If there is no accessibility statement on your website or in your app, you lack the document that demonstrates you understand and have assessed the requirements from EN 301 549 (in practice, WCAG 2.1 level AA). This does not automatically mean a fine on day one, but it does mean you cannot show what is already properly arranged and what is not yet. Supervisory authorities first ask for that evidence; its absence is often the starting point for further inquiries.
What happens next depends on the supervisory authority in your Member State and how it handles reports and complaints. Some supervisory authorities first send a request to provide a statement and plan within a deadline, others respond only after a complaint from a user. The directive allows room for those differences; the differences between Member States are detailed in the knowledge base.
What exactly is missing if the statement is not there
The statement is not merely a formality. It is the document that shows which parts of your site or app have been assessed, what gaps emerged from that assessment, and what plan is in place to address them. Without that statement, there is no established starting point for a supervisory authority, and also not for yourself. This makes it harder to show that steps have in fact been taken, even if improvements have actually already been made.
It is a separate question whether your organisation falls under the directive at all. Micro-enterprises providing services—fewer than ten employees and a turnover of at most two million euros—are exempt, provided both conditions are met. If you are unsure about this, the free scope check answers this in a few questions.
How a supervisory authority may notice this
Supervision does not work the same way everywhere, but a number of routes are more common: a user who files a complaint because a checkout step or login flow does not work with a screen reader, a spot check that the supervisory authority itself carries out, or a signal via an industry body. In none of those cases is the absence of a statement in itself the problem the supervisory authority was looking for—it becomes visible once there is already another reason to check.
Even a single automated scan, including ours, does not find everything. Matters such as the logic of a form for a screen reader or the reading order for keyboard operation require assessment that a scan cannot fully provide; we mention this in every report. This is one reason to see the statement as a living document, not as a box you tick once.
What a letter or request means in practice
If you receive a request from a supervisory authority, it is usually a question about the statement, the underlying assessment, and a timeline for improvement. What follows after that varies by Member State and by file, and we deliberately make no prediction about it—that is up to the supervisory authority and, where necessary, a lawyer. However, it is demonstrably more helpful to already have an assessment and a plan in place than to start with that only then.
Sanctions vary by country
Directive (EU) 2019/882 leaves the definition of sanctions to the Member States. This means that the process after a failure to comply, and the way it is enforced, can be structured differently in each country. We deliberately mention no amounts or deadlines here, because they vary by Member State and can change; the current position by country is detailed in our country-specific sections for subscribers.
The statement does not stand alone
A statement that is drawn up once and never adjusted again tells little if the website has meanwhile been further developed. After a change in the checkout process, a new login flow or a new theme, the assessment should be reviewed again. This is one of the points that market surveillance authorities can follow up on: not only whether a statement exists, but whether it still matches the current situation.
What you can do now
The absence of a statement is usually not a matter of unwillingness, but of not knowing where to start. A scope check shows whether the directive applies, a quick scan gives a first impression of a couple of core pages, and both can be completed free of charge and without an account. Frequently asked questions are clearly brought together in frequently asked questions about the accessibility law, and those who want to know what a statement and improvement plan concretely entail will find it in the overview of what is and is not included with a subscription.
Start by asking whether the directive applies to your organisation, and which parts of your website or app have not yet been assessed. Run the free scan and you will know within half an hour where you stand — without needing an account for it right away.