BFSG: Germany's Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz explained

The Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) is Germany's implementation of the European Accessibility Act. It has applied since 28 June 2025 and is enforced by German market-surveillance authorities (Marktüberwachungsbehörden der Länder).

Who must comply

• Anyone selling products or services to consumers in Germany through a website or app — including e-commerce shops based outside Germany or the EU.
• Consumer banking services, passenger transport, e-books and e-readers, telecoms.
• Exemption: micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than 10 employees and annual turnover ≤ €2M). The exemption does not apply to products.

What the BFSG requires

• Digital interfaces that conform to the harmonised standard EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content.
• A published accessibility statement (Barrierefreiheitserklärung) describing how the service meets the requirements.
• Documentation of your compliance effort that authorities can request.

Penalties

Violations are administrative offences (Ordnungswidrigkeiten) with fines of up to €100,000. Authorities can also prohibit the offering of a non-compliant service. Competitors and consumer-protection associations can additionally pursue claims under German unfair-competition law (UWG), which in practice often moves faster than the authorities.

Practical first steps

• 1. Baseline scan against WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA — automated, takes minutes, establishes your risk profile.
• 2. Fix critical and serious violations first — contrast, missing labels, keyboard traps.
• 3. Publish an accessibility statement — FixRamp's generator produces one from your scan.
• 4. Keep timestamped audit reports as evidence of your compliance effort.
• 5. Re-scan after every release.

Legal reference: BFSG full text (gesetze-im-internet.de) · Directive (EU) 2019/882. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Deutsche Version: BFSG-Checkliste.