On June 28, 2025, the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) will come into force in its entirety, thereby transposing the European Accessibility Act (EAA) of April 17, 2019 into German law. This new law has consequences for all commercial operators of online presences such as websites, online stores and apps, whether for desktop, mobile or smart TV.

Who exactly is affected by the law? - Products that fall under the BFSG include:

• Computers, notebooks, tablets, smartphones, cell phones
• Self-service terminals such as ATMs, ticket machines and check-in machines
• Televisions with internet access
• E-book readers
• routers

Services that fall under the BFSG include:

• Telecommunication services
• e-books
• Services offered on mobile devices (including apps) in interregional passenger transport
• banking services
• e-commerce services
• Passenger transport services (for urban, suburban and regional transport services only interactive self-service terminals)

All products and services that fall within the scope of application are listed in detail under Section 1 (2) and (3) BFSG.

To support the implementation of the BFSG, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) has drawn up a legal ordinance together with representatives of the federal states, associations, industry, federal ministries and the Federal Accessibility Agency: the Ordinance on Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services under the Accessibility Improvement Act (BFSGV). This summarizes on 6 pages which requirements apply to products, packaging, documentation and user interfaces.

A detailed overview in the form of a question & answer catalog (FAQ) can be found on the website of the Federal Accessibility Agency.

Now that we have the dry legal topic behind us, how do we implement something like this in the mobile app sector? Accessibility has long been an issue in the mobile sector, especially since Apple was one of the first to push it massively on the iPhone and Google has now followed suit with Android, meaning that comparable functions exist on both platforms.

However, the basis for accessibility is multifaceted, as it is not enough to simply maintain semantic properties in your app, but must be taken into account from the ground up in the UI/UX concept. This starts with the scalability of text and ends with a logical structure and sequence for people who use VoiceOver or TalkBack to navigate the app.

Therefore, the introduction of the Accessibility Reinforcement Act means a fundamental revision of the design of many apps, unless the aforementioned principles have already been taken into account in advance.

And that's exactly why mobile app. Operators should start preparing their mobile apps today. Depending on the scope of an app, such a revision can take weeks or even months. There is still enough time to set the course for June 28, 2025 and we will be happy to help you.

Please feel free to contact us.