Detailed Explanation of EN 301 549 Standard: Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products

EN 301 549 is a European standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) on accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT) products and services, aimed at ensuring equal access to ICT products and services for people with disabilities.

EN 301 549 was originally released in 2014 at the request of the European Commission, with the latest version being V3.1.2 released in 2021. This standard has been adopted as one of the recommended reference standards for the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which will be officially implemented on June 28, 2025.

This standard applies to:

Software applications and operating systems

Websites and web applications

Hardware devices (including smartphones, computers, etc.)

Bidirectional voice communication products

Products with video functionality

Electronic documents

kiosk

Main content requirements:

1. General accessibility requirements

The product should be compatible with mainstream assistive technologies such as screen readers and speech recognition software

Provide multiple input and output methods

Ensure that there are text alternatives for non text content

The content should be adjustable in size without losing functionality

2. Specific functional requirements

Bidirectional voice communication: Provides real-time text (RTT) functionality

Video function: Should include subtitles, audio description, and sign language translation options

Closed function: When the device has a closed function, additional standards must be met

Biometric recognition: providing alternative authentication methods

3. Relationship with WCAG

EN 301 549 V3.1.1 and subsequent versions include Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA level requirements, applicable to websites and web applications.

For Chinese companies expanding into the European market, especially mobile phone manufacturers and ICT service providers, compliance with the EN 301 549 standard has become a mandatory requirement. Large tech companies such as Microsoft have released Accessibility Consistency Reports (ACR) to demonstrate that their products comply with the standard.

This standard has been adopted by multiple European countries, and the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) released the German version of DIN EN 301 549:2022 in 2022.