The European Accessibility Act and your videos
Since 28 June 2025 the EAA applies to consumer services such as online shops, banking, e-books and services that give access to audiovisual media. Here is what it says about video and audio, where it is often overstated, and how to produce captions and transcripts without a production team.
Drop a file hereor click to choose one — it opens in the studio with this tool ready. Small files need no account.Choose a fileHow it works
- 1Upload the video or audio — MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, MP3, WAV and more.
- 2Get SRT or VTT captions and a text transcript, with timings cut to subtitle conventions.
- 3Review the text, fix names and terms, then publish the caption file with your player — or burn captions in for social media.
What you get
What is in scope
Consumer services listed in the directive: e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books, electronic communications, passenger transport and services that give access to audiovisual media. A site that provides none of these is outside the EAA.
What it says about video
For services that give access to audiovisual media, subtitles, audio description and spoken subtitles must be transmitted in full and in sync, with user control. For other in-scope sites and apps, new video must be perceivable — which the harmonised standard reads as captions and audio description or a media alternative.
The standard
EN 301 549, built on WCAG. Version 4.1.1 (September 2026) follows WCAG 2.2 AA; for prerecorded video the criteria are 1.2.2 (captions) and 1.2.5 (audio description).
Who is exempt
Microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 employees and no more than €2 million turnover or balance sheet), third-party content you neither fund nor control, and prerecorded video published before 28 June 2025.
Same thing over the API
One header, one multipart request with the file, then poll the job or take a webhook. The same operation you just tried in the browser.
Questions
Does the EAA make me caption every video?
Not in those words. The directive names subtitles directly only for services that give access to audiovisual media. For other in-scope sites, the requirement that content be perceivable is read through EN 301 549 and WCAG, which ask for captions on prerecorded video with sound. Video published before 28 June 2025 is exempt.
When did it start?
It applies from 28 June 2025. Services under contracts signed before then may continue unchanged until the contract ends, but no later than 28 June 2030.
Does it apply in Ukraine?
No — Ukraine is not bound by the EAA. It has a national version of EN 301 549 (DSTU EN 301 549:2022) and public-sector web rules (Cabinet Resolution No. 757 of 2023); a broader digital accessibility bill, No. 14278, was withdrawn in July 2026.
Are automatic captions good enough?
They are a fast first draft. Captions have to match what is said, so review the text and correct names and terms before you publish — the studio editor replaces a misheard word everywhere at once.
A summary of public sources, checked on 2026-10-07. Not legal advice — for a decision about your business, ask a lawyer.
Sources: eur-lex.europa.eu · etsi.org · w3.org · itd.rada.gov.ua