Accessibility: a tutorial to reduce the digital divide

As the Accessibility Act comes into force in Europe, AFNOR publishes an in-depth guide to the field of digital inclusion, with advice on how to reduce inequalities.

Listen to this article :
Published on 26/06/2025 Reading time : 3 minutes

June 28, 2025 marks an important step forward in the fight for inclusion: by this date, companies offering digital products and services will have to comply with the accessibility criteria defined by the European Accessibility Act. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is a European directive adopted in 2019, transposed into French law by a law of March 2023. Its aim is to harmonize accessibility requirements within the European Union, with a view to fostering a more inclusive society.

The text requires companies to adapt their platforms, tools and products to guarantee an accessible digital experience for all, regardless of disability. The scope is wide: consumer electronic devices (TVs, smartphones, computers, games consoles, etc.), ticket and drinks vending machines, websites and so on. For the latter, this means working on ergonomics, favoring color contrasts, for example.

Digital inclusion: tools to make products and services accessible

A number of resources are available to help the companies concerned. The French government has developed the RGAA(Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité ), now in its fourth version. It has become a must for many professions, such as web designers, who are seeking to achieve the highest possible accessibility score. AFNOR, for its part, has helped some thirty economic players to develop an immersion guide to the subject, which can be downloaded free of charge from and is designed as a checklist encompassing the notions of digital parenting, the issues at stake in public services, the case of libraries, the definition of progress measurement indicators, the use of user tests, and so on.

The recommendations can be summarized as follows:

  • access, development and inclusion: promoting access to infrastructure and facilities ;
  • target the most vulnerable audiences;
  • test, adapt and support (distinguishing between market and non-market services),
  • understanding, empowering and training ;
  • raise awareness, involve people and get them involved ;
  • set up partnerships to reinforce the impact of our actions.

This AFNOR Spec, published in May 2025, was drafted under the aegis of the “Accessibility and design for all” standardization committee(P96A in AFNOR jargon), which approached the EAA to broaden its field of activity, previously limited to building accessibility. “27% of the population of the European Union, or 101 million people, live with a disability. This represents one adult in four. Faced with this reality, accessibility is a necessity and an essential lever for innovation”. she reminds us. Interested professionals can always contact her.

In 2025, this commission has scheduled a great deal of work, either to draft new documents, or to revise existing ones, such as the 2020 standard NF P96-108 on maintenance plans to guarantee the use for all of accessibility solutions in establishments open to the public (ERP), or the 2014 standard NF X50-783 listing requirements and recommendations for handi-accommodating organizations. New topics scheduled for 2025 include audible beacons in ERP and the accessibility of vending machines in ERP, also as part of the transposition of the European Products and Services Directive and European standard NF EN 17210 .



-