BulgariaAccessibility Requirements for Products and Services Act, products covered, accessibility requirements and presumption of conformity
DV br. 31/2025 chl. 2 al. 1, chl. 4 do 6 i 60 i prilozhenie 2 razdeli I, II, V i VI ot Zakon za iziskvaniyata za dostapnost na produkti i uslugi (Закон за изискванията за достъпност на продукти и услуги)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you place on the market a consumer general purpose computer hardware system (personal computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets) or an operating system for one, a payment terminal, an ATM, a ticketing machine, a check-in machine, an interactive self-service information terminal, consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, or an e-reader, make it meet the accessibility requirements of Annex 2 (Art. 2(1) and Art. 4; implements Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 2(1) and Art. 4(1) and (2)).
- Give the information on how the product works and on its accessibility features through more than one sensory channel, in an understandable form that users can perceive, in a font of adequate size and shape with sufficient contrast and adjustable spacing, in text formats usable to create alternative assistive formats, with a non-text alternative, and describe the product's user interface, functionality and the assistive software and hardware tested with it (Annex 2, section I, point 1).
- Design the user interface and functionality so that people with disabilities can access, perceive, operate, understand and control the product: communication, operation, information, control and orientation through more than one sensory channel, with alternative visual, auditory, speech and tactile elements; alternatives to speech and voice input; flexible magnification, brightness and contrast and compatibility with assistive programs and devices; an alternative to colour and to sound signals where they convey information, indicate an action, request a response or identify elements; flexible ways to a clearer image and clearer sound with control of volume and speed; consistent control and alternatives to fine-motor control, avoiding modes that need a wide reach or great strength; no triggers of photosensitive epileptic seizures; privacy when accessibility features are used; an alternative to biometric identification and control; consistent functionality with a sufficient and flexible time frame for interaction; and software and hardware for interaction with assistive technologies (Annex 2, section I, point 2).
- For a self-service terminal, also provide text-to-speech, allow individual headsets, warn the user through more than one sensory channel when a response is needed in a set time and allow the time to be extended, give adequate contrast and tactilely distinguishable keys and buttons, let a user who needs an accessibility feature switch it on without first having to activate it, and make audio signals compatible with hearing aids, telecoils, cochlear implants and assistive listening devices (Annex 2, section I, point 2, sector-specific requirements for self-service terminals).
- For an e-reader, provide text-to-speech (Annex 2, section I, point 2, sector-specific requirements for e-readers). For consumer terminal equipment used for electronic communications services, provide real-time text where the product has text capability beside voice, a total conversation with synchronised voice, real-time text and video where it has video, effective wireless coupling to hearing technologies, and avoid interference with assistive devices (same point, requirements for terminal equipment used for electronic communications services). For consumer terminal equipment used for access to audiovisual media services, pass on the accessibility components that the audiovisual media service provider supplies for access, selection, control and personalisation, and the sending to assistive devices (same point, requirements for terminal equipment used to access audiovisual media services).
- Where you offer support services (help desks, call centres, technical support, relay services, training services), give information on the product's accessibility and its compatibility with assistive technologies in accessible modes of communication (Annex 2, section I, point 3).
- For every product except a self-service terminal, also make the packaging, including the information on it, accessible, and make installation, maintenance, storage and disposal instructions that are not on the product available to the public when the product is placed on the market, through more than one sensory channel, in understandable form and in text formats usable to create alternative assistive formats, with a non-text alternative (Art. 4(1); Annex 2, section II).
- Where the requirements of sections I to V of Annex 2 do not address a function of the product, make that function accessible by meeting the functional performance criteria of section VI (use without vision, with limited vision, without colour perception, without hearing, with limited hearing, without vocal capability, with limited manipulation or strength, with limited reach, minimising the risk of photosensitive seizures, with limited cognition, and privacy); the criteria may stand in for a specific technical requirement only where they give equivalent or greater accessibility (Annex 2, section VI; Directive (EU) 2019/882, Annex I, Section VI).
- The requirements apply only so far as compliance needs no significant change that fundamentally alters the nature of the product and imposes no disproportionate burden on you (Art. 3(1); implements Directive (EU) 2019/882, Art. 14(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 73(1) punishes a manufacturer or importer that places on the market or puts into service a product that does not meet the accessibility requirements of Article 4 with a fine of BGN 1,000 to 5,000 (EUR 511.29 to 2,556.46) or a property sanction of BGN 5,000 to 25,000 (EUR 2,556.46 to 12,782.30); for a repeat breach a fine of BGN 2,000 to 10,000 (EUR 1,022.58 to 5,112.92) or a property sanction of BGN 10,000 to 50,000 (EUR 5,112.92 to 25,564.59). Article 85 punishes any other breach of the Act concerning products, such as a distributor's, with a fine of BGN 200 to 1,000 (EUR 102.26 to 511.29) or a property sanction of BGN 1,000 to 5,000 (EUR 511.29 to 2,556.46); repeat, BGN 400 to 2,000 (EUR 204.52 to 1,022.58) or BGN 2,000 to 10,000 (EUR 1,022.58 to 5,112.92). A repeat breach is one committed within one year of the entry into force of the penal decree that punished the same kind of breach (paragraph 1(1) point 21 of the additional provisions). Paragraph 3 of the final provisions halves each amount for breaches committed up to . The Act states every amount in leva; since Article 11(2) of the Euro Introduction Act reads each as an amount in euro at the official exchange rate of 1.95583 leva to the euro, rounded to the cent (Articles 12 and 13 of that Act), and the euro figures in brackets are that conversion. The cap shown is the repeat property sanction of Article 73(1), BGN 50,000 in the text, converted. The Chair of the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Supervision or officials he authorises issue the penal decrees (Article 90(2)).
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 25564.59
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Chair of the State Agency for Metrological and Technical Supervision (DAMTN), through the agency's market surveillance bodies, is the market surveillance authority for the products in Article 2(1) (Article 34(1))
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- a product listed in Article 2(1): a consumer general purpose computer hardware system or its operating system, a payment terminal, an ATM, ticketing machine, check-in machine or interactive self-service information terminal, consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, or an e-reader ("Този закон се прилага за следните продукти")
What this law does
Article 2(1) applies the Act to consumer general purpose computer hardware systems and their operating systems, to payment terminals, to ATMs, ticketing machines, check-in machines and interactive self-service information terminals, to consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for access to audiovisual media services, and to e-readers.
Article 2(1) point 2(e) excludes from the interactive information terminals those installed as an integral part of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock. Article 4(1) allows products other than self-service terminals to be made available on the market only if they meet the accessibility requirements of sections I and II of Annex 2, taking into account the functional performance criteria of section VI.
Article 4(2) allows self-service terminals to be made available on the market only if they meet the accessibility requirements of section I of Annex 2, taking into account the functional performance criteria of section VI. Article 5 bars prohibiting, restricting or impeding, for accessibility reasons, the making available of products that comply with the Act.
Article 6(1) presumes that a product conforming to harmonised standards, or parts of them, whose references are published in the Official Journal of the European Union meets the accessibility requirements those standards cover. Article 6(2) gives the same presumption to a product that conforms to technical specifications adopted under Article 15(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/882.
Article 60 gives products and services outside Article 2 a presumption of fulfilling the accessibility obligations in other European Union acts where their features meet section V of Annex 2. Article 61(1) gives the presumption of Article 60 to products and services outside Article 2 that conform to harmonised standards published in the Official Journal of the European Union, so far as those standards meet the accessibility requirements of the Act.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product.
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