AccessReady public tool help

What this tool does

This public tool gives you a quick, indicative view of whether the European Accessibility Act (EAA) may apply to your product or service.

It helps you do three things:

• triage likely applicability
• build a practical accessibility checklist
• draft a starter accessibility statement

Use it as a first-pass guide.

Do not use it as legal advice or as a full accessibility audit.

Who this tool is for

Use this tool if you are trying to answer questions like:

• “Could the EAA apply to what we offer?”
• “What should we check first?”
• “What should we put in a basic accessibility statement draft?”

This is useful for founders, product teams, agencies, and internal compliance or accessibility owners who need a structured starting point.

Before you start

Keep these points in mind:

• The result is indicative, not definitive.
• The tool uses your answers to place you into a practical outcome category.
• Edge cases may need review by a qualified lawyer or accessibility specialist.
• The checklist is a starting checklist, not proof of compliance.
• The accessibility statement is a starter draft and must be reviewed before publication.

How to use the tool

1. Open the tool.
2. Answer each question about your organisation, product, and target market.
3. Review the result classification.
4. Read the checklist generated for your situation.
5. Copy the starter accessibility statement if useful.
6. Review the output internally.
7. If the result is unclear, high-impact, or business-critical, get legal and accessibility review.

What each input means

The exact field labels may vary, but the inputs are intended to cover the points below.

1) Country or market

This tells the tool where you offer the product or service.

Use this to indicate whether you make the offer available in the EU market, because EAA relevance depends heavily on where the offer is made.

2) Organisation type

This identifies who is providing the product or service.

Use this to describe whether you are acting as a business, provider, seller, distributor, importer, or another commercial operator.

3) What you offer

This tells the tool what the product or service actually is.

Use plain language. For example:

• e-commerce website
• banking app
• ticketing service
• e-book service
• self-service kiosk
• consumer hardware with digital interface

4) Delivery channel

This captures how users access the offer.

Examples:

• website
• mobile app
• software
• physical device
• kiosk or terminal
• mixed digital and physical service

5) Intended users

This tells the tool who the offer is meant for.

Use this to indicate whether the offer is aimed at consumers, businesses, internal staff only, or a mixed audience.

6) Public availability

This asks whether the offer is publicly available or only used privately inside one organisation.

This matters because public consumer-facing offers are more likely to fall into EAA-relevant categories than internal-only tools.

7) Payment or commercial nature

This indicates whether the offer is provided commercially.

Use this to show whether users buy it, subscribe to it, access it as part of a paid service, or use it in another commercial context.

8) Sector or use case

This narrows the context.

Examples:

• online retail
• transport
• banking or financial services
• telecom or electronic communications
• media or e-books
• consumer electronics

9) Features that affect accessibility

This helps shape the checklist.

Examples:

• forms and checkout
• account creation or login
• video or audio content
• downloadable documents
• customer support channels
• hardware controls
• timed interactions
• CAPTCHAs or verification steps

10) Existing accessibility work

This asks what you have already done.

Examples:

• no formal work yet
• partial fixes
• design review completed
• WCAG testing completed
• statement already drafted

This does not determine legal applicability on its own. It mainly helps tailor the checklist and starter statement.

How results are classified

The tool classifies results into practical categories so you can decide what to do next.

Likely covered

This means your answers match a pattern that is commonly associated with products or services that may be covered by the EAA.

What to do next:

• treat accessibility work as a likely requirement to review further
• review the checklist in detail
• validate the position with legal or specialist review if risk is material
• plan remediation and evidence gathering

Possibly covered

This means your answers suggest there may be EAA relevance, but the result depends on details that the tool cannot fully resolve.

What to do next:

• use the checklist as a preparation list
• review category-specific details internally
• get legal and accessibility review for uncertain points

May need legal review

This means the answers do not support a confident first-pass classification.

Typical reasons:

• mixed business model
• cross-border or marketplace complexity
• unusual product category
• limited information provided
• possible exemption or edge-case scenario

What to do next:

• do not rely on the tool result alone
• gather more facts
• request review by a qualified lawyer or accessibility specialist

Likely not covered

This means your answers do not match common EAA applicability patterns based on the information entered.

What to do next:

• treat this as an indicative result only
• keep accessibility as a good practice even if the EAA may not apply
• re-check if your offering, audience, or market changes

What the checklist is for

The checklist is there to help you turn the result into action.

It is meant to help you check basic areas such as:

• user journeys
• content and interface accessibility
• forms, transactions, and support flows
• documents and media
• assistive technology compatibility
• statement and governance basics

The checklist is not a full audit and not a guarantee of compliance.

What the starter accessibility statement is for

The starter statement gives you a draft structure you can adapt.

It is meant to help you start documenting:

• what service or product the statement covers
• your current accessibility status in general terms
• known limitations or gaps
• contact route for accessibility feedback
• review/update intention

Do not publish the draft unchanged unless it has been checked against your real product and reviewed by the right owner.

Limitations

This tool has important limits.

It does not:

• give legal advice
• replace a lawyer
• replace an accessibility expert review
• perform live testing on your website, app, or product
• certify compliance
• confirm that an exemption applies
• cover every national interpretation or enforcement detail

The tool can be especially limited in cases involving:

• mixed B2B and B2C models
• marketplaces and intermediaries
• reseller/importer/distributor chains
• complex hardware-software combinations
• sector-specific rules
• changing product scope over time

When to get expert review

Get legal and accessibility review if:

• the result is “Possibly covered” or “May need legal review”
• you operate in a regulated or high-risk sector
• your revenue depends on EU consumer access
• the output will influence launch, procurement, or compliance decisions
• you plan to publish an accessibility statement based on the draft

Release-readiness notes for this public tool

For a public release, users should be able to find at least:

• what the tool does
• what it does not do
• what each input means
• how outcomes are classified
• what action to take after each outcome
• privacy expectations
• legal/accessibility review warning for edge cases

Short disclaimer

This tool provides an indicative triage, a practical checklist, and a starter accessibility statement based on the information you enter. It is not legal advice, not a full accessibility audit, and not a substitute for professional review. If your case is unclear or important to business risk, get advice from a qualified lawyer and/or accessibility specialist.