Stage: Awareness

EU Accessibility Act in the Netherlands: Systematic and Sector-Integrated

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on August 28, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

In our previous articles, we reviewed how France, Poland, and Germany implemented the EAA, and now we are turning to the EU Accessibility Act in the Netherlands. Dutch law takes a highly structured approach, embedding EAA requirements across existing laws and delegating enforcement to multiple sectoral authorities.

In this article, we break down how the EAA (or Toegankelijkheidsrichtlijn in Dutch) has been transposed in the Netherlands, what it means for businesses, and how companies, whether local or global, must navigate this new legal landscape.

How the European Accessibility Act Affects Business in the Netherlands?

The Netherlands transposed the EAA via the Dutch Implementation Act, passed in April 2024. Instead of creating a single omnibus law, the obligations have been embedded into existing sector-specific legislation.

Examples include:

Telecommunications Act: For telecoms and digital communication services
Civil Code: For e-commerce and consumer contracts
Financial Supervision Act: For banking and financial services
Equal Treatment of Disabled and Chronically Ill People Act: For transport and audiovisual media

This decentralised transposition means that a business operating across multiple sectors, such as a bank that also sells products via e-commerce, will need to comply with several pieces of legislation at once, each enforced by a different authority. While this allows for more targeted oversight, it also makes compliance more complex, requiring cross-departmental coordination and robust legal oversight.

What the EU Accessibility Act in the Netherlands Requires?

Across all sectors, companies must:

Ensure products and services are accessible in line with Annex I of the EAA, using EN 301 549 as the functional standard.
Publish accessibility statements and implement feedback mechanisms for users.
Maintain documentation and evidence of compliance, and take corrective actions when necessary.

These requirements reflect the EAA’s functional performance principles, which focus on how users experience a product or service rather than prescribing exact technical methods. By centring on perceivability, operability, understandability and robustness, the legislation gives businesses flexibility, but also holds them accountable for delivering genuinely usable services.

Requirements for Banking Services under EU Accessibility Act in the Netherlands

For banking services, the following apply:

Identification methods, electronic signatures, security, and payment services must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Information must be understandable without exceeding B2 level of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Additional Requirements for (Financial) E-Commerce Services

For (financial) e-commerce services, businesses must:

Provide information about the accessibility of products and services being sold when such information is provided by the responsible economic operator.
Ensure accessibility of identification, security, and payment functionalities when these are delivered as part of a service, making them perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Provide identification methods, electronic signatures, and payment services in line with POUR principles.

What are Exemptions for EAA in the Netherlands?

The EAA in the Netherlands allows exemptions in specific cases:

Microenterprises: Businesses with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding €2 million are exempt. The AFM encourages these businesses to meet EAA standards where possible to improve competitiveness;
Disproportionate burden: When the costs of compliance outweigh the benefits for persons with disabilities, following the criteria in Annex VI of the EAA. Legitimate reasons must be used; lack of priority, time, or knowledge is not acceptable;
Fundamental alteration: When compliance would change the essential nature of the service;
B2B services: The EAA does not apply to business-to-business services.

Even when exemptions apply, Dutch regulators stress that accessibility should be seen as a market opportunity. Complying voluntarily can open access to cross-border customers, increase brand trust, and reduce the risk of future legal changes removing exemptions altogether.

If external funding is provided to improve accessibility, providers cannot claim disproportionate burden or fundamental alteration.

Sectoral Implementation & Enforcement of EAA on Dutch Market

Supervision of the EAA accessibility requirements in the Netherlands is divided among:

ACM (Authority for Consumers and Markets) – telecom, e-commerce
RDI (Digital Infrastructure Inspectorate) – infrastructure-related services
CvdM (Dutch Media Authority) – audiovisual services
ILT (Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate) – transport
AFM (Authority for the Financial Markets) – financial services

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) maintains an accessibility monitoring website with detailed enforcement guidelines.

Physical Products Used in Service Provision

If physical products are used when providing a service, such as bank cards, random readers, or e-identifiers, they must also meet the EAA’s accessibility requirements.

There is a five-year transition period for products already placed on the market before 28 June 2025. During this time, services can continue using them, but they must be upgraded or replaced to comply with the EAA before the deadline.

For instance, an older random reader device may not support screen reader functionality or tactile feedback, making it difficult for users with visual impairments. During the transition period, such devices can still be used, but they must be upgraded or replaced with fully accessible alternatives before the 2030 deadline.

Timeline and Transition Rules

28 June 2025 – EAA obligations apply for all new services and modified contracts.
Existing service contracts signed before this date can continue without changes for up to five years, until 28 June 2030.

During the transition period, physical products used in providing services must be made accessible before the final deadline.

This dual timeline, services first, products later, means businesses will need to manage two parallel compliance tracks. While the product deadline may seem far away, procuring, testing, and deploying new accessible hardware can take years, making early planning essential.

This applies equally to banking services and financial e-commerce services.

What are Penalties for EAA Non-Compliance in the Netherlands?

Failing to meet the EAA requirements can lead to significant consequences:

Regulator	Penalty Potential
ACM	Fines up to €90,000 or higher based on turnover
AFM	Financial penalties and additional sanctions such as market restrictions
Other sector regulators	Sanctions relevant to their domain, potentially including suspension of services

Non-compliance may also lead to service suspensions and reputational damage, as demonstrated in documented cases of enforcement and public backlash.

Summary

The Netherlands embeds EAA obligations into existing sectoral laws, creating a targeted yet comprehensive enforcement model. Businesses, especially in finance and e-commerce, face detailed accessibility requirements for identification, security, and payment functions, as well as clear rules on product accessibility and transition periods. With multiple regulators and penalties of up to €90,000 or more, companies should start preparing now to ensure compliance as soon as possible.

EU Accessibility Act in France: Uncovering the RGAA

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on August 20, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

In our previous articles, we examined EU Accessibility Act in Poland and Germany have implemented the European Accessibility Act (EAA) or RGAA in French. France, however, starts from a different place – one of leadership. Long before the EAA, French law had already set clear rules for accessibility. The EAA does not reinvent the wheel in France, but it does tighten enforcement, expand scope, and clarify obligations for private sectors.

In this article, we break down how the EAA is being applied in France, and what this means for companies operating locally or across borders.

France’s Accessibility Evolution: From Early Laws to the EAA

France has been a pioneer in accessibility regulation, starting with Law No. 2005-102 (Montchamp Law), and continuing through the RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité). Here is why the implementation of the EAA builds on this strong base, but brings in sharper penalties, broader private-sector coverage, and stricter expectations around proof of compliance.

When it comes to digital accessibility, France didn’t wait for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) to take action. For nearly two decades, the country has been building a legal and technical framework to ensure that websites, apps, and digital documents work for everyone — including people with disabilities.

It All Started in 2005

France passed its landmark Law No. 2005‑102 (“Loi pour l’égalité des droits et des chances”), a sweeping anti-discrimination law that made digital accessibility mandatory for public-sector websites. This law laid the foundation for what would become one of Europe’s most mature national accessibility strategies.

Enter the RGAA — A Practical Accessibility Rulebook

To turn legal principles into action, France created the RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité) — a national technical standard that adapts WCAG guidelines into concrete testing rules. Over the years, the RGAA has evolved through several versions, staying aligned with EN 301 549 and WCAG 2.1 standards.

Since 2016, France has also required accessibility statements on public websites and mobile apps, along with regular audits and a clear process for user feedback.

