BaFG: Austria's Accessibility Act for companies since 28 June 2025

Who does Austria's Accessibility Act apply to?

The BaFG applies to certain products placed on the market after 28 June 2025 and to certain services provided to consumers after that date (§ 2(1) and (2) BaFG). It entered into force on 28 June 2025 (§ 37(1) BaFG) and transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882, the European Accessibility Act (§ 44 BaFG). The Directive requires Member States to apply their transposing measures from 28 June 2025 (Art. 31(2) Directive (EU) 2019/882). According to § 1 BaFG, the aim is to contribute to the harmonisation of the internal market through mandatory accessibility requirements.

E-commerce

For online shops, § 2(2) no. 6 BaFG is decisive. § 3 no. 27 BaFG defines e-commerce services as services provided at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a consumer with a view to concluding a consumer contract, through websites and mobile services. A consumer is any natural person who purchases or receives for purposes outside their trade, business, craft or profession (§ 3 no. 18 BaFG). For services, the scope therefore depends on dealings with consumers.

Austria and Germany

This article covers only the Austrian BaFG. In Germany, the BFSG applies; it is explained in the article BFSG for companies and documents.

What exemptions does the BaFG provide?

The BaFG excludes certain content of websites and mobile applications, exempts micro-enterprises providing services and limits the requirements where they would require a fundamental alteration or impose a disproportionate burden (§ 2(3), § 6, § 17, § 18 BaFG).

Content of websites and apps

Under § 2(3) BaFG, the Act does not apply to the following content of websites and mobile applications (see also Art. 2(4) Directive (EU) 2019/882):

• pre-recorded time-based media published before 28 June 2025 (no. 1);
• office file formats published before 28 June 2025 (no. 2; Art. 2(4)(b) of the Directive);
• online maps and mapping services, provided that essential information is made available in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use (no. 3);
• third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by the economic operator concerned and is not under its control (no. 4);
• archives whose content is neither updated nor edited after 28 June 2025 (no. 5).

Documents in office formats published after 28 June 2025 therefore do not fall under no. 2. Neither the BaFG nor Directive (EU) 2019/882 defines which formats count as office file formats.

Micro-enterprises

Micro-enterprises that offer or provide services are exempt from the requirements under § 4(3) and from all related obligations (§ 6(1) BaFG; Art. 4(5) Directive (EU) 2019/882). Micro-enterprises employ fewer than ten persons and have an annual turnover of no more than €2 million or an annual balance sheet total of no more than €2 million (§ 3 no. 19 BaFG). Anyone relying on this exemption must, on request, provide the Sozialministeriumservice with all documents needed for verification (§ 24(2) BaFG). § 6(1) concerns services only. Micro-enterprises dealing with products do not have to document an assessment under § 17 or § 18 and do not have to notify the authorities, but must submit the relevant facts on request (§ 17(5), § 18(5) BaFG).

Fundamental alteration and disproportionate burden

The requirements apply only insofar as compliance does not require a fundamental alteration of the basic nature of the product or service (§ 17(1) BaFG) and does not result in a disproportionate burden (§ 18(1) BaFG). The following applies:

• You must carry out an assessment, for § 18 based on the criteria in Annex 4 (§ 17(2), § 18(2)).
• You must document the assessment, keep the results for five years from the last time the product was made available or the service was last provided, and submit a copy on request (§ 17(3), § 18(3)).
• If you rely on this for a specific product or service, you must inform the Sozialministeriumservice and the competent market surveillance authorities of the Member State concerned (§ 17(4), § 18(4)).
• Service providers relying on § 18(1) must repeat the assessment under § 18(2) for each category or type of service when the service is altered, when requested by the Sozialministeriumservice and at least every five years (§ 18(6)).
• Anyone who has received public or private funds from other sources to improve accessibility may not rely on § 18(1) (§ 18(7)).

Annex 4 looks at the ratio of net costs to overall costs (no. 1), at costs and benefits in relation to the estimated benefit for persons with disabilities, taking into account the number and frequency of uses (no. 2), and at the ratio of net costs to net turnover (no. 3). More on this in the article Disproportionate burden.

Which requirements apply to websites, shops and documents?

