How the European Accessibility Act Will Shape Recruitment Website Design

On our recent From the Source: Expert Insight webinar, SourceFlow joined forces with Recite Me to shed light on the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and its implications for recruitment businesses.

As leaders in recruitment website design, we understand the importance of creating inclusive and accessible digital platforms. This legislation, coming into effect in June 2025, sets out mandatory accessibility standards for digital platforms, aiming to create more inclusive online experiences.

Why the EAA Matters for Recruitment Firms

The EAA is a vital step toward breaking down digital barriers for over 135 million people in Europe living with disabilities. With disabled job seekers applying for 60% more jobs than non-disabled candidates, it’s clear that accessibility can no longer be an afterthought. 

Avneet Jagpal, an Accessibility Specialist from Recite Me, explained: "Accessibility basically means, in a nutshell, you need to make sure any service or any digital app that you're delivering is accessible for all."

The act mandates compliance with the WCAG 2.1 AA standard and requires businesses to publish an accessibility statement, ensuring websites are perceivable, understandable, navigable, and interactive for all users.

The Business Case for Accessible Recruitment Website Design

For recruitment firms, the EAA offers not just legal obligations but clear business benefits. Non-compliance carries legal penalties and the risk of damaging brand reputation. More importantly, accessible websites widen the talent pool by making job opportunities available to a broader audience.

Studies show that 69% of disabled users leave a website immediately if they encounter accessibility barriers—meaning inaccessible sites could be costing firms valuable candidates and clients.

As Will Astbury, Global Head of Marketing at SourceFlow, noted: "If your site's not accessible, you're shutting off a huge tranche of candidates and a huge tranche of clients that can't access your materials, convert on your forms, speak to your recruiters. It’s absolutely huge."

Key Compliance Steps for Recruitment Website Design

To meet the EAA requirements, recruitment businesses should focus on two primary areas:

1. Achieving WCAG 2.1 AA compliance: This involves addressing common web accessibility issues like:

• Ensuring sufficient color contrast for text and icons.

• Adding descriptive alt text for images.

• Providing clear and accurate form labels.

• Structuring pages with correct heading tags (H1 to H6) for easy navigation.

2. Publishing an accessibility statement: This document outlines your site’s accessibility standards and ongoing efforts to maintain compliance.

Practical Fixes and Tools for Recruitment Websites

Recite Me shared some immediate fixes businesses can implement:

• Check and improve alt text on images.

• Use automated color contrast checkers to adjust visual elements.

• Ensure consistent and clear heading structures across pages.

Timeline and Next Steps 

New services launched after June 28, 2025, must be fully compliant from day one. Existing websites have a grace period until 2030, but recruitment firms are encouraged to start the compliance process early to avoid falling behind. 

Helen Taylor, SourceFlow’s Head of Customer Experience, emphasized the importance of early preparation: "You might be sat here on this webinar thinking that doesn’t apply to you right now, but as we know with recruitment companies, you can grow exponentially overnight. So I’d really recommend getting ahead of the curve as soon as possible."

SourceFlow is committed to supporting recruitment businesses on their journey to accessibility. We’re already working with clients to ensure their recruitment website design meets EAA standards, offering resources like our accessibility checklist developed with Recite Me.

For those looking to get ahead of the curve, now is the time to act. Improving website accessibility not only ensures compliance but also enhances user experience, boosts brand reputation, and opens the door to a more diverse talent pool.

Download our Recruitment Website Accessibility Checklist. It will help you audit your site’s accessibility.

You can also watch the full webinar on YouTube.

SourceFlow do WAY more than industry-leading recruitment website design. We build recruitment websites and marketing tools that amplify ROI and provide transparency with state-of-the-art data insights.