2019: Aligning with the EU Web Accessibility Directive

France was ahead of the curve when the EU Web Accessibility Directive came into force. Through Decree No. 2019‑768, the country reinforced its obligations for public bodies and certain private-sector services like banks and transport. The RGAA remained the go-to standard for demonstrating compliance.

2023–2025: The EAA Expands the Playing Field

With the European Accessibility Act (EAA) now in effect, France has broadened its scope. Decree No. 2023‑931 transposes the EAA into national law, extending accessibility obligations to:

E-commerce platforms
Banking and payment services
Transport apps and ticketing systems
Consumer hardware and software interfaces
Digital documentation and product info

This marks a shift from “just public sector” to a fully digital economy model — where most businesses will need to prove their services are usable by all.

What French Accessibility Act Requires in 2025?

Businesses must now prepare not just for WCAG 2.1 or EN 301 549 compliance, but for a French interpretation of these standards – codified in domestic law and enforced across multiple sectors.

France’s implementation adds structure and legal force to accessibility expectations, so companies must ensure that:

Digital content follows WCAG 2.1 Level AA and EN 301 549

For PDFs, this means tagging content structures (headings, lists, tables), setting reading order, and ensuring compatibility with screen readers like NVDA or JAWS.

Products and services function with assistive technologies like screen readers, voice recognition software, and screen magnifiers
Accessibility statements, testing results, and feedback mechanisms are made publicly available
Online documentation is accessible and linked clearly from physical products
Compliance documentation is maintained in accessible way (technical files, conformity declarations)

Your PDF manuals, onboarding guides, or financial statements must not only be accessible but provably so — through technical files or audit reports.

Labels, instructions, and UIs are legible and perceivable for users with disabilities

These requirements apply to both consumer-facing and B2B products and services, with a particular focus on e-commerce, banking, insurance, utilities, transport, and telecommunications.

What are RGAA Exemptions?

France, like most EU countries, has adopted the microenterprise exemption provided in Article 4 of the EAA. This means that:

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees, and
Less than €2 million in annual turnover or balance sheet total are exempt from EAA obligations

However, public sector suppliers, service providers, and certain regulated industries may still need to comply, even if technically exempt, due to overlapping laws (e.g. RGAA or sectoral requirements).

How France’s Accessibility Act is Implemented?

France transposed the EAA through a coordinated set of laws, decrees, and orders throughout 2023:

Law No. 2023-171 introduced core accessibility principles into the consumer code and transport law
Decree No. 2023-931 established enforcement procedures and set penalties for Class 5 infractions (up to €1,500 per breach, or more for repeated offenses)
Order of 9 October 2023 defined accessibility rules for ICT services, banking, digital books, and e-commerce
Order of 14 August 2023 and Decree No. 2023-778 mandated EN 301 549 compliance for e-books and software

Notably, French law avoids vague language: standards are named explicitly, and enforcement powers are clearly defined.

France’s Extra Requirements of RGAA You Need to Know About

France doesn’t stop just at aligning with the EAA. It adds layers of requirements under existing national frameworks:

The RGAA mandates manual audits, accessibility statements, and feedback tools for public websites and apps

Manual audits ensure the real-life accessible usability. That’s why it’s essential to choose the right partner team—one that doesn’t just run documents through tools like the PAC app, but also has proven experience in delivering true accessibility. The handcrafted approach ensures compliance not by ticking boxes on a checker screen, but by testing how people of diverse abilities actually interact with content—making accessibility both compliant and genuinely usable.

Even private companies must adopt WCAG-aligned standards when offering public-facing digital services
Periodic reporting and public disclosures are required for certain sectors

This layered approach means that simply meeting EAA minimums isn’t enough – local compliance expectations go deeper.

Harmonised Standards to Follow

French regulators reference the same harmonised standards recognised across the EU:

EN 301 549 – covers accessibility of ICT products and services
WCAG 2.1 AA – the benchmark for accessible web and mobile content

For Physical Products

Labels and manuals must support multisensory accessibility: font size, colour contrast, spacing, tactile elements
Information must be available in alternative formats and perceivable via vision, hearing, or touch

For Digital Documentation

PDFs, instructions, and online help must follow WCAG and be compatible with:
- Screen readers (NVDA, JAWS)
- Braille displays
- Voice commands
- Keyboard navigation

What are Deadlines and Penalties for RGAA Incompliance?

France’s EAA obligations will apply from 28 June 2025, in line with the EU-wide deadline. The law has been integrated through Law No. 2023-171, Ordonnance No. 2023-859, and Decree No. 2023-931, creating a multi-layered enforcement system.

Enforcement Bodies Rely on Sector Type

Market surveillance authorities will oversee products and services falling under the EAA
DGCCRF (Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes) will handle consumer market compliance
DINUM continues to enforce the RGAA for public-sector digital services, which operates in parallel to EAA requirements

Penalties for RGAA Incomplinace

EAA-specific violations are generally treated as Class 5 offenses in France, with fines of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for organisations, repeatable for ongoing non-compliance

Additional Penalties under Montchamp Law

Under the long-standing Law No. 2005-102 (Montchamp Law), large private-sector companies (annual turnover ≥ €250 million) can face fines of €50,000 for non-compliance with accessibility obligations, plus €25,000 for missing required declarations or accessibility plans. These penalties can recur every six months until compliance is achieved.

⚠️ Fines of €50,000 can apply not only to inaccessible websites — but also to downloadable forms, onboarding documents, or PDF manuals used in public-facing services.

This dual framework means that EAA obligations in France are reinforced by existing national laws that already carry substantial penalties for certain organisations.

Why PDF Accessibility Matters in France’s Compliance Landscape

PDFs remain one of the most widely used formats for digital content — from financial disclosures to user manuals and application forms. Under the French EAA framework, inaccessible PDFs — recurring ones and templates — can be just as non-compliant as broken websites or inaccessible apps.

Here’s where businesses often miss the mark:

Visual-only scans with no semantic tags
Missing alternative text for diagrams or infographics
Incorrect reading order for screen readers
Lack of keyboard navigation support

At Quertum, we specialise in auditing, fixing, and validating PDF documents for compliance under WCAG 2.1, EN 301 549, and RGAA 4.1 — helping you avoid fines and protect your brand.

Summary

France’s EAA implementation builds on one of Europe’s most established accessibility frameworks. Businesses must meet both the EU directive’s core requirements and long-standing national obligations under the Montchamp Law and RGAA. This results in broader scope, clearer rules, and a stronger enforcement model. Penalties range from €1,500 for standard violations to €50,000 for large companies, with recurring fines for ongoing non-compliance. Accessibility is not new in France, it is a deeply rooted legal expectation that requires early preparation and continuous compliance.

EU Accessibility Act in Germany: What Business Can Expect from BFSG?

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on August 13, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

In our previous article, we explored the main pillars and risks of non-compliance with the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882). Now, let’s turn to Germany — where the Accessibility Act becomes national law under the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG).

Germany’s national implementation of the EAA came into force on 28 June 2025. The BFSG law is designed to bring key products and services in line with accessibility standards, without expanding beyond the EU baseline like Poland does. While it follows the directive closely, the German Act introduces specific rules around exemptions, enforcement, and transitional periods that businesses should pay attention to.

What Sets the German Act Apart?

Germany has largely aligned its implementation with the requirements of the EU Accessibility Act, introducing specific provisions around enforcement and transitional rules. The national law closely mirrors the directive’s scope and technical standards, relying on WCAG 2.1 Level AA and EN 301 549 as key accessibility benchmarks. The BFSG applies to a defined list of consumer-facing products and services, particularly in the digital, banking, telecom, and retail sectors.

