Who is obliged, which law applies to federal, state and local government, which deadlines expired long ago – and which exemptions really exist.
Who is obliged?
Public sector bodies: the federal government, the federal states (Länder) and municipalities, plus many institutions that are predominantly publicly funded or controlled – depending on how they are set up, for example municipal enterprises (Eigenbetriebe), special-purpose associations (Zweckverbände) or municipally owned companies. Whether a particular institution is covered depends on the definition in the applicable law. The European framework is set by Directive (EU) 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (the Web Accessibility Directive).
Federal, state, municipal: which law applies?
- Federal level: Federal public bodies are subject to sections 12 et seq. of the Disability Equality Act (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz, BGG) – in particular section 12a (accessible information technology) and section 12b (accessibility statement) – and to BITV 2.0 (Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung, Germany's federal ordinance on accessible information technology), which sets out the technical requirements in detail.
- States and municipalities: They are subject to the law of their respective federal state, i.e. the state's disability equality act and the associated ordinances (often called the “state BITV”). These transpose the same EU directive and are often modelled on BITV 2.0 or on EN 301 549. Responsibilities, monitoring and conciliation bodies and the details, however, differ from state to state.
For a municipality, it is therefore primarily the law of its federal state that counts. BITV 2.0 nevertheless remains a good reference point, because the technical benchmark – EN 301 549 and therefore WCAG – is the same. How laws and standards interlock is shown in the overview Norms & standards – who refers to whom?.
What is covered? (Spoiler: your PDFs too)
Not just the website. The obligation explicitly also covers office file formats provided via the website – that is, PDFs, Word documents, forms. The official gazette (Amtsblatt) on the website is covered just as much as the application form to download.
Which deadlines apply?
- Websites published on or after 23 September 2018: accessible since 23 September 2019.
- All other websites: since 23 September 2020; mobile applications since 23 June 2021. These deadlines expired years ago.
- Office file formats published before 23 September 2018 are exempt – unless they are needed for active administrative procedures. So the 2017 application form that is still in use is covered after all.
- Pre-recorded audio and video content published before 23 September 2020 is also exempt.
The three obligations many overlook
- Accessibility statement on the website – with an honest list of the content that is not accessible and the reasons, updated regularly (at federal level: section 12b BGG, section 7 BITV 2.0). Guide: The accessibility statement in 30 minutes.
- Feedback mechanism: Users must be able to report barriers via an accessible electronic contact option and receive a reply. The BGG provides for federal authorities to reply within one month; state law sets its own deadline.
- Enforcement procedure: The statement must indicate where affected people can turn. For federal authorities this is the free conciliation body under section 16 BGG at the office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities; for state and municipal authorities, the bodies designated under state law are responsible. More on this: Complaint, conciliation, lawsuit.
Who monitors?
The EU directive requires regular monitoring. At federal level, the monitoring body is located at the Federal Accessibility Agency (Bundesfachstelle Barrierefreiheit) (section 13(3) BGG); the federal states have set up their own monitoring bodies, which can also check municipal websites and services.
What does this mean in practice?
Nobody expects you to fix ten thousand legacy PDFs overnight. What is expected is a recognisable, prioritised approach: create new documents accessibly from the outset, fix frequently accessed existing documents and those relevant to administrative procedures first, and the rest according to plan. That is exactly what DokAudit is built for: check, fix what can be fixed straight away, and pass the rest to the responsible department with documentation. How this works step by step is explained in Making a PDF accessible.
Sources:
As of 09/2026. This article gives a general overview and is not legal advice. The statutory and standards texts in force are authoritative; state law may differ in individual cases.