Building an i18n Pipeline That Doesn't Break Screen Readers: EAA Compliance for Devs
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) has been in force since 28 June 2025, and if you ship e-commerce, banking, ticketing or e-reader products into the EU, it applies to you. Most engineering teams have already run the checklist: ARIA roles, focus states, color contrast ratios. That's the part of accessibility we're good at, because it's testable with tools like axe or Lighthouse. The part that…
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) became enforceable on June 28, 2025, impacting e-commerce, banking, ticketing, and e-reader businesses operating within the EU. While engineering teams have largely addressed common accessibility considerations such as ARIA roles and focus states, a crucial but often overlooked aspect is the accessibility of translated text.
The crux of the issue lies not in whether the text exists in the DOM, but in whether it remains comprehensible and structurally preserved after translation for users relying on assistive technology. The article "localisation and the EAA" provides an insightful breakdown of the legal and content aspects of this challenge. This piece delves into the engineering perspective, focusing on creating a robust pipeline that prevents translations from inadvertently undermining accessibility compliance.
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