What Products and Services should Be Accessible under German Accessibility Act?

The BFSG applies to a wide range of products and digital services offered to consumers. These include:

Products covered:

Consumer computer hardware and operating systems
Self-service terminals:
- Payment terminals, ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines
- Interactive terminals (excluding those integrated into vehicles or transport systems)
Consumer telecom and media devices with interactive or computing capabilities
E-book readers

Services covered:

Consumer telecommunications services (excluding machine-to-machine transmission)
Elements of passenger transport (air, bus, rail, waterborne), excluding local/regional services
Websites and mobile apps
E-tickets and real-time travel information (via interactive screens in the EU)
Interactive self-service terminals for transport services (within the EU)
Consumer banking services
E-books and related software
E-commerce platforms and services

The law applies to both manufacturers of the listed products and service providers offering them to consumers in the EU market, whether operating within Germany or serving German consumers cross-border. It focuses on areas where digital accessibility has the most direct consumer impact, particularly in everyday commercial transactions and public-facing technologies.

How the European Accessibility Act Affects Businesses in Germany?

Germany’s BFSG transposes the EAA almost directly and not beyond, introducing harmonised technical standards but tailoring its rules for enforcement and timelines. For businesses in banking, insurance, telecom, public sector, e-commerce, and transport, this means:

All digital content must meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility criteria (including accessible PDFs).
Products and services must function seamlessly with assistive technologies.
Physical product labels and instructions must meet defined legibility standards.
Online documentation must be publicly accessible and in an accessible format.
Businesses must be able to demonstrate compliance efforts through technical documentation, testing reports, and accessibility declarations.

What are Exemptions for German Accessibility Act?

Under Article 4(4) of the European Accessibility Act, the BFSG excludes several areas from its scope:

Products and services designed solely for professional or business-to-business use — not intended for consumer markets.
The built environment connected to services, such as physical buildings or facilities, which remains outside the BFSG’s remit.
Urban, suburban, and regional public transport services — although some elements still fall under accessibility obligations. For example, self-service terminals for ticketing or check-in must comply, while the associated websites and mobile apps are usually regulated under the Public Sector Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102).

The BFSG also avoids certain broader equality objectives found in other German laws, such as specific protections for women with disabilities or the expanded anti-discrimination grounds listed in § 1 of the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG).

Exemption for Microenterprises

Microenterprises — defined as having fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet total under €2 million — are exempt from the BFSG’s mandatory requirements.

This exemption narrows the law’s reach for the smallest businesses, while leaving SMEs and large enterprises fully accountable for compliance.

Controlled Exemptions for Legacy Systems and Contracts

Germany has also introduced targeted transitional provisions to avoid immediate disruption:

Service contracts signed before 28 June 2025 can continue without modification until they end, but no later than 27 June 2030.
Self-service terminals (e.g., ATMs, ticket machines, kiosks) installed before 28 June 2025 may remain in operation for up to 15 years from installation, provided they met applicable standards at the time.
Existing devices and software are not subject to retroactive changes — but any new deployment after June 2025 must meet BFSG requirements immediately.

These measures create phased compliance pressure: companies have more time to address older assets, but cannot delay upgrades indefinitely.

Considerations for Medical and Digital Health Products

Medical devices themselves are generally excluded from the BFSG. However, exceptions apply if:

The device’s software is accessed via a covered product, such as a smartphone or tablet.
An online platform sells medical devices or provides related services directly to consumers — such as registration, appointment booking, or e-commerce transactions.

In these cases, the digital interface must meet BFSG accessibility requirements.

Other Notable Exemptions

The BFSG also recognises situations where accessibility obligations do not apply, including:

Third-party content not funded, developed, or controlled by the economic operator.
Certain local and regional public transport services, unless other German or EU laws impose accessibility requirements.
Medical devices, unless accessed through a covered consumer-facing interface, in which case the interface must still comply.

Disclosure Rules for Digital and Physical Accessibility

While the BFSG mandates accessibility, it references “essential requirements” in EU law and harmonised standards rather than prescribing every technical detail.The BFSG applies to a wide range of products and digital services offered to consumers. Two standards are central for proving compliance:

EN 301 549 – Harmonised European ICT accessibility standard.
WCAG 2.1 AA – International benchmark for digital accessibility, incorporated into EN 301 549.

These standards define measurable requirements for:

For Physical Products:

Labels and instructions must have adequate font size, colour contrast, and spacing.
Information must be available in multiple sensory forms — supporting users with visual, auditory, or cognitive disabilities.

For Digital Documentation (including PDFs):

Documentation must be available online in accessible PDF format meeting WCAG and EN 301 549.
The link (URL) to the accessible version must be clearly printed on packaging or product materials.
Content must be fully compatible with assistive technologies such as:
- Screen readers (JAWS, NVDA)
- Braille displays
- AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication) systems

What are Penalties for BFSG Incompliance?

Germany has introduced clear enforcement mechanisms. Non-compliance can result in administrative fines of up to €100,000, as well as potential market restrictions or product bans. Enforcement will be overseen by designated national authorities – such as market surveillance bodies and state-level regulators (Länder) – who may monitor compliance and act on violations under general fair trading rules.

Businesses should also be aware that failure to comply could invite legal challenges or reputational risks, especially in sectors with high public visibility.

What is a Transitional Periods for Accessibility Act in Germany?

The BFSG enters into force on 28 June 2025, with the following transitional arrangements:

Existing service contracts signed before 28 June 2025 can remain unchanged until they end, but no later than 27 June 2030, including streaming subscriptions and similar services
Service providers may continue using older products, such as tablets, smartphones or e-book readers, that were lawfully in use before 28 June 2025, until 27 June 2030
Self-service terminals installed before 28 June 2025 may remain in use for up to 15 years from their installation date, provided they complied with the rules in force at the time

For example, a telecom provider offering self-service kiosks for SIM registration installed in 2022 can continue using them until 2030, while a new installation after 2025 must meet accessibility requirements from day one. Similarly, online service contracts signed before June 2025 need not be retroactively updated for compliance.

These transitional measures are intended to give businesses time to phase in upgrades without disrupting service continuity.

How Quertum supports your Accessibility Journey and Compliance with EAA?

Navigating accessibility requirements under the European Accessibility Act (EAA) doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Quertum helps you make sense of technical standards like WCAG, PDF/UA, and EN 301 549 — and puts them into action, across your real-world documents and systems.

Whether you’re in banking, insurance, telecom, or the public sector, we help ensure your communication channels are compliant, user-friendly, and ready for the new legal landscape in Germany and across the EU.

With Quertum, you get:

✅ Document audits you can act on
We don’t just flag issues — we tell you what they mean and how to fix them. From PDF templates to legacy systems, we identify the gaps and help you close them fast.

✅ Accessibility retrofitting that fits your stack
We integrate with your existing Document Management Systems & Customer Communication Management systems and your workflows — no need to rebuild from scratch.

✅ Compliance that scales with your DMS & CCM
Accessibility is not a one-time project. We help you set up repeatable, scalable processes to ensure ongoing compliance — across teams, channels, and output.

From legal interpretations to tech implementation, our cross-functional team supports you in translating regulations into practical solutions — without the jargon. Start your accessibility journey with confidence.

Summary

Germany’s implementation of the European Accessibility Act offers clarity and consistency, staying faithful to the original directive while acknowledging industry realities through exemptions and phase-ins. For businesses operating in Germany or serving German consumers, the upcoming enforcement date presents both a legal obligation and an opportunity to embed accessibility into product design, customer experiences, and digital infrastructure.

