The new law will be another important piece of legislation promoting accessibility. Up to now, public administration entities were primarily obliged to ensure accessibility. This obligation stems from two laws introduced in 2019: the Act on Digital Accessibility of Public Entities' Websites and Mobile Applications and the Act on Ensuring Accessibility for Persons with Special Needs. With the new law, the right to accessibility will gain the necessary business dimension and become a standard also for businesses, both public and private, as well as for the products and services they offer.

The proposed law will also be an element of the exercise of fundamental rights established in the most important Polish and international acts. It supports Poland's implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and, at the level of EU law, is in line with the Treaty principle of non-discrimination and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The primary objective of the Act is to eliminate social exclusion caused by limited access to everyday products and the most common services. People with disabilities and the elderly in particular face such exclusion. It is also faced by all other people experiencing a variety of difficulties in daily functioning, for example, as a result of an illness, temporary or situational impairment.

The implementation of the EAA in all EU Member States will provide businesses with a coherent and modern set of requirements for the availability of products and services so that they can compete freely and on a level playing field in the common market, while consumers will get a wide range of available products and services.

From a technical point of view, accessibility is a set of features of the environment, its organisation, as well as design and technological solutions, so that as many people as possible can use products, services and spaces. However, accessibility is about more than design. 'When talking about accessibility, we think first and foremost about equality and the rights of people with special needs. We look at accessibility as an indispensable part of modern society. A society that is open, sensitive, caring for all its members,

Secretary of State Jan Szyszko said.

Accessibility is for everyone. 'The possibility of free, independent and autonomous use of places, spaces, goods and services will be ensured by the Polish Accessibility Act,

he added.

Availability of products and services

The new solutions cover specific products and services considered essential for the free and as independent as possible daily functioning in society of all of us, not only people with disabilities and special needs to whom the law is primarily addressed.

Accessibility is a human right. Everyone has the right to participate in society fully and equally regardless of their skills or capabilities. This law is another very big step towards ensuring this right,

Deputy Minister Monika Sikora said.

Accessibility obligations are functional requirements based on the concept of universal design. Therefore, no technical standards can be found in the Act. In the fast-paced world of technology and diverse approaches to design, creating technical accessibility requirements would be an unreasonable solution. Detailed standards will instead be found in the voluntary European standards that are being prepared for the EAA.

Businesses will also have to ensure the accessibility of their websites and mobile apps, include accessible manuals and contracts, communicate with customers through different channels so as not to exclude any of them due to special needs or disabilities.

Guidelines on the accessibility of information and communication will also be important, i.e. the need to provide access to audiovisual media services, digital services in passenger transport, so that everyone can use public information and services freely.

Ensuring that these products and services are accessible will not only mean that they can be used by everyone regardless of any fitness limitations, but also that they are convenient to use.

The law – solutions adopted, rights and obligations

The Act sets out accessibility requirements that apply to selected products and services. It regulates the obligations of business entities regarding compliance with these requirements and the system, principles and procedure for market surveillance of the correct application of the Act.

Businesses will be required to ensure accessibility of the products and services they offer; they will do so on the basis of accessibility requirements common to EU states.

The law also specifies in detail the mechanisms for exercising control and supervision, the types of proceedings, the administrative measures to ensure that businesses fulfil their obligations, and the sanctions for non-compliance.
Everyone will be able to safeguard the businesses' compliance with accessibility obligations. It is because the Act introduces the possibility of reporting that a product or service does not meet accessibility requirements.

New law

The law also sets out the operation of a market surveillance system for businesses' compliance with accessibility obligations. It provides for transition periods to bring certain types of products and services into compliance. It allows for the situation where not every company may be ready to comply with all the obligations immediately, and that the accessibility implementation will require time to acquire adequate knowledge and tools.

If the new obligations introduced by the Act are too costly or require businesses to introduce too much technological change, it will be possible to limit the implementation of accessibility to those requirements that do not constitute a disproportionate burden. However, it will be incumbent on companies to describe and document the reasons for the application of this exception from the Act, and the market surveillance authority will have the right to assess its legitimacy.

The bill also takes into account the specificities of micro-enterprises and their lower capacity for accessibility financing. Therefore, micro-enterprises providing services are exempted under the Act. In turn, the administrative burden has been reduced for micro-enterprises marketing products.

The law will take effect from 28 June 2025. From then on, business entities will have to comply with the accessibility requirements set out in it.