Law / Austria

Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), accessibility duties of manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers and distributors of consumer computers and operating systems, payment terminals, ATMs and ticketing, check-in and information machines, consumer communications and media terminals, and e-readers

Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG), §§ 2 Abs. 1, 3, 4 Abs. 1 und 2, 5, 9 bis 13, 16 bis 20, 36 und 37 Abs. 1, BGBl. I Nr. 76/2023

In force since 28 Jun 2025.

An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.

Instrument type: an act of a legislature

What it requires

If you place on the Austrian market after 28 June 2025 a product listed in section 2(1) of the BaFG (hardware systems and their operating systems for consumer general-purpose computers; payment terminals; ATMs, ticketing machines, check-in machines and interactive information self-service terminals intended for services within the Act; consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services; e-readers), meet the accessibility requirements of Annex 1, Sections 1 and 2 of the BaFG; for the self-service terminals of section 2(1), item 2, only Section 1 applies, and terminals installed as integral parts of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock are outside the Act (BaFG, ss. 2(1) and 4(1) and (2); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 4(1) and (2)).
A product that meets harmonised standards or parts of them, whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union, is presumed to conform to the requirements those standards cover, and a product that meets technical specifications or parts of them is deemed to conform to the requirements they cover (BaFG, s. 5).
If you manufacture a product, design and manufacture it to the requirements of section 4(2), draw up the technical documentation and carry out the conformity assessment of Annex 2 (or have it carried out), then issue an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking (BaFG, s. 9(1) and (2)); keep the technical documentation and the declaration for five years after placing the product on the market (s. 9(3)).
If you manufacture products in series, keep procedures in place so that every unit conforms, and take changes in the design, in the product's features and in the harmonised standards or technical specifications named in the declaration into account (BaFG, s. 9(4)); mark each product with a type, batch or serial number or other identifier, and with your name, registered trade name or trade mark and a contact address in German or English, on the product or, where that is impossible, on the packaging or in a document supplied with it (s. 9(5) and (6)); supply the instructions for use and safety information in German (s. 9(7)).
If you manufacture a product that you have reason to think does not conform, take the corrective measures needed at once to bring it into conformity or withdraw it; if it does not meet the accessibility requirements, inform the Sozialministeriumservice and the market surveillance authorities of the Member States where you made it available at once, with details of the non-conformity and the measures taken, and keep a register of non-conforming products and the complaints about them (BaFG, s. 9(8)); give the Sozialministeriumservice, on its reasoned request, the information and documents in German or English that show conformity, and cooperate in remedying non-conformity (s. 9(9)).
If you are an authorised representative of a manufacturer, perform at least the tasks in the mandate: keep the EU declaration of conformity and the technical documentation for the Sozialministeriumservice for five years, hand over the information needed to show conformity on its reasoned request, and cooperate on measures to remove non-compliance; the mandate cannot cover the manufacturer's duty under section 9(1) or the duty to draw up the technical documentation (BaFG, s. 10).
If you import a product, place only conforming products on the market, and only when the manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment and drawn up the technical documentation, the product bears the CE marking and carries the required documents, and the manufacturer has met its identification duties (BaFG, s. 11(1) and (2)); do not place a product you think non-conforming on the market until it conforms, and inform the manufacturer and the Sozialministeriumservice (s. 11(3)); put your name or trade mark and contact address in German or English on the product, packaging or accompanying document, and supply instructions and safety information in German (s. 11(4) and (5)); keep storage and transport conditions from impairing conformity (s. 11(6)); keep a copy of the EU declaration of conformity for the Sozialministeriumservice for five years and be able to produce the technical documentation (s. 11(7)); take corrective measures, inform the authorities and keep a register of non-conforming products and complaints (s. 11(8)); hand over the information and documents in German or English that the Sozialministeriumservice requests and cooperate (s. 11(9)).
If you distribute a product, take the requirements of the Act into account with due care, make the product available only after checking the CE marking, the accompanying documents, the instructions and safety information in German, and the manufacturer's and importer's identification details, and do not make a product you think non-conforming available until it conforms; inform the manufacturer or importer and the Sozialministeriumservice (BaFG, s. 12(1) to (3)); keep storage and transport conditions from impairing conformity (s. 12(4)); ensure corrective measures, inform the authorities of any non-conformity, and hand over information and cooperate on request (s. 12(5) and (6)).
If you are an importer or distributor and place a product on the market under your own name or brand, or change a product already on the market so that its conformity may be affected, meet the manufacturer's duties of section 9 (BaFG, s. 13).
If you are an economic operator, name to the Sozialministeriumservice on request every other operator from which you obtained a product and every operator to which you supplied it, and be able to do so for five years (BaFG, s. 16).
The accessibility requirements apply only so far as compliance does not need a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the product, and only so far as it does not impose a disproportionate burden; if you rely on either, assess it (for the disproportionate burden against the criteria of Annex 4), document the assessment, keep the results for five years after the product was last made available, produce a copy on request, and send information to the Sozialministeriumservice and the market surveillance authorities of the Member State where the product is placed on the market (BaFG, ss. 17 and 18; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14).
If you are a microenterprise that deals with products and relies on the fundamental-alteration or disproportionate-burden exception, you need not document or notify the assessment, but give the Sozialministeriumservice on request the facts relevant to it (BaFG, ss. 17(5) and 18(5)); the documentation required for conformity may not impose an excessive burden on microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (s. 19(2)).
You cannot rely on the disproportionate-burden exception if you received public or private funds, other than your own, to improve accessibility (BaFG, s. 18(7); Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(6)).
State in the EU declaration of conformity which requirements the exception of section 17 or 18 affects, follow the model in Annex III of Decision No 768/2008/EC and the elements in Annex 2, provide it in German or English when the product is placed on or made available on the Austrian market, and issue a single declaration where several Union acts require one (BaFG, s. 19); affix the CE marking visibly, legibly and indelibly before the product is placed on the market (s. 20).