For services, the accessibility requirements of Annex 1, Sections 3 and 4 apply, except for urban, suburban and regional transport services, for which only Section 4 applies (§ 4(3) BaFG); for products, Sections 1 and 2 apply, except for self-service terminals under § 2(1) no. 2, for which only Section 1 applies (§ 4(2) BaFG). Economic operators may only place on the market products, and offer or provide services, that meet these requirements (§ 4(1) BaFG).

Among other things, Annex 1, Section 3 requires the following for information about the functioning of the service (lit. b):

• information content in text formats that can be used to generate alternative assistive formats (sublit. dd);
• fonts of adequate size, sufficient contrast and adjustable spacing between letters, lines and paragraphs (sublit. ee);
• an alternative presentation for non-text content (sublit. ff);
• the electronic information needed to provide the service made perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (sublit. gg).

Websites, including online applications, and mobile apps must be made perceivable, operable, understandable and robust in a consistent and adequate way (Annex 1, Section 3, lit. c).

For e-commerce, Annex 1, Section 4, lit. g adds: information on the accessibility of the products and services being sold, where this information is provided by the responsible economic operator (sublit. aa); accessible identification, security and payment functions where they are delivered as part of the service (sublit. bb); and accessible identification methods, electronic signatures and payment services (sublit. cc).

Benchmark: harmonised standards

Products or services that conform to harmonised standards whose references have been published in the Official Journal of the EU are presumed to conform, insofar as those standards cover the requirements (§ 5(1) BaFG). Products and services that conform to technical specifications are deemed to conform, insofar as those specifications cover the requirements (§ 5(2) BaFG). The BaFG mentions neither WCAG nor PDF/UA. The European standard EN 301 549 V3.2.1 covers web content in clause 9 and non-web documents in clause 10, expressly including downloadable documents (clause 10.0). According to clause 9.0, conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA is equivalent to meeting clauses 9.1 to 9.4 and 9.6. For documents, clause 10 refers to the individual WCAG 2.1 success criteria (for example clause 10.1.1.1). The FFG notes that the technical requirements of the BaFG are similar to the criteria referenced in the Web Accessibility Directive, but may differ depending on the product and service. How the standards fit together is explained in the article PDF/UA, WCAG 2.1 and EN 301 549.

If you provide general terms and conditions, product sheets or forms to your customers, Compliance-Kit can prepare accessible documents for you.

What exactly must service providers do?

Service providers must design their service to be accessible, provide conformity information, ensure conformity on an ongoing basis and cooperate with the authority (§ 14 BaFG).

1. Only offer or provide services that meet the requirements under § 4(3) (§ 14(1)).
2. Prepare the information required by Annex 3, make it available to the public in written and oral form, including in an accessible format, and keep it for as long as the service is offered (§ 14(2)).
3. Use appropriate procedures to ensure that the requirements are always met, taking into account changes to the service, to the requirements and to the standards or specifications applied (§ 14(3)).
4. In the event of non-conformity, take corrective measures and immediately inform the Sozialministeriumservice and the competent authorities of the Member States in which the service is provided (§ 14(4)).
5. On a reasoned request, hand over all information and documents needed to demonstrate conformity in German or English, and cooperate on request (§ 14(5)).

Conformity information under Annex 3

You state in your general terms and conditions, or an equivalent document, how the service meets the requirements under § 4(3) (Annex 3, no. 1 BaFG). Where appropriate, the information includes at least a general description of the service in an accessible format (lit. a), explanations needed to understand how the service operates (lit. b) and a description of how the requirements of Annex 1 are met (lit. c). You may apply harmonised standards and technical specifications in full or in part for this purpose (no. 2). You provide information showing that the service meets the requirements in its provision and monitoring (no. 3). The FFG points out further differences from the rules for public bodies, for example regarding the accessibility statement, which is covered in the article Accessibility statement.

How does the Sozialministeriumservice monitor compliance?

Market surveillance is the responsibility of the Federal Office for Social Affairs and Disability (Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen, Sozialministeriumservice), unless otherwise provided (§ 21 BaFG). It reviews documents and, where appropriate, carries out or commissions physical and laboratory checks on the basis of adequate samples (§ 22(3) BaFG).

