BaFG

The BaFG applies to certain products placed on the market after 28 June 2025 and to certain services provided to consumers after 28 June 2025. Both lists are in section 2 of the act.

Under section 2 paragraph 1 the products include general purpose computer hardware systems with their operating systems, payment terminals, consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, and e-readers. They also include automated teller machines, ticketing machines, check-in machines and interactive self-service terminals providing information, where these are dedicated to the provision of services covered by the act.

Under section 2 paragraph 2 the services include electronic communications services, services providing access to audiovisual media services, certain elements of air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport services, consumer banking services, e-books and their dedicated software, and e-commerce services.

Section 6 paragraph 1 exempts microenterprises that offer or provide services. This exemption does not apply to products. Under section 3 item 19 a microenterprise is an enterprise that employs fewer than ten persons and has either an annual turnover of no more than 2 million euros or an annual balance sheet total of no more than 2 million euros.

Section 2 paragraph 3 excludes certain content of websites and mobile applications. This covers pre-recorded time-based media and office file formats published before 28 June 2025, online maps and mapping services under certain conditions, third-party content that the economic operator neither funds nor develops nor controls, and content that qualifies as an archive because it is neither updated nor edited after 28 June 2025.

Under section 4 paragraph 1 BaFG, economic operators may only place products on the market and may only offer or provide services that meet the accessibility requirements of the act. The requirements are set out in Annex 1 of the act, for services in parts 3 and 4.

For websites including the related online applications, and for services offered on mobile devices including mobile apps, Annex 1, part 3, letter c requires that they are designed to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust in a consistent and adequate way.

The text of the act names neither EN 301 549 nor the WCAG. Section 5 paragraph 1 attaches a presumption of conformity to harmonised standards whose references have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Sozialministeriumservice states that it uses EN 301 549 in detail for its checks. Because this standard refers to WCAG 2.1, the authority states that it also takes the WCAG into account.

Under section 14 paragraph 2, service providers must also prepare the information required by Annex 3 and make it available to the public in written and oral form, including in a form that is accessible to persons with disabilities.

Under sections 17 and 18 the requirements apply only to the extent that compliance does not require a fundamental alteration of the basic nature of the product or service and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operator. Under section 18 paragraphs 2 and 3, the economic operator must assess and document this itself, using the criteria in Annex 4.

Under section 21 BaFG the competent authority is the Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen (Sozialministeriumservice). Enquiries by post go to the market surveillance authority for digital accessibility at the Landesstelle Oberösterreich, Gruberstraße 63, 4021 Linz, Austria.

If the Sozialministeriumservice has sufficient reason to believe that a product or service does not meet the requirements, it opens an investigation under section 25. If a service does not meet the requirements, the authority requests the service provider under section 28 paragraph 1 to take corrective action within a reasonable period, and can oblige the provider to do so by formal decision. As possible measures the act also names informing the public about the non-compliance and stopping the offer or provision of the service.

Under section 35 paragraph 1, consumers can contact the Sozialministeriumservice to point out possible violations. Under section 35 paragraph 2 the same right belongs to the Verein für Konsumenteninformation, the Österreichischer Behindertenrat, the Bundesarbeitskammer and the Wirtschaftskammer Österreich. The authority must state in writing within eight weeks whether it will conduct proceedings. Under section 31, decisions of the Sozialministeriumservice can be appealed to the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht).

Under section 36 BaFG, violations are administrative offences. Anyone who offers or provides a service contrary to section 14 paragraph 1 can be fined up to 80,000 euros; for microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises the upper limit is 50,000 euros. For further violations, section 36 paragraphs 2 and 3 provide for fines of up to 40,000 euros and up to 16,000 euros, and for microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises of up to 25,000 euros and up to 10,000 euros.

For testing a website: the free accessibility check for a first automated result and the manual audit against EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.2. Related fact pages: the fact page about the BFSG, the fact page about EN 301 549 and the fact page about the WCAG. The facts overview lists all fact pages.

The BaFG is not the BFSG. The BFSG is the German Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, the BaFG is the Austrian Barrierefreiheitsgesetz. Both transpose Directive (EU) 2019/882, but each has its own authorities, procedures and fines.

The BaFG is also not Directive (EU) 2019/882 itself. The directive, often called the European Accessibility Act, is addressed to the member states. Economic operators in Austria are bound directly by the BaFG.

The BaFG does not apply to every website. It covers only the services listed in section 2 paragraph 2, which for online offers mainly means e-commerce services, consumer banking services and passenger transport services.