Belgium · BE
Belgium accessibility law: Loi 19/07/2018 + Loi-EAA explained
Belgium's federal structure means accessibility compliance is monitored by both BOSA (federal) and the regional digital agencies. The EAA transposition unifies private-sector obligations across Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.
- Primary law
- Loi du 19 juillet 2018 relative à l'accessibilité des sites internet et applications mobiles
- In force from
- 28 June 2025
- Standard
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA via EN 301 549
- Enforcement
- BOSA (federal) and regional digital agencies
Who has to comply
Public-sector since 2018; consumer-facing private-sector under the EAA transposition.
If your service reaches consumers in Belgium, EAA enforcement applies the same way it does to a domestic provider. The "country of consumption" rule means a Shopify store run from outside the EU but selling into Belgium is covered. There is no carve-out for non-EU sellers.
What the law actually requires
The technical baseline is WCAG 2.1 Level AA via EN 301 549. EN 301 549 references WCAG 2.1 Level AA in full and adds a few requirements specific to mobile apps and documents. Beyond the technical bar, Belgium requires the following operational items, which auditors check first because they are simple to verify:
EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA
Trilingual accessibility statement (NL/FR/DE) where relevant
Feedback mechanism with response within 30 days
Penalties and how enforcement actually works
Administrative fines and corrective orders; amounts vary by region.
BOSA (federal) and regional digital agencies runs the audits. They start with the largest covered services and move down. The first cycle of EAA audits in 2025–2026 will focus on visible non-compliance — missing accessibility statements, obvious WCAG violations on the homepage, lack of feedback channel — because those are cheap to detect. Deep technical audits come later.
Most enforcement starts with a complaint or a routine sweep. The first signal is usually a written notice giving you 30–60 days to remediate before fines kick in.
Practical first steps for a Belgium site
If you are starting now and want to land before enforcement, run an automated audit, fix the high-impact issues (contrast, labels, keyboard, focus), publish an accessibility statement, and set up a feedback inbox. That sequence covers 80% of what auditors look for in a first sweep.
Run a baseline scan to know your current score
Fix critical and serious issues in priority order — these are the ones cited in complaints
Publish a public accessibility statement on a stable URL (Belgium regulators expect this discoverable)
Add a feedback channel and answer within the country-specified window
Re-scan after every major release; track regressions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to publish my statement in three languages?
If your service operates in multiple language regions, yes. A federal-only service must serve French and Dutch at minimum.
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