Web accessibility and the EAA in Lyon — assessing the requirements and the points to address

The EAA: what the law has required since June 2025

A European directive that is now reality

The European Accessibility Act is a European directive transposed into French law, applicable to the digital services concerned since 28 June 2025. It extends to the private sector accessibility obligations that previously applied only to the public sector: the websites and apps in scope must be usable by everyone, including people who are blind or partially sighted, deaf or hard of hearing, or who have a motor or cognitive disability.

RGAA, WCAG 2.1 AA: the compliance standards

Compliance is assessed against specific standards. Internationally, these are the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), with level 2.1 AA as the standard target. In France, the RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité, the French accessibility standard) turns these criteria into a practical audit method: colour contrast, text alternatives for images, keyboard navigation, heading structure, labelled forms, screen reader compatibility. Our audits cover every one of these criteria.

Accessibility and SEO: the same fight

Good news: most accessibility requirements (semantic structure, alt text, heading hierarchy, readability) are also SEO best practices. A well-run EAA compliance project automatically improves your website’s technical quality. Round it off with our technical SEO audit for the complete picture.

Who is affected by the accessibility requirement?

Obligations tied to the products and services concerned

The European framework covers certain categories of products and services, including some e-commerce, banking, transport and communication services. Having a website is not enough, on its own, to determine whether a business is affected: you need to look at the nature of the service offered and any exemptions that may apply.

The micro-enterprise threshold

Some micro-enterprises may qualify for an exemption, subject to the applicable criteria and conditions. The size of the business, its activity and the service offered must be checked together: do not infer an obligation or an exemption from a single threshold without examining your own situation.

The risks of non-compliance

Failing to meet accessibility obligations can, depending on the case, lead to administrative penalties of several tens of thousands of euros — up to amounts in the region of €300,000 in the most serious cases — as well as compliance orders backed by daily fines. On top of that come less visible but very real risks: consumer complaints, reputational damage and effectively shutting out part of your customer base. Acting early always costs less than dealing with the consequences.

Konforme: the accessibility tool developed by Kayzen

A tool built to make audits reliable

Konforme is the tool KAYZEN developed in-house to audit, fix and monitor a website’s accessibility. It combines systematic automated checks (contrast, attributes, code structure) with the essential manual checks no robot can replace: relevance of text alternatives, consistency of keyboard navigation, the real screen reader experience.

Clear progress tracking for the client

Konforme helps identify and document accessibility points to examine. The results of an audit depend on its scope and need human interpretation; using the tool is not enough to establish or guarantee a website's regulatory compliance.

Human expertise first

The tool speeds things up and makes them more reliable, but we are the ones who interpret, decide and fix. Accessibility is a matter of context: the same component can be compliant on one page and problematic on another. This expert reading, backed by Konforme, is what sets us apart from “automatic overlay” solutions that promise one-click compliance — and fail to deliver it.

Our compliance method

Step 1 — RGAA/WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit

A full audit of your website on a representative sample of pages: checkout journey, forms, editorial content, interactive components. Every non-conformity is identified, ranked by severity and linked to the relevant criterion in the standard. You receive a clear report with a prioritised action plan.

Step 2 — Technical and editorial fixes

We fix non-conformities directly in your website: semantic HTML structure, contrast, keyboard navigation, focus management, text alternatives, accessible forms, screen reader compatibility. Editorial fixes (writing alt text, clearer labels) are carried out with your team.

Step 3 — Certification and accessibility statement

Once the fixes have been made and checked, we can document the audited scope, the findings and the work carried out. This documentation describes the steps taken; it does not replace an analysis of the obligations that apply to your business.

Step 4 — Ongoing monitoring

A website evolves: new pages, new content, new features. We offer regular monitoring so every change stays compliant, and it can be included in our maintenance contracts. Accessibility also goes hand in hand with GDPR compliance for complete regulatory coverage of your website.

Why choose KAYZEN for your EAA compliance in Lyon?

Because we are both developers and auditors. Many providers hand over an audit report and leave you on your own with the fixes; at KAYZEN, the same team can review the website, propose fixes in the code and document the work carried out. Our own website applies the accessibility best practices we recommend — keyboard navigation, contrast, semantic structure — and we build every new project with accessibility designed in from the start, not bolted on afterwards. Based in Lyon's 9th arrondissement, we help organisations across Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes adopt a structured, documented approach to accessibility, without the jargon.