Two deadlines – one goal: digital inclusion.
📌 Since December 31, 2020, the following has applied:
In Austria, information on the use of medicinal products must be made available to the authorities in an accessible format.
📌 On June 28, 2025, the Accessibility Act (BaFG) came into force in Austria – a milestone for greater digital inclusion.
What exactly does this mean?
The BaFG affects, among other things, all services in electronic commerce, i.e., digital information offerings that are part of a sales or usage process. These include, for example:
🛒 Websites with sales functions (online shops), online ordering and payment processes.
📄 Downloadable catalogs, brochures, and informational materials.
✉️ Digital contact forms.
📲 And: PDFs for product use and digital package inserts, provided they are part of a service or necessary for the use of a product.
The law applies to the marketing of affected products and the provision of covered services after June 28, 2025, with a few exceptions for micro-entrepreneurs. Failure to comply may result in penalties of up to €80,000 (§36 BaFG).
⚠️ Important: The BaFG extends the accessibility requirements to new areas, but does not replace the existing obligation to provide accessible usage information to the BASG.
💡 We help create accessible documents, especially PDFs, informational materials, and digital user manuals. Because everyone should be able to access the same information.
In our next post, we’ll explore why many user manuals are not truly accessible despite passing the PDF Accessibility Check (PAC) – and how to do better.