Taking action now means not just avoiding penalties, but building more inclusive services that meet evolving customer expectations.

Next steps for businesses:

Audit your current digital products and services
Identify contracts, platforms, and hardware in use before June 2025
Begin planning for technical upgrades, staff training, and documentation
Monitor upcoming guidance from German authorities

EU Accessibility Act in Poland: Details Business Should Know

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on August 7, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is reshaping how businesses in Europe design and deliver digital services. In our previous article, we shared the main pillars and risks of being incompliant with the European Accessibility Act. Let’s go beyond the common European directive and dive deeper with state-centred approaches.

In this article, we share all you need to know to operate in an EAA-compliant way in Poland, despite being a local or global company.

How European Accessibility Act Affects Poland Business?

Poland’s national implementation of the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) goes well beyond the EU baseline — introducing stricter obligations, more detailed formatting rules, and a robust enforcement framework. Businesses operating in Poland must prepare not only for compliance with the directive, but also with a more prescriptive and locally integrated legal environment.

What EAA or PAD (Polski Akt Dostępności) in Poland Requires?

Digital content must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA (e.g., readable PDFs, accessible websites)
Products and services must work with assistive technologies
Clear labelling and instructions with adequate font size, spacing, and contrast
Online documentation must be publicly available and accessible
Businesses must show evidence of accessibility efforts (technical documentation, testing, declarations)

Exemption for Microenterprises

While the EU directive gives Member States the option to exempt microenterprises, Poland applies this exemption across the board.

This means:

Businesses with fewer than 10 employees;
Either less than €2 million in turnover or balance sheet total.

This narrows the scope considerably for very small businesses, while placing greater responsibility on SMEs and large enterprises.

Controlled Exemptions for Mapping and Navigation

While the EU directive allows certain exemptions for mapping and navigation systems, the Polish Act narrows these significantly.

Interactive maps and geoportals are only exempt if:

The data present is already available in a digitally accessible format, and
The service complies with Poland’s separate Digital Accessibility Act (2019), which governs public sector websites and apps.

This layered approach ensures that accessibility gaps aren’t created through overly broad expectations. The relevant provisions are found in Article 4(2)(a).

Other Exemptions of Accessibility Act in Poland

The Act also outlines specific cases where accessibility obligations do not apply. These include:

Third-party content not funded, developed, or controlled by the economic operator;
Public transport services and local administrative services at the municipal, metropolitan, county, and county-municipal levels, unless otherwise required under other Polish or EU regulations.

These limited exemptions recognise practical constraints while maintaining the overall intent of the law — ensuring accessibility is the rule, not the exception.

Disclosure Rules for Physical and Digital Accessibility

The Polish Accessibility Act does more than require accessibility — it defines how accessibility must be implemented. However, it stops short of listing exact technical specifications. Instead, it refers broadly to “essential accessibility requirements defined in EU law and harmonised standards.”

To navigate this ambiguity, we recommend aligning with the two primary standards recognised across the EU for demonstrating compliance:

EN 301 549 – the harmonised European standard for ICT accessibility
WCAG 2.1 – the global benchmark for digital content accessibility (incorporated within EN 301 549)

These standards outline specific, testable criteria across both physical and digital domains:

For Physical Products

Labels and instructions must meet defined criteria for font size, colour contrast, and text spacing, ensuring legibility for users with visual impairments.
Information must be perceivable through multiple sensory channels, supporting accessibility for people with visual, auditory, or cognitive disabilities.

For Digital Documentation

Documentation must be made available online in an accessible format, compliant with WCAG and EN 301 549.
The web address (URL) for this digital content must be clearly printed on the physical product or its packaging.
All content must be compatible with assistive technologies, including:
- Screen readers (e.g., NVDA, JAWS)
- Braille displays
- Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems

By proactively meeting these harmonised standards, organisations can demonstrate good-faith compliance with the Polish Accessibility Act and reduce their exposure to regulatory risk.

Tightly Defined Legal Terms of Accessibility Act in Poland

Where the EU directive leaves room for interpretation, the Polish legislation introduces precise legal definitions for key accessibility terms. These include:

User interface accessibility – ensuring digital tools are operable, understandable, and robust for all users
Real-time communication – defined to include voice, video, and text channels that enable seamless, synchronous interaction
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) – explicitly referenced, supporting individuals with speech or language impairments
Interoperability with assistive technologies – a requirement for ensuring systems work across platforms and devices, not just within proprietary environments

This increased specificity supports legal certainty and simplifies implementation for both product developers and compliance teams.

Multi-Institutional Enforcement Model

Enforcement in Poland will not rely on a single regulator. Instead, it is distributed across multiple institutions to ensure cross-sector compliance:

The Ministry of Regional Development serves as the coordinating body
PFRON (State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons) supports monitoring and expertise
Local governments and universities are involved in outreach and technical assistance
NGOs focused on accessibility provide oversight and advocacy
Customs and market surveillance authorities handle inspections and enforcement in import/export and retail contexts

A visual diagram showing key institutions involved in enforcing the European Accessibility Act (EAA) in Poland. At the center, an icon of a police officer and a person stands beneath a security gate, symbolizing oversight. Surrounding them are five labeled segments:

"Ministry of Regional Development" (oversees and coordinates enforcement nationally),

"PFRON" (provides technical expertise and disability insights),

"Local Governments and Universities" (implement EAA principles locally),

"NGOs" (act as watchdogs and user advocates),

"Customs and Market Surveillance" (ensure market compliance).
Each segment includes a corresponding icon. Background is a gradient of dark blue and purple.

Monitoring begins in June 2026, following the mandatory compliance date of 28 June 2025.

Integration Across Over 10 Domestic Laws

To create a consistent and enforceable framework, Poland has embedded the a wide range of existing legislation, including:

Public Procurement Law – ensuring accessibility is considered in purchasing decisions
Telecommunications Law – covering accessibility in communication networks and devices
Payment Services Act – affecting the usability of payment terminals and online services
Transport and emergency systems legislation – ensuring access to public transport, alerts, and emergency services
Act on accessibility for persons with special needs (2019) building on existing standards to harmonise legal obligations across sectors

This cross-law integration makes accessibility a mandatory design principle — not a compliance afterthought. It introduces measurable expectations for both product and service delivery, reinforces risk exposure in regulated environments and aligns national policy with EU enforcement strategy. This integration supports systemic change and positions accessibility as a core requirement, not a side consideration.

Summary

Poland’s approach to accessibility is comprehensive and future-facing. For companies operating in Poland, or exporting to it, compliance with the Polish Accessibility Act requires more than checking boxes. It demands deliberate design choices, legal awareness, and operational readiness. Starting early will reduce risk and help businesses deliver inclusive experiences that meet both regulatory and customer expectations.

Visual comparing old and new systems: legacy laptop with error symbols and modern laptop with checkmark, showing successful CCM migration. Title reads 'CCM Migration Made Simple: 6 Steps to Replace Your Legacy System.

CCM Migration: 6 Steps to Ease Legacy System Replacement

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on July 16, 2025. Posted in CCM Migration.

Switching to a new Customer Communication Management (CCM) platform? This is great!
Next step is to tackle what often feels like the real challenge in this complex project.

Moving off a legacy system typically feels like untangling a web of old templates, clunky approvals, forgotten dependencies and compliance rules. It can be tempting to just recreate the same structure in the new system and hope for smoother results. That rarely works. You end up dragging yesterday’s problems into a tool that was supposed to solve them.

Whether you’re moving to Quadient Inspire or another modern solution, CCM data migration is more than a technical switch, but your chance to leave behind outdated processes and build faster, smarter, compliant communications.

