Germany -- BITV 2.0 and BFSG

What It Is

Germany runs two complementary digital-accessibility regimes on parallel tracks -- one for the public sector, one for the private sector. They coexist; neither replaces the other.

BITV 2.0 (Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung) is the federal regulation governing accessibility of information technology operated by federal public-sector bodies. It is the German transposition of the EU Web Accessibility Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2102)^[1] for federal-level sites, mobile apps, intranets, extranets, and electronic office software. BITV 2.0 binds the applicable technical standard to EN 301 549, which in turn references WCAG 2.1 Level AA^[2]. Monitoring and reporting duties sit with the Bundesfachstelle für Barrierefreiheit (Federal Office for Accessibility) together with the Federal Commissioner for Matters Relating to Persons with Disabilities.

BFSG (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, "Accessibility Strengthening Act") is Germany's transposition of the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882)^[3] into national law. It was adopted in July 2021 and takes effect on 28 June 2025, matching the EAA's application date. BFSG covers in-scope private-sector products (consumer computing hardware, smartphones, self-service terminals such as ATMs and ticket machines, e-readers, routers used for telecommunications services) and services (consumer banking, e-commerce, passenger transport information and ticketing, telecommunications services, e-books, and audiovisual media access services). Enforcement is delegated to market surveillance authorities designated by each of the 16 federal states (Länder), with powers to require remediation, restrict making a product available on the market, and levy administrative fines.

Why It Matters

The two regimes cover almost every serious digital product or service a non-German operator can ship into the German market. A federal agency portal falls under BITV 2.0. A consumer banking app, an e-commerce checkout, or a telecommunications self-service flow falls under BFSG. The scope hook for BFSG is not "German company" -- it is that a product is placed on the German market, or that a service is provided to consumers in Germany, which pulls in non-EU operators that sell cross-border.

The consequence of treating BFSG as a future problem is concrete: a market surveillance authority that finds non-conformity can order remediation, restrict placement on the market, and impose fines independently of any user lawsuit. The trigger is an authority inspection, not a complaint.

How It Relates to WCAG

Both regimes pull their technical conformance target from EN 301 549, the European harmonised standard for accessibility of ICT products and services^[2]. EN 301 549 Chapter 9 (Web) and Chapter 11 (Software) incorporate WCAG 2.1 Level AA verbatim, and add non-WCAG clauses -- hardware (Chapter 8), two-way voice communication (Chapter 6), audio-visual content (Chapter 7), and documentation and support services (Chapter 12) -- that WCAG alone does not cover. BFSG layers EAA organisational duties on top: a published accessibility statement, a feedback channel, and proactive information in plain language about how the product or service meets the accessibility requirements^[3].

Practical Implications

• Determine which regime applies: federal public-sector IT falls under BITV 2.0; in-scope consumer products and services fall under BFSG. State and municipal public-sector sites are governed by the individual Länder accessibility laws that each transpose the Web Accessibility Directive separately.
• Publish a German-language accessibility statement for in-scope BFSG services, with the disclosure content required by the EAA annexes.
• Provide a feedback channel reachable from every page of an in-scope service, routed to an owner who can respond in German.
• Maintain EN 301 549 conformance documentation that a market surveillance authority can request on inspection -- not just a WCAG report.
• The BFSG microenterprise exemption (fewer than 10 employees and under EUR 2 million turnover or balance-sheet total) applies to services only. Microenterprises that place products on the market are still in scope.

Related Clauses

• France (RGAA)
• Italy (Stanca Law)
• EAA accessibility statements