• You must provide the tools and access data needed for the check free of charge for its duration (§ 23(1)).
• The authority may use services under a false identity (§ 23(3)) and request documents in any common format (§ 23(5)).
• If the check reveals non-compliance, it may impose the costs of the check on you by official decision (Bescheid) (§ 23(9)).
• If a service does not meet the requirements, it asks you to take corrective measures within a reasonable period and, by official decision, obliges you to take corrective measures or other proportionate measures, such as informing the public or discontinuing the service (§ 28(1)). Beforehand, you are given at least ten working days to comment (§ 28(3)).

Reports from consumers and organisations

Consumers may contact the Sozialministeriumservice, as may the Verein für Konsumenteninformation (Consumer Information Association), the Österreichischer Behindertenrat (Austrian Disability Council), the Bundesarbeitskammer (Federal Chamber of Labour) and the Wirtschaftskammer Österreich (Austrian Economic Chamber) (§ 35(1) and (2) BaFG). The authority states in writing and in accessible form within eight weeks whether proceedings will be conducted and otherwise gives its reasons (§ 35(3) BaFG). This right to report does not apply to procurement procedures (§ 35(4) BaFG). The FFG refers to a contact form for submitting reports on the Sozialministeriumservice website.

What penalties does the BaFG provide for?

§ 36 BaFG provides for administrative fines in three tiers: up to €80,000, up to €40,000 and up to €16,000; for micro-enterprises and SMEs the caps are €50,000, €25,000 and €10,000 (§ 36(1) to (3) BaFG). The Sozialministeriumservice is the competent authority. The Directive requires effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties (Art. 30(2) Directive (EU) 2019/882).

When setting the fine, account is taken of the extent of the infringement, in particular the number of products or services affected, the number of persons affected and any repeat infringement (§ 36(4) BaFG). The fines go to the support fund for persons with disabilities (Unterstützungsfonds für Menschen mit Behinderungen) (§ 36(5)). Subsections 1 to 3 do not apply to procurement procedures (§ 36(6)).

Which transitional periods apply, and what applies to public procurement?

Until 28 June 2030, service providers may continue to use products they lawfully used to provide similar services before 28 June 2025 (§ 37(2) BaFG; Art. 32(1) Directive (EU) 2019/882). Service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 may continue unchanged until they expire, but for no longer than five years from that date.

Self-service terminals lawfully used before 28 June 2025 may continue in operation until the end of their economically useful life, but for no longer than 20 years after they were put into use and no later than 28 June 2040 (§ 37(3) BaFG). Art. 32(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 allows Member States this option with the 20-year limit; the fixed end date of 28 June 2040 is set by the BaFG.

For public contracts for products and services covered by the BaFG, the requirements of Annex 1 are mandatory accessibility requirements within the meaning of the Bundesvergabegesetz 2018 (§ 107(1) and § 275(1)) and the Bundesvergabegesetz Konzessionen 2018 (§ 60(1)) (§ 34(1) BaFG). Where harmonised standards or technical specifications adopted under Art. 15(2) or (3) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and published in the Official Journal are applied, these requirements are deemed to be met (§ 34(3) BaFG).

How does the BaFG relate to the BGStG?

Alongside the BaFG, the Federal Disability Equality Act (Bundes-Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz, BGStG) applies with its prohibition of discrimination. It covers legal relationships, including their initiation, concerning access to goods and services available to the public, insofar as the federal legislator has direct regulatory competence (§ 2(2) BGStG). No one may be directly or indirectly discriminated against on the grounds of a disability (§ 4(1) BGStG).

• Indirect discrimination can also arise from features of designed living environments, unless they are objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving it are appropriate and necessary (§ 5(2) BGStG). Information processing systems are also accessible if persons with disabilities can access and use them in the generally customary way, without particular difficulty and, in principle, without help from others (§ 6(5) BGStG).
• There is no indirect discrimination if removing barriers would be unlawful or unreasonable because of disproportionate burdens (§ 6(1) BGStG). If removing the barriers proves to be a disproportionate burden, discrimination exists if reasonable measures were not taken to bring about at least a substantial improvement in the situation of the person concerned (§ 6(3)). It is also examined whether relevant accessibility legislation applies and to what extent it was complied with (§ 6(4)).
• Those affected are entitled to compensation for financial loss and for the personal harm suffered (§ 9(1) BGStG).
• Before bringing an action before the ordinary courts, a conciliation procedure at the Sozialministeriumservice is required; the action is only admissible if no amicable settlement has been reached within three months of the conciliation procedure being initiated (§ 10(2) BGStG).