Here’s how to make that happen. Without turning it into a year-long headache.

1. Don’t Migrate Everything. Migrate What’s Useful.

Legacy CCM systems store thousands of outdated templates. Our advice: don’t transfer all of them.

Instead, treat data migration like a spring-clean. Start by reviewing what’s still being used, what’s outdated and what’s just taking up space.

Ask yourself straightforward: does this template support our customer experience today?

Focus on What Still Matters for customer communication management workflow and take fair actions:

Identify what makes your business move
Remove duplicates
Eliminate broken or non-compliant workflows.

This is your moment to leave behind patchy messaging, mismatched formats and manual workarounds. Moving only what matters helps reduce complexity and significantly speeds up your migration from obsolete systems.

2. Map Dependencies Before They Break Something

CCM communications rarely exist in isolation. They pull data from other systems like CRMs, follow approval flows and feed into archiving or delivery tools. If these connections aren’t mapped early, they tend to create delays, errors, or compliance issues that surface when it’s too late to fix them easily.

Our advice: Speak to the people who work with the content daily – from business users and legal teams to compliance officers. They’re the ones who understand the practical dependencies, the informal workflows and the nuances that might otherwise be overlooked.

Take the time to map where data comes from, who owns what, how sign-offs happen and how outputs are delivered.

If you ignore these connections, your migration from legacy platforms can break essential flows.

A well-structured migration plan starts with a shared, cross-functional view of these interdependencies. Without it, even the best-designed system can stall at the first approval gate.

To sum up this step, proactive migration from legacy system should include:

✅ Interviewing legal, compliance and customer service teams
✅ Documenting data sources, approval chains and delivery paths
✅ Looking beyond technical diagrams (they rarely show the full picture)

3. Rebuild Templates — But Rethink Them First

One of the biggest missed opportunities in CCM migration is treating templates like fixed artifacts. Instead of redesigning them for the new system, many teams just copy what they had before – including the inefficiencies.

Copying old templates into your new system mean copying old mistakes. Use this moment to redesign templates for performance.

Don’t stop at static design. Modern CCM platforms like Quadient Inspire offer far more than just layout control. They support:

Reusable content blocks for reducing duplication and simplified updates
Dynamic fields, which personalise at scale with data-driven logic
Personalisation rules to tailor messaging by customer type, region, or behaviour
Shared elements like disclaimers or headers to centralise headers, footers, disclaimers and legal text for consistency

Look for ways to group similar templates, add shared modules (like headers or legal notes) and reduce one-off work. Over time, this helps teams work faster, stay consistent and avoid reinventing the wheel every time messaging changes.

4. Prioritise Accessibility and Compliance Early

With laws like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) coming into effect and GDPR continuing to guide how organisations handle personal data, it’s important to build compliance and accessibility into the early stages of migration – not treat them as late-stage checks. Our advice: think about accessibility from the early stage of migration, especially now with EAA went life on June 28, 2025. Otherwise, you put the company into a risk to pay twice.

From the start of your CCM data migration, consider:

Accessible formats (PDF/UA, HTML)
Built-in legal reviews
Trackable approvals and audit logs

The best time to embed accessibility and compliance is before anything goes live. Doing it early is faster, cheaper, and far less disruptive than applying fixes under pressure later.

5. Migrate in Phases — Not All at Once

Trying to migrate everything at once often leads to stress, confusion and avoidable mistakes. A phased rollout is more practical and far less risky.

Our advice: Start small, choose channel, team, or type of communication, for example, onboarding emails or monthly invoices. Use that first rollout to test templates, workflows, integrations, and output quality in a real-world setting. The feedback you gather will shape how you scale, helping you avoid errors before they reach a wider audience.

Running the legacy and new systems in parallel for a short period also builds confidence. It allows teams to compare outputs, validate compliance and flag edge cases before anything is switched off for good.

6. Make Data Migration a Team Effort, Not Just IT Department

Customer communication touches nearly every part of the business:

Marketing (tone of voice, branding)
Operational (document workflows, SLAs, and service delivery timelines)
Legal (approvals, disclaimers, regulatory compliance)
Customer experience (usability, accessibility, clarity)

For example, this could mean involving CX and legal in defining template requirements, or having marketing validate tone before rollout, not after.

Our advice: bring the right voices in early, things click into place faster — and the end result isn’t just functional, it actually works for everyone. That’s why migration from obsolete platforms and systems needs to be planned and executed as a joint effort, not something handed off to IT in isolation. Clear roles, open communication and shared ownership are what turn a tech project into a successful business change.

Cross-functional planning ensures that your migration from legacy CCM aligns with your customer journey and brand.

Your CCM Migration Should Work for You — Not Against You

With the right focus, it becomes a chance to simplify, modernise and build a stronger foundation for how your organisation communicates — inside and out. Planned well and done wisely, CCM data migration is more than a technical upgrade. It’s a real opportunity to streamline operations, reduce risk and deliver communications that make sense for legal, operational CX teams and valued by your customers.

European Accessibility Act Compliance by Sector: GDPR Lessons and What to Expect in 2026

Written by IT Administrator on June 10, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility, Quertum News, Regulatory compliance, Uncategorized.

In 2018, GDPR forced companies to change how they handled personal data. The regulation set a new standard for privacy and introduced penalties that caught many businesses off guard. Today, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) is on a similar path—only this time, the focus is on accessibility.

From June 28, 2025, the EAA is taking full effect. This New Directive aims to ensure that digital products and services, such as websites, apps, documents, and ticketing systems, are accessible to people with disabilities across the EU. For many businesses, this will mean redesigning websites, rethinking digital communications, and ensuring that customer-facing services meet accessibility standards like WCAG and PDF/UA. In practice, the parallels to GDPR are clear: a sweeping EU regulation, broad applicability, and the potential for significant fines for non-compliance.

Yet few organisations have a clear plan in place to meet the upcoming requirements.

High-Exposure Sectors: Who Will Feel the European Accessibility Act First?

Industries that rely heavily on digital customer interaction are the first in line. This includes finance, where online banking and digital onboarding are core to the customer journey; retail, where e-commerce platforms and checkout systems must be accessible by default; and transportation, where digital ticketing and self-check-in are now standard. Public services such as healthcare portals and government sites are also squarely within scope, especially given the public-sector accessibility precedents already in place.

In these sectors, the risks often take the shape of inaccessible platforms, customer documents, or service workflows, each of which may soon be considered a legal liability under national enforcement laws.

What raises the stakes even further is visibility. The more essentially a service is to daily life, the more likely it is to be scrutinised, and the less tolerance regulators will have for inaccessible touchpoints.

One Directive, 27 Penalty Systems

Just like with the GDPR, the EAA leaves enforcement in the hands of EU Member States. This means companies must pay close attention to the specific penalties and compliance expectations in each country where they operate.

Some countries have already outlined substantial fines. In Spain, Ley 11/2023 introduces penalties of up to €1 million per infringement, explicitly covering electronic documents like PDFs. Germany’s Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz allows for fines of up to €500,000, and in severe cases, non-compliant digital products or services can even be removed from the market.

Elsewhere in the EU, the landscape remains just as serious. France imposes fines of up to €300,000, Czechia up to €400,000, and Hungary has set penalties as high as €1.26 million or 5% of annual net turnover. In Italy, fines can reach €40,000, or up to 5% of turnover under the Stanca Law for private entities.

Enforcement isn’t uniform, and that’s the point. While the EAA sets a harmonised baseline, the risks vary dramatically by jurisdiction. Businesses with operations or customers across multiple countries must be proactive in tracking national developments to avoid falling foul of country-specific enforcement actions.

