AgID Digital Accessibility Guidelines: what changes with Determination no. 38 of 4 March 2026

Note: this article describes the Italian regulatory framework (Legislative Decree 82/2022, AgID). The rules that apply in your country may differ: in the United Kingdom, for example, the main references are the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (PSBAR), while the European Accessibility Act is EU legislation that does not apply in the UK and only concerns products and services offered in the European Union.

The operational framework for the European Accessibility Act is more complete: AgID has published the technical rules, verification criteria and control tools that were missing until now. Further requirements may still apply depending on the country, the sector and the service. Here is what companies need to know.

The EAA had obligations. Now it also has instructions.

The European Accessibility Act has been in force in Italy since 28 June 2025. From that date, businesses offering digital services to consumers – from e-commerce to banking services, from transport to electronic communications – are required to guarantee the accessibility of their digital products and services.

What was missing until a few weeks ago was the operational piece: how is compliance verified? What criteria does AgID use in inspections? How can a company prove it is compliant?

On 4 March 2026, with the Determination No. 38/2026, the Agency for Digital Italy has published the new Digital Service Accessibility Guidelines, in implementation of art. 21 of Legislative Decree 82/2022. The document is available in the Transparent Administration section of the AgID website.

What do the new Guidelines provide for?

Scope

The Guidelines are aimed at both Public Administrations and private entities operating in sectors covered by the EAA:

• E-commerce
• Banking and financial services
• Transport
• Electronic communications
• Audiovisual media
• E-books and digital publishing

The exemption for microenterprises providing services (fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of no more than EUR 2 million) is confirmed. Any limits to this exemption should be checked against the text of the Determination and with your own advisers.

Reference standard: WCAG 2.1, not (yet) 2.2

The Guidelines refer to the EN 301 549 standard and to WCAG 2.1 level AA. The decision not to include WCAG 2.2 – already available in Italian since 2023 – depends on the fact that the harmonised European standard has not yet been formally updated by the European Commission. AgID has adhered to the current regulatory reference, but it is reasonable to expect an update as soon as the EU adopts the new version of EN 301 549.

Structured control sheets

Among the most relevant tools introduced by the Guidelines are the Control sheets Specifications for:

• Websites
• Digital documents
• Mobile applications

These sheets constitute the practical tool that AgID will use for checks and that companies can adopt to document and demonstrate their compliance.

Digital signature with timestamp

According to the Guidelines, attestations and documents related to the accessibility verification are to be digitally signed with a timestamp. This is an organisational requirement that the companies concerned will have to integrate into their internal processes: check the text of the Determination to see which documents this covers in your own case.

B2B/B2C mixed services: a point still under discussion

A particularly significant clarification concerns services aimed simultaneously at professionals and end consumers. On the reading given by AgID, in these cases the requirements concern the service as a whole and not only the consumer-facing component. This reading is debated: how a particular service should be classified needs to be checked case by case with your own advisers.

Enforcement becomes operational

On 11 March 2026, one week after the publication of the Guidelines, AgID activated the Non-compliance reporting platform. Users can now report digital services that do not comply with the accessibility requirements provided for by Legislative Decree 82/2022 directly to the Agency.

The platform is designed to evolve over time into a direct communication channel between companies and AgID, through which operators will also be able to communicate the corrective measures adopted.

With the Guidelines and reporting platform, Italy's digital accessibility monitoring system is now fully operational. Checks can be initiated either automatically or upon user report.

What to do now

For companies within the scope of the EAA, the time to act is now. The AGID Guidelines are not an announcement of principle: they are the concrete tool with which compliance will be measured.

The steps to consider:

1. Assess the current situation of its digital services with respect to WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549
2. Prepare the control sheets according to the format indicated in the Guidelines
3. Implement a process for the digital signature with time stamping of attestations
4. Plan remediation of the non-conformities identified, prioritising the most critical barriers
5. Document everything In the event of an inspection, compliance is demonstrated with structured evidence.

The regulatory framework

This article is for information only and does not constitute legal advice: check the obligations that apply to you with your own advisers.