Background

The EN 301 549 is the European standard on accessibility requirements for ICT products and services. The latest published version, 3.2.1, is available for download here.

It was initially written as a standard to be used in the context of ICT procurement, but it evolved to also serve as a means of demonstrating conformity to the essential requirements of European Directive 2016/2102 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. It is expected that EN 301 549 will be further updated to enable its use in other contexts and to ensure alignment with the latest best practices.

To ensure coherence while updating the EN 301 549, all changes must be made in a consistent manner with the design principles that apply to the document.

Purpose of this site

This site was created to encourage broader participation in shaping future updates to EN 301 549. While final decisions remain the responsibility of the CEN/CENELEC/ETSI Joint Working Group (JWG) on “eAccessibility”, the site has served as a collaborative space for contributions and discussions.

As the formal voting process of the European Standardization Organizations is now underway (until February 2026), the site functions as an "archive" of the extensive contributions and discussions that have led to the creation of the current draft. All issues raised during the preparatory work have been tagged with the v4.1.0 label.

Although new issues can technically be created, they cannot lead to changes in the draft while the formal approval process is in progress.

EN 301 549 draft that is going through the formal approval process is available for download here

How the site is organised

Issues

Each proposal for a potential change or addition to EN 301 549 began as an "Issue". accessible via the “Issues” option in the side menu on the left of the screen. Issues include one or more labels to indicate the context of the suggested change and to facilitate filtering. If an issue proposes a solution, that solution must comply with the design principles that apply to the document.

Threaded discussions accompany each issue. Some issues also include links to supporting resources, such as Snippets and related Word documents.