Clause 8 — Hardware

Clause 8 covers the physical, tactile side of ICT accessibility — relevant to any product with a physical control surface: kiosks, ATMs, ticket machines, payment terminals, remote controls, and general-purpose hardware like phones and laptops.

What it covers

• Standard connectors — where a product has audio output, it should offer a standard connection point (e.g. a headphone jack) so people can use their own assistive listening or captioning hardware.
• Operable parts — physical controls must be reachable and operable without requiring fine motor control, tight grasping, or simultaneous multi-point actions.
• Tactile and visual identification — controls should be distinguishable by touch (e.g. a raised marker on the “5” key) as well as by sight, and not rely on colour alone.
• Key repeat — where a device has repeating keys, the repeat rate should be adjustable or able to be turned off, so users with limited dexterity don't trigger unintended repeated input.
• Status indicators — power/on-off and other device status should be perceivable both visually and non-visually (e.g. a tone, not just an LED).

Who this applies to

Self-service terminals and kiosks, ATMs, ticket machines, payment terminals, and general ICT hardware — this is the clause that applies regardless of what software is running on the device.

Read the standard

This page is a plain-language summary, not the normative text. For the full requirement wording, see EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (2026-09) directly:

Download EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (PDF, ETSI)

V4.1.1 is the newest published edition, aligned with WCAG 2.2 AA. It is not yet cited in the EU Official Journal, so V3.2.1 (WCAG 2.1 AA) remains the version with current legal effect for EAA presumption of conformity — see the timeline for the expected citation date.