How the German Accessibility Reinforcement Act affects Swiss companies

In 2025, the new Accessibility Reinforcement Act (BFSG) will come into force in Germany. This means that new requirements for the accessible design of websites and other products will become legally binding. This is also relevant for all Swiss companies that offer products and services in the EU or Germany, as they must also meet the requirements. Swiss companies must also expect fines of up to 100,000 euros for non-compliance. In addition, the eCH-0059 Accessibility Standard V3.0 applies to the public sector in Switzerland.

To provide companies with guidance on barrier-free user experience, the management consultancy Elaboratum has now published a new white paper on the topic of digital inclusion. In Germany, almost eight million people are affected by long-term or temporary impairments that make it difficult to access digital interfaces smoothly. In Switzerland, the figure is around 1.8 million, i.e. around 20 percent of all inhabitants. These people have limited or no access to services and products on the web.

An accessible website reduces discrimination and enables companies to promote digital participation. They also benefit from this themselves, as search engines prefer websites that are easily accessible, have a high level of usability and use plain language. In addition to presenting the dimensions of accessibility and the legal requirements, the Elaboratum team of experts provides specific tips for website optimization in the white paper.

Six criteria for the self-check

Some aspects of accessibility can be checked by companies themselves, for example:

Keyboard operability: A website should be able to offer identical content when requested via a keyboard.

Visual clarity: Weak contrasts between text and background are barriers for people with visual impairments, who may miss out on important information.

Enlargement function: Page zoom should be possible without any problems so that users can access all content without restrictions.

Text Spacing: To improve the readability of website content, the spacing between letters and words in texts should be checked.

Font: Frequently used fonts, with which users are presumably familiar, are perceived as easy to read.

Alt attributes and multimedia accessibility: These elements enable so-called assistive technologies to make the website more accessible for people with visual or hearing impairments. They should be taken into account in the website design.

In the white paper, Elaboratum gives advice on what companies can do themselves to identify and optimize these six important aspects of accessibility. Here you can download the white paper free of charge.