Does your website have to be accessible?
The short answer for Austria: since 28 June 2025 the Accessibility Act (BaFG) applies. You are covered if consumers can conclude contracts on your website or app (web shop, booking, reservation) or if you provide one of the specifically regulated services: telecommunications, consumer banking, passenger transport, e-books (Section 2(2) BaFG). Purely informational websites are not covered. Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees and at most 2 million euros turnover or balance sheet total) are exempt for services (Section 6(1)).
This check is built solely from the text of the statute (Federal Law Gazette I No 76/2023). Every question names the section it rests on, the authoritative German wording is one click away, and at the end you get your classification, your list of duties, your deadlines and the penalty range, as a printable report.
The check: adapts to your answers
01 · Sec 3(17) BaFG
Which role applies to your business?
Show statutory wording
Economic operator means the manufacturer, authorised representative, importer, distributor or service provider. Official German wording, § 3 Z 17 BaFG: „Wirtschaftsakteur“ [bezeichnet] den Hersteller, Bevollmächtigten, Importeur, Händler oder Dienstleistungserbringer.
Who is covered? The quick reference
Every classification with its citation in the Austrian Accessibility Act. Legal status: 16 July 2026 (BaFG as in force, last verified in the Austrian legal information system RIS).
| Scenario | Covered? | Citation and reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Web shop, online booking or reservation for consumers | Yes | Sec 2(2)(6) in conjunction with Sec 3(27): e-commerce service |
| Purely informational website without ordering function | No | No case under Sec 2(2): no contract conclusion, no special service |
| Website with only a contact or enquiry form | Contested | Sec 3(27) requires provision "with a view to concluding a consumer contract"; mere enquiries are not expressly regulated |
| Pure B2B offering (business customers only) | No | Sec 2(2) only covers services for consumers as defined in Sec 3(18) |
| Microenterprise with a web shop (fewer than 10 employees, max. 2m euros turnover or balance sheet) | Exempt | Sec 6(1) in conjunction with Sec 3(19): service exemption for microenterprises |
| Microenterprise that manufactures or sells covered products | Yes | Sec 6(1) only exempts services; on the product side only documentation relief applies (Sec 17(5), Sec 18(5)) |
| Banking, telecom, passenger transport, e-books for consumers | Yes | Sec 2(2)(1) to (5): always covered, web shop or not |
| Manufacturer, importer or distributor of covered products (placed on the market after 28 June 2025) | Yes | Sec 2(1) in conjunction with Secs 9 to 13 |
| Distributor selling third-party products under its own brand | Yes, as manufacturer | Sec 13: manufacturer obligations under Sec 9 |
| Legacy content: videos and office files published before 28 June 2025, archives, maps | No | Sec 2(3): excluded website and app content |
Frequently asked questions
When does a website have to be accessible in Austria?
If e-commerce services are provided to consumers through it, meaning consumers can buy, book or otherwise conclude a contract online (Sec 2(2)(6) in conjunction with Sec 3(27) BaFG). Purely informational websites without ordering or booking functions are not covered. In addition, certain services are always covered: telecommunications, access to audiovisual media, passenger transport, consumer banking and e-books (Sec 2(2)(1) to (5)). The Act has applied since 28 June 2025, with no transition period for web shops.
Does the Act apply to small businesses?
Microenterprises are exempt for services: fewer than 10 employees and either at most 2 million euros annual turnover or at most 2 million euros balance sheet total (Sec 3(19) in conjunction with Sec 6(1) BaFG). Both conditions must be met together; for the financial thresholds one is enough. Caution: the exemption only covers services. A microenterprise that manufactures, imports or sells covered products must fully meet the product requirements and only gets documentation relief (Sec 17(5), Sec 18(5)).
What are the penalties?
The Sozialministeriumservice imposes fines under Sec 36 BaFG: up to 80,000 euros for core violations (placing non-conforming products on the market, offering or providing non-conforming services), reduced to up to 50,000 euros for microenterprises and SMEs. Information duty violations: up to 40,000 euros (SMEs: 25,000). Documentation violations: up to 16,000 euros (SMEs: 10,000). The scale of the violation and the number of persons affected are taken into account; the fines go to Austria's support fund for people with disabilities.
Are there transition periods?
Only for legacy assets (Sec 37(2) and (3) BaFG): products lawfully in use before 28 June 2025 may be used until 28 June 2030, old contracts run until they expire (at most 5 years), and self-service terminals until the end of their economic life, at most 20 years and no later than 28 June 2040. For the website or web shop itself, Sec 37 provides no transition period: whoever is covered has been covered since 28 June 2025.
What does accessible mean in practice, and how do you demonstrate it?
Websites and apps must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust in a coherent and adequate way (Annex 1 Section 3 BaFG); in e-commerce, identification, security and payment functions must additionally be accessible (Annex 1 Section 4). On top of that, Sec 14(2) requires information in the terms and conditions on how the service meets the requirements. Whoever complies with harmonised standards whose references are published in the EU Official Journal benefits from the presumption of conformity in Sec 5 BaFG. What such a statement looks like: the accessibility statement of this website.
Legal sources
This check rests exclusively on the following legal sources. The relevant sections are named on every question and every result, and the authoritative German wording is one click away on each question.
- Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), consolidated version in the Austrian legal information system (RIS, German)
- Federal Law Gazette I No 76/2023: promulgation of the BaFG
- Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act), the EU directive the BaFG implements
- Bundes-Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (BGStG): Austria's separate disability anti-discrimination act, which applies independently of the BaFG
Carefully built from the text of the statute, but not legal advice: this check does not replace a lawyer's review of your individual case. Legal status as of 16 July 2026.