For a quick overview of the already established EAA penalties across EU markets, see the table below.

Country	Fines
Austria	Fines range up to EUR 80 000
Czechia	Fines range up to EUR 400 000
France	Fines range up to EUR 300 000
Germany	Fines range up to EUR 500 000
Hungary	Fines range up to EUR 1 261 164 or 5% of the annual net turnover
Italy	Fines range up to EUR 40 000 or, for private entities that fall within the scope of the Stanca Law, up to 5% of turnover
The Netherlands	Fines range up to EUR 103 000
Slovakia	Fines range up to EUR 200 000
Spain	Fines range up to EUR 1 000 000

From Privacy to Accessibility: How GDPR Prepared Us for the European Accessibility Act

The GDPR era taught businesses several hard-earned lessons. Some of them can be directly applied to the EAA:

✅ Compliance is a continuous process, not a single deadline

✅ User expectations evolve, and meeting them consistently builds trust

✅ Regulatory alignment can become a competitive advantage

✅ One-size-fits-all solutions rarely work in complex, multi-market operations

✅ Technology alone isn’t enough – internal processes and policy need to support it

Perhaps most importantly, GDPR showed us that EU legislation doesn’t stay theoretical for long. Once enforcement begins, regulators act – especially where clear obligations have been set and ignored.

Like GDPR, the EAA will likely follow a similar trajectory. Companies that treat accessibility as a long-term priority, and can demonstrate visible progress, will be in a much stronger position than those that scramble to catch up. Building capability early helps reduce risk, avoid reputational damage, and respond confidently as national enforcement frameworks mature.

EAA Day One: What Happens After June 2025?

On June 28, 2025, the EAA becomes enforceable, but that date doesn’t mark the end of the road. Instead, it signals the beginning of active enforcement and greater scrutiny. Regulators won’t judge compliance by a single audit on that day, but by how well your organisation demonstrates progress, intent, and structure.

Just as with GDPR, regulators are unlikely to expect flawless implementation on day one. What they will expect is a demonstrable plan – evidence that your company understands its obligations and is actively working to meet them. That includes documented audits, defined roles and responsibilities, and timelines for remediating accessibility gaps.

Resilient companies will treat this moment not as a finish line, but as the launch of a permanent compliance phase. Over time, laws will evolve, interpretations will shift, and enforcement will become more consistent. To keep pace, organisations should establish regular review cycles, track country-level legislation, and integrate accessibility into procurement and development processes.

June 2025 isn’t the point where you need to have everything perfect. It’s the point where you need to have a credible, visible path forward – and the ability to prove that accessibility is already part of how your organisation operates.

Set the Standard, Don’t Chase It

If GDPR taught us anything, it’s that the cost of inaction grows fast. The companies that took early, practical steps toward compliance were the ones that avoided penalties and earned long-term trust. The same holds true for the EAA.

At Quertum, we can help you take those early, practical steps, by making your digital communications accessible, efficiently and at scale. Whether you need support implementing PDF/UA standards or ensuring your customer-facing content meets EAA requirements, we’re here to help you get it right from the start.

Accessibility doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

Quertum helps make it manageable. See how we can support your accessibility implementation.

Summary

The shift from GDPR to the European Accessibility Act (EAA) marks a new phase in EU regulation, this time focused on digital accessibility. Unlike GDPR, the EAA combines broad scope with serious penalties, yet many organisations remain unprepared. Industries that depend on digital customer interaction—finance, retail, transport, and public services—are especially exposed. When a service is both essential and highly visible, the risk of regulatory scrutiny increases.

While the EAA provides a shared EU framework, each Member State sets its own penalties, resulting in varied enforcement across countries. This variation is intentional, which makes staying informed about local requirements essential. A key lesson from the GDPR still holds true: compliance is not a one-time task. Companies that take early steps toward accessibility will be better equipped to manage risk and build long-term trust. June 2025 is not the point when everything must be perfect, but the moment when meaningful progress must be visible.

Image with text 'PDF Accessibility for EAA: How to Start, Where You Stand, and Why It Matters'. On the right side are icons representing WCAG 2, ISO 14289 (PDF/UA), a PDF document with a checkmark, and a universal accessibility symbol, emphasizing compliance and accessibility standards for digital documents under the European Accessibility Act.

PDF Accessibility and EAA: Guide for Compliance

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on June 2, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

We rarely stop to think about how seamless our digital lives are. But with the PDF Accessibility and European Accessibility Act (EAA) deadline approaching in June 2025, organisations must act now to ensure digital equality — and legal compliance.

We scroll, shop, book, and bank without ever questioning whether the platforms we use are built for us. For the roughly 80 million Europeans living with a disability, though, the digital experience often looks very different, marked by limitations or outright exclusion.

That’s where the European Accessibility Act (EAA) comes in. From 28 June 2025, businesses offering digital services or selling certain products in the EU will need to meet strict accessibility standards. It’s a major step toward creating a more inclusive digital economy, and it’s going to impact everything — e-commerce platforms, e-books, insurance documents, ticket machines, shopping platforms, banking statements and apps. You can read more on our previous blog about how enterprises are preparing to EAA in different European countries.

The directive has been in motion for years, but many organisations still haven’t taken real steps to prepare. Meanwhile, industry leaders are quietly doing the work and positioning themselves to gain compliance and a competitive edge.

If you’re not there yet, you’re not alone. However, you are now at a decision point – move forward or fall further behind?

All Starts from Growth Mindset

There’s a tendency to frame accessibility in regulatory terms, as a box to tick, a deadline to meet, or a risk to avoid. Yet, for businesses that want to squeeze more from opportunity and lead, not just comply, the EAA offers something far more valuable. Namely, a clear reason to improve the user experience for everyone.

Early adopters are already seeing the benefits. Some retailers, for instance, report up to a 35% increase in conversions after making their digital platforms more accessible. That’s because accessibility improvements often go hand-in-hand with better usability – not just for people with disabilities, but for everyone. We’re talking about cleaner interfaces, clearer navigation, consistent content structures, features that make digital experiences more intuitive. They reduce friction, spark innovation, build trust, and keep customers coming back.

Essentially, being EAA-ready doesn’t only protect you from fines and sanctions, it also positions you as a business that understands where the market is going – and is prepared to lead in the right direction.

First Steps to Get Accessibility

So what does it look like to get serious about accessibility when you may be starting a little later than others?

The first step is very simple: figure out where you stand. That means inspecting your website, apps, service platforms and internal tools, not merely for obvious issues like missing alt texts or contrast failures, but for structural barriers that affect real user journeys.

Can a customer complete a purchase without using a mouse?
Is your chatbot accessible by screen reader?
Do your mobile experiences meet the same standards as desktop?

Of course, these aren’t questions for a single compliance officer to answer. Accessibility touches product, design, development, customer service, and legal operations, which means it has become a shared priority, not a siloed task.

Don’t know where to start EAA preparations? For the first touchpoint, you can download our WCAG 2.1 and PDF Accessibility guides for free (no email address is required). Those guides are created for:

Better understanding of your PDF/UA and WCAG compliance situation
What makes PDF documents and site accessible
Understanding on how to fix first accessibility red flags.

Download a WCAG 2.1 Guideline

Download a PDF Accessibility Guideline

These guides could be your roadmap to EAA preparations and how to be compliant with PDF/UA (ISO 14289), EN 301 549, and WCAG 2.1. By the way, both of those PDFs are accessible and PDF/UA compliant 🙂

Closing the Gap Without Falling Behind

When time is short and pressure is high, it’s tempting to search for shortcuts. But accessibility isn’t something you can just add on at the end of the process. Real progress means building a roadmap that accounts for both short-term fixes and long-term change.

