Legal Disclaimer

This article reflects our interpretation of the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and is intended purely for informational purposes. It should not be considered legal advice. For questions about your specific obligations or legal requirements under the EAA or national accessibility laws, we recommend consulting your own legal counsel.

Terminology note: Throughout this article, economic operator or user refers to the entity that owns and operates the website where Videoly is implemented: typically a retailer, brand, or ecommerce operator using Videoly. As the economic operator, this party holds the primary responsibility for ensuring website-wide accessibility, including how third-party tools like Videoly are used.

What Is the EAA, and Why Does It Matter?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA), formally known as Directive (EU) 2019/882, aims to improve access to key digital and physical services for people with disabilities. For online stores and other consumer-facing services, this means meeting defined accessibility standards when operating in the EU.

It’s important to understand that the EAA is a directive, not a regulation. While regulations (like GDPR) apply uniformly across EU countries, directives require national implementation, meaning each member state might interpret and enforce the EAA slightly differently. This creates variation and complexity, particularly for companies operating across multiple markets.

Because of this fragmented landscape, and because Videoly cannot audit or certify compliance in each local context, we focus on aligning our product with internationally recognized accessibility frameworks (WCAG). We also encourage our customers to assess their legal obligations locally with appropriate counsel. 

The EAA takes effect in June 2025. While impact will vary by business type and geography, most consumer-facing services will need to assess and document how accessible their digital platforms truly are.

How Videoly Approaches Accessibility

Accessibility is a foundational principle in how we build Videoly’s product. Our widget is developed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which serve as the global standard for accessible web content. WCAG is built on four key principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, principles also reflected in the EAA. 

We design the Videoly widget to meet current WCAG standards and remain aligned with future updates, as well as with comparable legislation such as the EAA in the EU and the ADA in the U.S. Accessibility features like keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and visual contrast are built into the default experience.

While WCAG compliance doesn’t necessarily guarantee legal conformity with the EAA, ADA, or other national laws, it is widely recognized as a strong technical foundation. Ultimately, legal compliance must be evaluated within each jurisdiction, and we recommend customers seek guidance from their legal advisors. 

Although Videoly is developed with accessibility in mind, and our interpretation is that Videoly can be used in a manner that meets or even exceeds compliancy expectations in EAA, the responsibility for legal compliance, including audits, rests with the website owner. That said, integrating Videoly as provided offers a robust starting point, both technically and in terms of accessibility readiness.

We also actively monitor evolving legal and technical standards. As frameworks like the EAA or WCAG evolve, we continuously adapt our product to help our customers stay aligned with current expectations.

What About the Videos Themselves?

One area that raises concern under the EAA is video content, particularly third-party videos without closed captions (subtitles). This is especially relevant when the video is not created, funded, or managed by the Videoly user.

While the EAA does not provide a blanket exemption, Recital 43 and broader legal interpretation suggest that accessibility obligations primarily apply to content under the direct control of the economic operator. This includes self-produced or commissioned videos, but not content passively embedded from external platforms like YouTube.

Most of Videoly’s video content is sourced from such third-party platforms and not authored or controlled by either Videoly or the customer. When this content is supplementary and does not obstruct a shopper’s ability to complete key actions, like making a purchase, closed captions, while beneficial, may not be strictly required for compliance in every context.

That said, captioning remains one of the most visible accessibility features. Its absence may still raise concerns, particularly under stricter national rules or internal audits. Compared to video content, the Videoly widget itself being WCAG-compliant, is far easier to audit from both technical and legal standpoints.

In cases where Videoly users upload their own video content as mp4 files to Videoly, they have full control over its accessibility. Videoly supports uploading closed caption (CC) files and encourages their use, but the decision and responsibility ultimately lies with the user. This ensures flexibility while supporting users who choose to maintain higher accessibility standards.

For users operating in markets or industries with stricter interpretations, whether required by law or policy, Videoly offers additional tools to control how video content is displayed, particularly in relation to subtitle availability.

Going Further: Videoly’s Control Features for Stricter Accessibility Policies

Some organizations choose or are required to exceed baseline compliance, whether due to industry norms, legal interpretations, or internal accessibility policies. To support these needs, Videoly has developed a set of product controls that enable more granular management of accessibility.

These controls include settings to:

• Additional controls for enhanced accessibility
• Flag or exclude specific video content
• Enforce stricter accessibility logic based on subtitle availability
  
   

Most notably, users can choose to:

• Force-enable subtitles where they exist, ensuring they’re always shown
• Hide videos entirely if subtitles are not available (with the caveat that this may significantly reduce visible video content)
• Upload and use closed captions for owned and controlled content, mp4s
  
   

Additionally, we are supporting documentation and audit-readiness in stricter compliance environments.

These tools allow Videoly users to remain flexible and prepared as laws evolve, without having to disable video entirely or reconfigure page layouts. We believe in helping our partners take a proactive, practical approach to accessibility.

Final Thoughts

At Videoly, we’re committed to helping retailers and brands create accessible, inclusive shopping experiences. While legal interpretations of the EAA may vary, our goal is to support both the spirit and practical requirements of accessibility regulations through product design, guidance, and tooling.

If you have questions about how Videoly fits into your accessibility planning, or if you're preparing internal documentation or audits, our team is ready to help. We’re happy to collaborate with you or your legal advisors to ensure you have the right setup.

👉 Accessibility is good practice, smart design, and simply the right thing to do.