These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.

If you get it wrong

Penalty structure

Section 36 sets administrative fines, imposed by the Sozialministeriumservice, in three tiers: up to EUR 80,000 for placing a non-conforming product on the market or making it available and for offering a service in breach of section 14(1) (EUR 50,000 if the offender is a microenterprise or a small or medium-sized enterprise), up to EUR 40,000 for the formal breaches listed in section 36(2) (EUR 25,000 for such an enterprise), and up to EUR 16,000 for the documentation, information and cooperation breaches listed in section 36(3) (EUR 10,000 for such an enterprise). Each amount is a ceiling per offence. Section 36(4) requires the scale of the breach, the number of products or services and persons affected and any repeat breach to be taken into account.

Rule: Fixed only
As of: 4 November 2026
Currency: EUR
Fixed cap: 80,000

Who enforces it

Enforcement body

The Sozialministeriumservice (Bundesamt für Soziales und Behindertenwesen), which runs the central market surveillance under the Act in its Landesstelle Oberösterreich

What this law does

Drafted with AI

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Research summary

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Section 4(1) of the BaFG allows economic operators to place on the market only products that meet the accessibility requirements of the Act. Article 4(1) of Directive (EU) 2019/882 is the source of that duty. Section 2(1) applies the Act to the products that it lists and that are placed on the market after 28 June 2025.

The listed products are hardware systems for consumer general-purpose computers and their operating systems, payment terminals, ATMs, ticketing machines, check-in machines, interactive information self-service terminals, consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, and e-readers.

Interactive information self-service terminals are not covered where they are installed as integral parts of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock. Section 4(2) applies Sections 1 and 2 of Annex 1 to products, and only Section 1 of Annex 1 to the self-service terminals of section 2(1), item 2.

Section 5(1) presumes conformity with the accessibility requirements for products that meet harmonised standards, or parts of them, whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Section 9(1) allows a manufacturer to place a product on the market only if it was designed and manufactured to the requirements of section 4(2).

Section 9(2) requires the manufacturer to draw up the technical documentation and carry out the conformity assessment of Annex 2, and, once conformity is shown, to issue an EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking. Section 9(3) requires the manufacturer to keep the technical documentation and the EU declaration of conformity for five years after the product is placed on the market.

Section 9(8) requires the manufacturer, where a product it has placed on the market does not conform, to take the corrective measures needed to restore conformity or to withdraw the product. Where such a product does not meet the requirements, section 9(8) also requires the manufacturer to inform the Sozialministeriumservice and the market surveillance authorities of the Member States where it supplied the product, and to keep a register of non-conforming products and complaints.

Section 10 lets the manufacturer appoint an authorised representative in writing, but the representative cannot take over the manufacturer's duty to design and manufacture to the requirements or to draw up the technical documentation. Section 11(1) allows an importer to place only conforming products on the market.

Section 11(2) allows an importer to place a product on the market only if the manufacturer carried out the conformity assessment and drew up the technical documentation, the product bears the CE marking and carries the required documents, and the manufacturer met its identification duties.

Section 12(2) allows a distributor to make a product available only after checking the CE marking, the accompanying documents with the instructions and safety information in German, and the manufacturer's and importer's identification details. Section 13 treats an importer or distributor as a manufacturer if it places a product on the market under its own name or brand, or changes a product already on the market so that its conformity may be affected.

Section 17(1) applies the requirements only so far as compliance does not need a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the product. Section 18(1) applies the requirements only so far as compliance does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operator.

An operator that relies on either exception for a product must assess it, document the assessment for five years, and inform the Sozialministeriumservice and the market surveillance authorities of the Member State where the product is placed on the market. Sections 17(5) and 18(5) exempt microenterprises that deal with products from documenting and notifying the assessment, but they must give the Sozialministeriumservice the facts relevant to the assessment on request.

Section 18(7) bars an operator that received public or private funds, other than its own, to improve accessibility from relying on section 18(1). Section 33 requires the Zollamt Österreich to cooperate with the Sozialministeriumservice in market surveillance under Chapter VII of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. Section 3, item 19 defines a microenterprise by the number of persons it employs and by its annual turnover or annual balance sheet total.

Section 36(1) fines a person who places a product on the market in breach of section 9(1) or section 11(1), or in breach of the first sentence of section 11(3), or who makes a product available in breach of the first sentence of section 12(3), up to EUR 80,000. If a microenterprise or a small or medium-sized enterprise commits that offence, the fine is up to EUR 50,000.

Section 36(2) fines formal breaches by manufacturers, importers and distributors, such as a missing conformity assessment, EU declaration of conformity, technical documentation, identification, CE marking or corrective measure, up to EUR 40,000. Section 36(3) fines failures to keep the documentation for five years, to inform the Sozialministeriumservice, to hand over documents or to cooperate up to EUR 16,000.

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Page updated 4 November 2026.