Yes, some updates are straightforward: adjusting colors, labelling buttons, adding keyboard support. These can and should be addressed quickly. However, other work, such as redesigning navigation flows, integrating with assistive tech, or rethinking your content strategy, takes more time, more collaboration, and more care.

This doesn’t have to mean halting business as usual – accessibility can be integrated into agile workflows and existing development cycles. In fact, some of the most effective efforts happen incrementally. The key is to start, and to treat accessibility not as a project with an end date, but as a part of how you build and maintain digital services going forward.

Don’t Stop on Alt Text Only

It’s easy to fall into the trap of performative accessibility, making a few quick, visible changes like adding alt text or tweaking colours, and assuming the job is done. However, real accessibility is more than mere appearances, it is also about outcomes: can users with diverse needs actually complete tasks, access information, and engage with your service without barriers?

While alternative text is an essential part of accessibility, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. A truly accessible PDF requires correct tagging structure, proper reading order, logical headings, usable tables, form field labelling, colour contrast checks, and more.

Passing an audit once doesn’t guarantee long-term compliance — especially under the European Accessibility Act, where consistency and future updates matter. That’s why accessibility must be systemic, not superficial.

The truth is, accessibility is only meaningful when it works for real people navigating real challenges. That means going beyond checklists to understand how users actually experience your site or service – and whether they’re truly able to use it.

Even a website that passes today’s audit may fail tomorrow if updates are made without accessibility in mind. Regular testing, feedback from users with disabilities, and iterative improvements are what separate superficial fixes from sustainable progress.

Additionally, there’s value in openness. Letting your customers know you’re working on accessibility, even if you’re not there yet, can earn you credibility. It signals that you care, that you’re listening, and that you’re committed to building a better digital experience.

Why PDF Accessibility Demands More Than Automation

Making your PDFs truly accessible isn’t as simple as running an auto-check or pressing a “Make Accessible” button in Adobe. While tools can help flag issues, they rarely deliver fully compliant, user-friendly results on their own — especially when it comes to complex layouts, interactive forms, or branded documents that rely heavily on custom styling.

The challenge? Maintaining visual consistency and brand integrity while ensuring that every element — from tables and infographics to reading order and form fields — works seamlessly with assistive technologies. Automated fixes often flatten design, strip meaning, or miss key accessibility gaps altogether. Worse, they can create a false sense of security while leaving you exposed to compliance risks.

This is not something most internal teams are equipped to handle alone — especially under time pressure. That’s why many organisations partner with accessibility experts who not only understand the technical requirements (PDF/UA, EN 301 549, WCAG 2.1), but also know how to preserve design and user experience throughout the process.

It’s Not Too Late, But It Is Time

This is your chance to step back and ask: How do users move through our services? Where do they get stuck, frustrated, or excluded? What would it look like to make every touchpoint intuitive, inclusive, and seamless?

Accessibility doesn’t sit in a vacuum. It intersects with your ESG goals, your DEI commitments, and your customer experience ambitions. Leading companies are already drawing these lines, and using them to futureproof their strategies.

So yes, the clock is ticking, but getting serious about accessibility now puts you in a position to lead, not scramble to catch up later.

Summary

With the European Accessibility Act deadline approaching on 28 June 2025, industry leaders are already working toward compliance and gaining a competitive edge in the process. However, even if you’re behind now, it’s not too late to start. Accessibility isn’t only about ticking boxes. Done well, it improves the experience for everyone, and early adopters are already seeing the benefits. The first step is understanding where you stand and recognising that accessibility touches every part of your organisation. It’s not a one-off project, but an ongoing commitment. Avoid the trap of quick fixes that don’t serve real users. Instead, use this moment to rethink how your digital experiences can be more inclusive and take the first step now.

AI generated image: ancient block screen with legacy interface, situated in the office. It represents the outdated system

How Legacy Systems Are Slowing Down Modern Business Managers

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on May 14, 2025. Posted in CCM Migration.

The role of a business manager today has transformed into a hybrid of strategist, analyst, and operator, all rolled into one. They’re not only keeping operations running, they’re expected to drive strategic projects, bridge gaps between teams, and turn data into actionable insights. Business managers are constantly jumping between finance, sales, supply chain matters, and people operations, trying to make sense of what’s happening across the business.

But if they’re still stuck working with legacy systems? That job becomes 10x harder than it needs to be and workload is quick as never before with facilitated day-to-day processes.

Old Tools, New Problems

We’ve seen it time and again: systems once labelled as ‘future-proof’ now block the workday. Perhaps it’s a slow ERP accessible only to the finance team, or a reporting tool that hasn’t been updated in years. In many cases, companies juggle five platforms that don’t communicate properly with each other.

As a result, more time is spent chasing data than using it. Reports are delayed, workflows are made manual and prone to error. When leadership requests insights for Monday, teams often piece spreadsheets together over the weekend.

This situation frustrates teams and creates unsustainable maintenance.

Understanding an Upcoming Strategic Risk: Outdated Systems are Not Just IT’s Problem

Too frequently, operational and business teams treat CCM systems as back-office concerns, left for IT to “eventually” sort out. Yet, business leaders feel their limitations daily by across functions. Decision-making slows down when teams can’t access performance data in real time – sales teams build forecasts on outdated figures, and managers guess inventory levels instead of knowing them. Processes follow system limits rather than team needs. For example, adjusting prices across regions typically requires manual approvals and Excel workarounds to bypass system limits. As companies scale, these inefficiencies multiply, and what worked in one market becomes a burden across five.

Meanwhile, missed opportunities pile up. One team spends hours consolidating quarterly reports while a competitor pivots strategy on live market data. As you wait for procurement data from three systems, teams may already make unnecessary purchases. These aren’t isolated cases – they’re the daily frustrations of business managers trying to lead with impact. Without visibility and flexibility, managers react to problems instead of steering the business forward. When systems dictate the pace of change, companies quietly lose agility – one of the most valuable traits in today’s environment.

Modernisation with Coffee To Go

Imagine this instead: You open one dashboard and see your key metrics, live, clean, and easy to get into. You don’t have to wait for a report or chase someone in another team for an export. Your workflows are automated where they can be and flexible where they need to be. Your systems are connected, and so is your team.

While this may sound like the ideal scenario, we at Quertum understand that you can’t switch off legacy systems overnight. That’s why we design our approach to make change as seamless as possible. Whether you manage heavily customised platforms, fragmented infrastructure, or operations across multiple countries, we handle the complexity behind the scenes, so your teams can focus on their day-to-day. Core systems keep running while we gradually introduce modern tools with minimal disruption.

Quertum brings your data together, streamlines manual processes, and enables old and new platforms to operate side by side. No lengthy implementations, no unnecessary downtime, only smarter systems that start making everyday work easier and faster than you’d expect.

What a Better Workday Looks Like

Running a business today means balancing priorities across teams, systems, and time zones, often with limited visibility and even less time. Business managers need more than reports and tools; they need clarity, speed, and systems that support smarter decisions without adding more work.

But old systems make that mission harder than it should be.

Here’s what a modern workday should feel like:

One clear view of the business: See revenue, stock levels, and supply chain status in real time without chasing updates from different teams.
Approvals that keep things moving: Purchase orders, expense reports, and hiring requests go forward as soon as they meet the right criteria. No more bottlenecks.
Issues flagged before they grow: Your system notifies you instantly about a delayed shipment or a spike in returns, so you can act early.
Everyone working from the same numbers: With one shared dataset across teams, there’s no confusion, no mismatch in the reports, and no digging through version after version.

