Compliance of Services.

Under the European Accessibility Act, service providers must make sure their services meet the accessibility requirements. Services are handled differently from products. They don't need CE marking, but they still need conformity assessment.

The compliance framework for services aims to ensure that people with disabilities can access and use services equally with others. It also provides a flexible and reasonable approach for service providers to show they are following the rules.

Service compliance is essential to achieving the EAA's goal of improving the EU market for accessible services while ensuring consistent accessibility standards across all Member States.

According to the EAA, service providers show compliance by:

• Providing information in terms and conditions, or similar documents, explaining how the service meets the accessibility requirements.
• Describing the accessibility requirements and how they are met in the service's documentation.
• Preparing and maintaining detailed technical documentation about the service's accessibility features.
• Making this information available to the public in written and spoken format, including in ways accessible to people with disabilities.
• Keeping this documentation for five years after the service was last provided.

This documentation-based approach allows service providers to check themselves and show their compliance without needing third-party certification in most cases.

Service providers can use various methods to assess and ensure compliance with accessibility requirements:

• Self-assessment. Evaluating the service against the accessibility requirements and documenting the results.
• User testing. Involving people with disabilities in testing and providing feedback on accessibility features.
• Expert evaluation. Hiring accessibility experts to review and assess the service against requirements.
• Conformity with standards. Showing compliance with harmonized standards or technical specifications to create a presumption of conformity.
• Ongoing monitoring. Implementing continuous processes to maintain accessibility as the service changes.

Service providers should document these assessment activities and their results as part of their compliance documentation.

Member States are responsible for checking compliance of services with the EAA requirements:

• Member States must appoint authorities responsible for checking compliance of services.
• These authorities verify that service providers have conducted appropriate assessments of their services.
• They check that documentation showing compliance is accurate and complete.
• Authorities follow up on complaints or reports related to non-compliance.
• They verify that any claimed exceptions based on disproportionate burden are properly documented and justified.
• Where non-compliance is found, authorities ensure that corrective action is taken.

The EAA recommends that Member States establish clear procedures for checking compliance of services and ensure that authorities have enough resources to carry out their tasks effectively.

When non-compliance is identified, service providers must take appropriate corrective actions:

• Take immediate corrective measures to bring the service into conformity with applicable accessibility requirements.
• Stop providing the service if it presents a risk related to accessibility (where appropriate).
• Inform the competent national authorities about the non-compliance and corrective measures taken.
• Cooperate with authorities on any measures to ensure compliance.
• Document the corrective measures taken and their outcomes.
• Implement preventive measures to avoid similar non-compliance issues in the future.

Authorities may require additional corrective measures if those taken by the service provider are not enough to address the non-compliance.

The EAA provides for certain exceptions to service compliance requirements:

• Disproportionate burden. Service providers may be exempt from meeting certain requirements if they can show this would create too much burden.
• Fundamental alteration. Requirements need not be met if they would require a fundamental change in the nature of the service.
• Microenterprises. Service providers that are very small businesses (fewer than 10 persons and annual turnover or balance sheet not exceeding €2 million) are exempt from compliance requirements.

Even when claiming an exception, service providers must document their assessment of disproportionate burden or fundamental alteration, and small businesses must notify authorities if requested.