EN 301 549

EN 301 549 specifies accessibility requirements for ICT products and services, together with test procedures for each requirement. According to its scope, it is intended for designers, developers, evaluators, manufacturers, market surveillance entities, procurers and researchers.

Version V4.1.1 is organised into 14 clauses. Clause 4 sets out functional performance criteria. Clauses 5 to 13 contain the testable requirements: generic requirements (5), ICT supporting real-time bidirectional communication (6), ICT with video capabilities (7), hardware (8), web (9), non-web documents (10), non-web software (11), information about products and services (12) and ICT providing relay or emergency service access (13). Clause 14 covers conformance. All requirements are self-scoping: each one applies only where its precondition is true.

For websites, the WCAG are therefore only one part of the standard. EN 301 549 builds its web, document and software clauses on the WCAG success criteria and adds requirements for other kinds of ICT.

According to its foreword, the significant changes since V3.2.1 are:

• The requirements for real-time text in clause 6.2 have been significantly revised and extended to include total conversation.
• The requirements of clauses 9, 10 and 11 have been updated to align with WCAG 2.2.
• A new Annex ZA shows the relationship with Directive (EU) 2016/2102. It updates Annex A of the previous version.
• A new Annex ZB shows the relationship with Directive (EU) 2019/882, the European Accessibility Act.
• A new clause A.2 enables the conformance of specific products and services with Directive (EU) 2019/882 to be evaluated.

For the web, V4.1.1 adds six requirements based on the new WCAG 2.2 success criteria at levels A and AA: 9.2.4.11 Focus not obscured (minimum), 9.2.5.7 Dragging movements, 9.2.5.8 Target size (minimum), 9.3.2.6 Consistent help, 9.3.3.7 Redundant entry and 9.3.3.8 Accessible authentication (minimum). The three new level AAA criteria are not requirements; they are listed for information in clause 9.5. Requirement 9.4.1.1 Parsing is marked "Void", because WCAG 2.2 removed success criterion 4.1.1.

V4.1.1 also adds clauses on user preferences for web pages (9.7) and for non-web documents (10.7).

EN 301 549 is a voluntary standard, not a law. It gains legal weight through the presumption of conformity: anyone who meets a harmonised standard whose reference is cited in the Official Journal of the European Union is presumed to meet the corresponding legal requirements. In Germany, the BITV 2.0 for federal public bodies (§ 3 paragraph 2) and the BFSG for businesses (§ 4) work this way.

Two versions have been cited so far, both under Directive (EU) 2016/2102. V2.1.2 was cited by Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/2048 of 20 December 2018. V3.2.1 was cited by Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1339, published in the Official Journal on 12 August 2021 and in force from that day. The same decision removed V2.1.2 from the list with effect from 12 February 2022. According to the European Commission, V3.2.1 is based on WCAG 2.1.

V4.1.1 has not yet been cited. Its foreword states that a presumption of conformity with Directive (EU) 2019/882 arises only once it is cited in the Official Journal. On 7 September 2026, the AccessibleEU centre of the European Commission confirmed that V3.2.1 remains the reference until then, and that there is no new compliance deadline linked to the publication. No official date for the citation has been announced.

According to the history table of the standard, the following versions have been published: V1.1.1 (February 2014), V1.1.2 (April 2015), V2.1.2 (August 2018), V3.1.1 (November 2019), V3.2.1 (March 2021) and V4.1.1 (September 2026). The draft V4.1.0 went through two approval stages, from 13 November 2025 to 11 February 2026 and from 25 June to 24 August 2026.

How EN 301 549 is applied in practice is described on the topic page on EN 301 549. Related fact pages: the fact page on WCAG 2.2, the fact page on the WCAG, the fact page on the BFSG and the fact page on the BITV 2.0. All fact pages are listed on the facts overview.

EN 301 549 is not the WCAG. The WCAG are a W3C recommendation for web content. EN 301 549 is a European standard that builds on the WCAG success criteria and also covers hardware, real-time communication, video, information about products and services, and relay and emergency service access.

Publication is not the same as citation. V4.1.1 has been published, but only a citation in the Official Journal of the European Union gives it a presumption of conformity. The national transposition dates in the standard (for example 30 November 2026) are deadlines for national standards bodies, not the date of the citation.

"Based on WCAG 2.2" does not mean all nine new WCAG 2.2 criteria are requirements. The three level AAA criteria are listed for information only.