It’s not about having more tools, more integrations or AI. We know that it’s about having the right ones, which make it easier to lead across functions, stay ahead of problems, and respond with confidence.

Ready to Work Smarter, Not Harder?

You don’t need to rip everything out to move forward. Legacy systems might still be part of the picture, and that’s okay. However, they shouldn’t define how your teams work today and how many challenges they need to tackle before having work done. We’ve prepared a quick yet insightful guide about 6 main steps on migration from legacy system. This article will show you what’s under the hood of complex migrations in regulated industries like banking and insurance.

At Quertum, we help businesses transition from rigid, outdated systems to setups that support the way teams operate today. We customise, optimise, or build systems from scratch to fit the company. That often means untangling siloed tools, streamlining manual processes, or connecting systems that never communicated before.

Our migration services minimise disruption and make change feel manageable. Whether you manage a custom ERP, local infrastructure, or global complexity, we work alongside your teams to build bridges between old and new. This way, your business runs faster and with far fewer headaches.

Let’s talk about where your legacy systems are holding you back, and how you can seamlessly migrate from obsolete systems and platforms.

Summary

Today’s business managers juggle strategy, data, and cross-functional coordination, but legacy systems make that already demanding role even harder. Outdated tools have become the biggest blocker in the workday, leading to delays, manual fixes, and unsustainable maintenance. This isn’t just an IT inconvenience, but a strategic risk that leaves teams stuck and businesses reactive. However, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Gradual system modernisation, done in a way that doesn’t disrupt daily work, can offer a more flexible and connected way of operating. Imagine an ideal workday with real-time insights, smoother workflows, and connected teams that stay in sync and ahead of problems. Because, when systems work with you, the business moves forward – not sideways.

Is Your Business Ready for the 2025 European Accessibility Act?

Written by Kalynovska Kateryna on April 30, 2025. Posted in PDF accessibility.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is reshaping the digital landscape in the EU. At its core, the EAA aims to break down barriers. It ensures that products and services remain accessible to everyone, including millions of people with disabilities across the EU. This goes beyond using an accessibility checker. Businesses must embed accessibility into design thinking, from websites to all customer communications. A key challenge is perception. Many see the EAA’s requirements as broad, even though they remain comprehensive. As a result, many organisations fail to realise the EAA also applies to documents such as PDFs. Yet, PDFs remain critical to communication workflows.

The Cost of Non-Compliance Across EU Markets

While EU member states were required to transpose the EAA into national law by June 2022, the critical date is June 28, 2025, when full enforcement begins. This date marks when the EAA requirements become legally binding for countless businesses across the EU. The window for delaying serious action has effectively closed. Procrastination now carries significant risks, not just from a legal standpoint, but also in terms of market reach and brand perception.

Across Europe, the EAA is no longer a “nice-to-have.” It now carries a price tag on every website, mobile app, and PDF your company sends. Spain’s Ley 11/2023 tops the list with fines that scale up to €1 million per infringement, and it explicitly names electronic documents, obliging all outgoing PDFs to meet the PDF/UA tagging standard. Germany’s Barrierefreiheitsstsärkungsgesetz lets market-surveillance authorities impose penalties of €100 000 and even ban a product or service until it is accessible. Sweden will start handing out sanctions of up to 10 million SEK (~€870 000) for inaccessible e-commerce or banking interfaces when its new law takes effect on June 28th 2025. Similarly, in Finland, Traficom can now hand out fines up to €150 000. They can even escalate these daily until defects are fixed. Taken together, these moves make one thing clear: ignoring accessibility is no longer a technical oversight, but a severe financial risk for all companies operating within the EU.

Overlooking Digital Accessibility? You’re Ignoring 15% of the Global Market

Even if your organisation believes it falls outside the direct scope of the EAA, overlooking accessibility in your communication processes is a significant strategic oversight. In today’s interconnected world, inclusivity isn’t simply a moral imperative, it’s a powerful business driver. Consider the sheer potential of reaching the approximately 15% of the global population with disabilities. This is a substantial market segment, often excluded by inaccessible communication.

By proactively making your websites, PDF materials, social media content, and customer service channels accessible, you unlock a wealth of opportunities.

Imagine what could happen if every prospective customer could actually use your website, app, or documents without a struggle. Accessible design unlocks an entire segment of the market that might otherwise give up and look elsewhere. Simple steps like applying real heading tags or marking up lists properly can be the bridge that invites them in.
Accessibility also earns loyalty. When people see that you’ve taken the time to add descriptive alt-text to images and graphs, they recognise a brand that genuinely cares. That kind of respect sticks – it turns first-time buyers into long-term advocates.
And let’s be honest, in a crowded marketplace, “we’re easy for everyone to use” is a big differentiator. Companies that advertise their commitment to inclusive design attract customers who want to spend with businesses that share their values. Regular checks with an accessibility scanner or PDF-testing tool show you’re not only compliant today, but ready for whatever tomorrow’s standards require.
Finally, what helps some helps all. Clear language, logical structure, and keyboard-friendly navigation are more than accessibility wins. They also boost SEO and usability for every visitor. Streamline the reading order, make that checkout flow effortless, and watch both your search ranking and your customer satisfaction rise together.

The Accessibility Gap Is Closing – But Not Evenly. European Accessibility Act Is On a Way to Change it

In just two years, the share of companies actively planning for accessible PDFs and digital communications has tripled. According to industry data, 66% of surveyed companies now have a roadmap for PDF/UA compliance, signalling a clear shift toward inclusive design. At the same time, many public-facing websites, especially in the Nordics, score high on WCAG compliance. This shows what’s possible when accessibility is treated as a strategic priority.

Yet the distance between early movers and the rest of the market is growing. An early 2025 AbilityNet survey found that just 11% of organisations feel confident they’ll meet the EAA deadline. For many, the challenge isn’t a lack of intent, it’s about knowing where to start and how to scale accessibility across documents, channels, and teams. That’s where experienced partners like Quertum can help – bridging the gap between legal requirements and real-world implementation with clear audits, hands-on remediation, and long-term support. As compliance becomes a baseline expectation, the companies that act now won’t just meet the standard, they’ll help set it.

The Urgency is Real: Take the Next Step Now Towards European Accessibility Act Compliance

The June 2025 deadline is here. Organisations that postpone action on the EAA risk legal penalties and, just as critically, the loss of a sizeable customer segment. Whether you’re starting or scaling, now is the time to move beyond acknowledgement. Embed accessibility — at minimum PDF/UA compliance and WCAG AA standards — into everyday processes and communications. Now is the moment to move beyond acknowledgement and weave accessibility – at minimum PDF/UA compliance and WCAG AA standards – into everyday processes and communications. Don’t just catch up – lead the way into a more inclusive digital future.

Future-Proof Your Business with Accessibility

The European Accessibility Act is not just another regulation — it’s a turning point for digital communication and customer experience across the EU. Companies that act now will avoid legal penalties, expand their market reach, and build stronger customer trust. Those that wait risk fines, reputational damage, and lost opportunities.

At Quertum, we help organisations move beyond compliance to create accessible, user-friendly, and future-ready digital communications. From PDF/UA remediation to full-scale accessibility strategies, our team ensures your business stays ahead of both regulators and competitors.

Contact us today to discuss how we can support your accessibility journey and prepare you for the EAA deadline with confidence.