art. 4(5)). That covers most clubs, charities and small promoters.

Who is responsible if I sell through a ticketing platform?

In our reading, the platform is responsible for the shop and checkout it operates as service provider. You remain responsible for your own content, images and website. No authority or court has yet ruled specifically on ticketing platforms.

Which standard applies to an accessible ticket shop?

Harmonised standards give a presumption of conformity under Art. 15. In practice that means EN 301 549, which references WCAG 2.1 for web content, and audits usually test level AA.

Do companions have to get in free?

There is no EU-wide rule, and national rules differ. Many organisers offer a free companion ticket voluntarily because the companion is what makes attendance possible.

European Accessibility Act for Ticketing: Accessible Ticket Shops

What is the European Accessibility Act?