Imagine a potential customer with a mobility disability trying to purchase car insurance on your website. They navigate using their keyboard, but the “Calculate a Quote” button is inaccessible. Or an elderly person with low vision who can’t read the policy terms in the PDF you sent them. These aren’t just lost sales or frustrated customers; as of June 28, 2025, these are direct violations of the European Accessibility Act for insurers.
Although the word “insurance” doesn’t appear in the title of the law, make no mistake: the EAA hits the heart of the insurance industry. Why? Because your sales and service channels—websites, mobile apps, customer portals, and online contracting—are explicitly covered by the regulations.
This guide is designed for you, the insurance industry professional. We’ll explain in practical terms how this law affects you and how to turn a legal obligation into a powerful competitive advantage.
Why is the EAA mandatory for insurance companies?
The answer is simple: because modern insurers operate as digital businesses. Directive (EU) 2019/882 requires the following services to be accessible:
- E-commerce: The sale of a policy through your website or app is, for legal purposes, an e-commerce transaction. The entire process, from pricing to digital signature, must be accessible.
- Consumer Banking Services: The insurance sector is closely linked to the financial sector. By analogy and due to the complex type of digital service offered, the requirements apply to customer portals and policy management apps.
- Websites and Mobile Apps: All services provided through these channels for transportation, banking, or e-commerce must be accessible. Insurer services fit perfectly within this framework.
- Ignoring the EAA, therefore, is closing the door to a significant segment of the population and exposing oneself to financial and reputational penalties.
Impact Areas of the European Accessibility Act for Insurers
To bring the law down to earth, here are the critical areas of your daily operations that you should audit and adapt immediately:
- Websites and Customer Portals: The online pricing calculator, the claim form, the private area for checking receipts, or the pension plan calculator. Every click, every form field, must be usable by everyone.
- Mobile Apps: The app for requesting roadside assistance, the one that allows you to submit an accident report with photos, or the one used to manage health insurance (book appointments, request reimbursements). All of their features must be compatible with assistive technologies.
- Digital Documentation (The Critical Point): This is perhaps the greatest challenge. Policies, general and specific terms and conditions, claims reports, and communications, which are typically sent in PDF format, must be accessible. A simple scanned PDF (which is an image) is not valid. It must be a tagged and structured PDF so that screen readers can interpret it correctly.
- Online Contracting Processes: The entire digital sales funnel, from comparing coverage and selecting extras to entering personal details and making payments, must be seamless.
EAA Requirements (2025) for the Insurance Sector
What does “being accessible” mean in the context of insurance? Let’s translate the four EAA principles:
- Perceptible: Can a colorblind user distinguish coverage graphics? Do videos explaining a claim have subtitles? Can a screen reader read aloud the terms of a PDF policy?
- Operable: Can a client fill out and submit an accident report using only a keyboard? Are there aggressive time limits on the hiring forms that would be detrimental to people who need more time to read?
- Understandable: Is the language used on the website clear and direct (plain language) or is it full of incomprehensible insurance jargon? When there is an error in a form, does the message help the user correct it? (e.g., “Incorrect date format, use DD/MM/YYYY”).
- Robust: Does your client portal work properly with the latest versions of popular screen readers like VoiceOver (Apple) or TalkBack (Android)?
How can insurers adapt to the European Accessibility Act?
1. Provision of services through digital channels
Article 2 of the Directive establishes that e-commerce services are covered. This includes:
Insurance portals where products are purchased.
- Insurance mobile apps.
- Private online customer areas (policy management, payments, claims).
- Management of electronic customer communications.
Therefore, all insurers’ digital interfaces that allow users to purchase, manage, or consult services will be subject to accessibility requirements.
2. Customer service
If an insurer provides customer service through electronic means (e.g., chatbots, video calls, online portals), these services must be accessible.
3. Contractual and pre-contractual information
Digitized documentation (general terms and conditions, offers, electronic contracts) must be presented in an accessible format.
Downloadable PDF documents must meet accessibility standards.
4. Payment and financial services
When the insurer offers associated payment services (e.g., online direct debit, virtual POS, in-app payments), they also fall within the scope of coverage.
5. Inclusion in transportation and travel services
For insurers offering travel- or transportation-related products (travel insurance, roadside assistance insurance with a mobile app), the accessibility of these platforms and services will also be regulated.
What accessibility requirements must insurers meet?
The main requirements that must be guaranteed are:
- Compatibility with assistive technologies (screen readers, Braille displays).
- Text alternatives for images and multimedia content.
- Keyboard navigation on websites and apps.
- Clear and understandable interfaces.
- Compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA standards as a minimum (or equivalent).
- Accessible digital documentation (tagged PDFs, semantic HTML).
Conclusion:
The countdown has begun. June 28, 2025, isn’t a suggestion; it’s a legal finish line. For an insurer, the transformation toward full accessibility is a complex project involving technology, marketing, legal, and customer service.
Don’t leave it to the last minute. Start today by auditing your digital assets, training your teams, and integrating accessibility into the DNA of all your new projects. You’ll be complying with the law, yes, but more importantly, you’ll be building a stronger, fairer, and more profitable insurer for the future.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The EAA focuses primarily on products and services offered to the end consumer (B2C).
However, if the B2B portal is the tool for generating documentation (the policy) that is delivered to a consumer, that documentation must be accessible.
Best practice is to make all platforms as accessible as possible.
An accessible PDF is not an image. It must be a “tagged PDF,” created from the source program (such as Word or InDesign).
This means it has an internal structure with headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and alternative text for images that screen readers can interpret in a logical order.
The implications are enormous and critical. Health information is sensitive. A customer must be able to access their authorization history, search for a specialist in their medical directory, request reimbursement, or read a medical report through the app or website privately and autonomously, without relying on third parties.
Accessibility here is essential to ensure patient confidentiality and dignity.
All affected services must be adapted by June 28, 2025.
- Financial penalties provided for in national legislation (in Spain: Law 11/2023).
- Individual claims for discrimination.
- Audits and inspections by competent authorities.
- Loss of reputation.