The European Accessibility Act website requirements have applied in Latvia since 28 June 2025. If customers can buy from you or sign a contract on your website, you need to know whether the rules cover you and what has to change. Here you'll find who must comply, who is exempt, a checklist to work through and what to publish about accessibility.
Who must comply with the European Accessibility Act in Latvia?
Latvia's Law on the Accessibility of Goods and Services (in Latvian) covers businesses that offer specific services to consumers. For websites, the one that matters most is e-commerce: a site or app where a consumer, at their own request, enters into a contract at a distance. In practice, that means online stores and any other site where people buy a product or service online.
The list also covers consumer banking and payments, e-books, telecoms, audiovisual media and passenger transport, as the table below shows.
A company website that presents your business and collects enquiries is not on that list. The Ministry of Economics' guidance says such businesses aren't bound by the requirements, though it encourages them to follow them voluntarily.
| Service | What must be accessible | Who supervises in Latvia |
|---|---|---|
| Online stores and other e-commerce | Website, app, login, security and payment steps | Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) |
| Consumer credit, payments, investment services | Online banking, app, identification and payments | PTAC |
| E-books | E-book files and reading software | PTAC |
| Electronic communications | Communication services and information about them | Public Utilities Commission (SPRK) |
| Access to audiovisual media | Programme guides, subtitles, audio description | National Electronic Mass Media Council (NEPLP) |
| Air, bus, rail and water passenger transport | Website, app, e-tickets, travel information, terminals | Sector bodies such as the Road Transport Directorate and the Civil Aviation Agency; PTAC for water transport and air ticket sales |
Are small businesses exempt from the European Accessibility Act?
Yes, for services. If you run an online store or another covered service with fewer than 10 people, and your annual turnover or annual balance sheet total is no more than €2 million, the service accessibility requirements don't apply to you. The exemption covers services only, not products.
If your company belongs to a group, as a parent, subsidiary or partner company, you count staff and financial figures together with the linked companies. This follows the European Commission's micro-enterprise definition.
Businesses that make, import or distribute covered products, such as computers, smartphones, payment terminals or e-readers, get no micro-enterprise exemption. They are only spared from documenting a disproportionate-burden assessment in writing.
What are the European Accessibility Act website requirements?
Cabinet Regulation No. 128 says a service's website and apps must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. The practical yardstick is the European standard EN 301 549, which includes every WCAG 2.1 criterion for web content.
The regulation also gets specific: information must reach people through more than one sense, text needs a usable size, enough contrast and adjustable spacing, and images need a text alternative.
Online stores have extra duties: show the accessibility information the manufacturer supplies for each product, and make login, identification, e-signature, security and payment functions accessible.
Testing against WCAG alone is not enough. Luxembourg's government accessibility service notes that WCAG covers only about a third of the EN 301 549 criteria that apply to a website. The rest covers PDFs and other documents, video players and details such as an alternative to biometric login. A new version of the standard is expected in the second half of 2026.
Checklist: what to check on your website
This list is a starting point, not a full EN 301 549 audit. Walk through the paths your customers use most: the home page, a product page, the cart, login and checkout. Where an item fails, start there.
Most fixes are design decisions about contrast, focus states and form layout, so accessibility belongs in web design and UX work from the first sketch.
Check these on your site
- Every image that carries information has a text alternative (alt text), and screen readers skip decorative images.
- Normal body text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background (WCAG 1.4.3).
- Text can be enlarged to 200% without losing content or functions (WCAG 1.4.4).
- The whole site works with a keyboard alone: menu, filters, cart and checkout (WCAG 2.1.1).
- Keyboard focus is clearly visible on every button and link (WCAG 2.4.7).
- Every form field has a visible label, and errors are explained in text, not only with colour.
- Headings follow a logical order, so a screen reader can read the page structure.
- Videos have captions, and turning them on is as easy as pausing the video.
- Login, security checks and payment steps work with a keyboard and a screen reader, and biometric login has an alternative.
