# EN 301 549 moves toward WCAG 2.2 — and the EAA is already live

*2026-06-01 · Accessibility*

> The European accessibility standard is updating to v4.1.1 with WCAG 2.2 AA alignment, a year on from the European Accessibility Act taking effect.

**What changed.** EN 301 549 — the technical standard the European Accessibility
Act points at — is moving to **v4.1.1**, aligning it with **WCAG 2.2 AA**. The
current harmonised version (v3.2.1) references WCAG 2.1 AA, so this update raises
the practical bar.

**Why it matters.** The [European Accessibility Act](/guides/accessibility-is-now-law-eaa)
has applied since **28 June 2025** — accessibility is already a legal obligation for
most consumer-facing digital services in the EU, not best practice. The standard
catching up to WCAG 2.2 means today's "nice to have" extras (focus appearance, target
size, dragging alternatives) are becoming tomorrow's baseline.

**What to do.** If you scoped conformance to WCAG 2.1 AA to meet the EAA, plan the
small step up to 2.2 AA now rather than retrofitting later. The additions are exactly
where real assistive-technology users still get stuck.

*Tracking: EN 301 549, WCAG 2.2, European Accessibility Act.*