Notes on EN 301 549, the European Accessibility Act, and what automated testing can and cannot establish. Every number here is sourced, because the product argues that unsourced numbers are the problem.
We scanned the 300 most-visited EU-domain websites against the standard in force today. Sixty-four per cent fail a Level A criterion, the more popular half does worse than the less popular half, and one site in seven gives a different answer if you look again a few hours later.
Practitioners with disabilities rate overlays less effective than practitioners without. What the FTC order against accessiBe actually prohibits, why the mechanics cannot work, and where the vendors are not wrong.
Most guides start with the employee count. That is the last question, not the first. What is actually on the list, why B2B-only is generally out of scope, and the transitional rules that can run to 2030.
The EAA prescribes no template. The one everybody pastes belongs to the Web Accessibility Directive and is aimed at public sector bodies. What Annex V actually requires, where it has to live, and the obligation almost nobody meets.
Six new criteria, one date, and one requirement that disappears. V4.1.1 was published in September 2026 and is scheduled for citation in the Official Journal near year-end, and an obligation starts at citation, not at publication.
Rule identifiers are not a conformance claim. Why the translation to clauses matters, why severity is not exposure, and what the FTC order against accessiBe actually said.