- Product pages show the product's accessibility information when the manufacturer has supplied it.
- Price lists, terms and other PDFs are accessible, or also available as a normal web page.
- Your accessibility information is published and linked from the footer.
- It's clear how to make an accessibility complaint, and who answers it within a month.
What goes in an accessibility statement?
Article 12 of the law requires accessibility information in your terms of use or an equivalent document. It must include a general description of the service in accessible formats, the explanations people need to understand how the service works, and a statement that the way you provide and monitor the service keeps it compliant.
The law doesn't use the word “statement”, but the simplest way to meet it is a separate accessibility page, linked from the footer and from your terms. The page itself must be accessible: plain text, not an image or a scanned PDF.
These details aren't required, but they help customers and the supervisor:
- the standard you tested against, such as EN 301 549 or WCAG 2.1;
- which parts don't comply yet, and when you plan to fix them;
- how to report a problem or make a complaint;
- when the site was last checked.
Keep the information for as long as you provide the service, and update it when the service changes.
What is exempt, and until when?
The requirements don't apply to audio and video recordings or office files published before 28 June 2025, or to archived website and app content that is no longer updated or edited. Third-party content that you don't fund, develop or control is also outside the law.
Service contracts signed before 28 June 2025 can continue unchanged until 27 June 2030.
Two more exceptions apply when a requirement would fundamentally change the service or place a disproportionate burden on you. You must document that assessment in writing against the Article 14 criteria, keep it for five years, renew it every five years and tell the supervising authority. If you received funding to improve accessibility, you can't claim a disproportionate burden.
What happens if your website doesn't comply?
A customer first complains to you. You must answer a written complaint in writing within a month, or within two months if there's an objective reason and you tell them why. If the problem isn't solved, or you don't answer, the customer can turn to the supervisor: PTAC for online stores.
The authority can ask for your disproportionate-burden assessment and order you to fix problems by a deadline. An appeal to the Administrative District Court doesn't pause that decision. An organisation that represents people with disabilities can also complain on a customer's behalf.
If you find a problem yourself, the law requires you to fix it and inform the authority. That's a good reason to check your website before the first complaint arrives.
Frequently asked questions
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to small online stores?
Not if your company has fewer than 10 people and an annual turnover or balance sheet total of no more than €2 million. In that case the service accessibility requirements are not mandatory for you. If you belong to a group, count the linked companies too. In the Ministry of Economics' example, a store with 4 employees and €2.1 million turnover is no longer exempt.
Does a company website without a shop have to be accessible?
If the site only presents your company and nobody can sign a contract on it, such as buying a product or service, it is not on the Latvian law's list. The Ministry of Economics encourages businesses to meet the requirements voluntarily. If you later add an online store, the e-commerce requirements will apply to you unless you are a micro-enterprise.
Where should we publish our accessibility statement?
The law asks for accessibility information in your terms of use or an equivalent document, published in an accessible format. The simplest option is a separate page linked from your footer and your terms. Describe the service, explain how it works, and state that the way you provide and monitor it keeps it compliant with the requirements.
Who enforces accessibility requirements in Latvia?
The Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) supervises online stores, consumer financial services, e-books and covered products such as computers and payment terminals. Electronic communications, access to audiovisual media and passenger transport each have their own supervisor: the Public Utilities Commission, the National Electronic Mass Media Council and the sector transport bodies.
Is a WCAG audit enough for the European Accessibility Act?
Not entirely. The European standard EN 301 549 includes every WCAG 2.1 criterion, but Luxembourg's government accessibility service notes that WCAG covers only about a third of the standard's criteria for a website. PDFs and other documents, video players and any biometric login need checking separately.
Do the rules apply to old pages, videos and PDFs?
Partly not. The requirements don't apply to audio and video recordings or office files published before 28 June 2025, or to archived content that is no longer updated or edited. Once you update such a page or document, it is no longer an archive, so it's simplest to make it accessible at the same time.
