How an accessibility start-up owned the European Accessibility Act search wave
- Plan
- Content Engine
- Region
- Dublin, UK & Ireland
- Duration
- 8 months
- Industry
- Technology & SaaS
As the European Accessibility Act deadline approached, search demand surged but Gannetry had only a product site and a sparse blog.
Every product team selling into the EU suddenly had the same questions: does the Act apply to us, what does EN 301 549 actually require, and what happens if we miss the deadline? Searches for the Act grew roughly sevenfold in a year.
Gannetry builds exactly the audits those teams need, yet the answers on page one came from law-firm PDFs, the Commission’s own pages and overlay vendors promising one-line compliance. A specialist with the deepest expertise in the room was invisible at the moment of greatest demand.
Six findings from the first two weeks, read like an audit report.
- 01 · Content gapCritical
0 of the top 200 EAA queries had a Gannetry page. Law-firm PDFs and overlay vendors held page one.
- 02 · IndexingCritical
Product docs rendered client-side; 61 of 74 doc URLs were 'Discovered – not indexed'.
- 03 · Own accessibilityHigh
The site failed 3 WCAG 2.2 AA checks: CTA contrast 3.1:1, no visible focus, an unlabelled search field.
- 04 · ArchitectureHigh
9 blog posts, none linked from the product; no hub, no breadcrumbs, orphaned case notes.
- 05 · AI searchMedium
No definitional answers to cite: not one mention across 40 sampled AI Overviews.
- 06 · SchemaMedium
No Organization, Article, FAQ or DefinedTerm markup anywhere on the domain.
Become the reference text for the Act, written so people and AI answers can quote it.
Built on our Content Engine plan: a publishing system, not a pile of posts. Four tactics, one architecture.
Topic clusters
Four clusters, each with one pillar and 5–40 spokes, linked both ways so authority pools on the pages that convert.
Regulatory explainers
Plain-English readings of the directive and each member state's transposition, cited to the source text and refreshed on every change.
AI Overviews
Every H2 opens with a 40–60 word answer, then evidence. Short, sourced, quotable: the shape AI answers lift and cite.
Glossary hub
120 DefinedTerm entries that catch the definitional long tail and pass links into the pillars and the audit booking page.
The four clusters
Pillar · Regulatory explainers
European Accessibility Act: the complete guide
- Who the EAA applies to
- EAA deadlines by member state
- Micro-enterprise exemption
- EAA penalties in Ireland
- EN 301 549 vs WCAG 2.2
8 months, one cell at a time.
- Month 1
Demand map & audit
Mapped 1,140 EAA, WCAG and EN 301 549 queries into 4 clusters; fixed indexing of the JavaScript-rendered docs and the site's own WCAG 2.2 failures.
4,300 sessions · 2 snippets
- Month 2
Pillar: the EAA explained
Published the 6,800-word European Accessibility Act explainer with scope tables by sector, deadlines and enforcement by member state.
5,600 sessions · 6 snippets
- Month 3
Glossary hub launch
120 definitional entries (ARIA, focus order, EN 301 549, conformance) — each a 40-to-60-word answer block first, depth second.
7,400 sessions · 13 snippets
- Month 4
Regulatory explainers
Ireland, Germany, France and the Netherlands transposition guides; penalty and exemption pages for micro-enterprises.
9,900 sessions · 22 snippets
- Month 5
AI Overview passes
Re-cut 38 pages so every H2 opens with a quotable answer; added FAQ and HowTo schema and source citations to the directive text.
12,800 sessions · 31 snippets
- Month 6
Sector guides
E-commerce, banking, e-books and transport guides, each linking to a pre-filled audit booking for that sector.
16,100 sessions · 42 snippets
- Month 7
Checklist & newsletter
Free WCAG 2.2 AA checklist as a gated download and a fortnightly 'EAA watch' newsletter for compliance leads.
18,300 sessions · 48 snippets
- Month 8
Refresh & consolidate
Merged 11 thin posts, refreshed every deadline page and rebuilt internal links from glossary terms to pillars.
19,760 sessions · 52 snippets
Raised from the page: the numbers at month 8.
Modelled scenario for a fictional business — not a client result. Rankings and traffic are never guaranteed; see our Terms.
Each figure is set in braille. Hover, focus or press a card to read it in numerals.
- M1180
- M2520
- M31,050
- M41,720
- M52,480
- M63,300
- M73,750
- M84,100
Before and after, on one query
Before · “european accessibility act requirements”
- ec.europa.euEuropean accessibility act – Employment, Social Affairs
- lawfirm.exampleBriefing: the EAA and your obligations (PDF)
- overlay.exampleMake your site EAA compliant in one line of code
Month 8 · “european accessibility act requirements”
- gannetry.ieEuropean Accessibility Act: the complete guide
- ec.europa.euEuropean accessibility act – Employment, Social Affairs
- gannetry.ieEAA deadlines by member state (updated)
Ranking table
| Query | Volume / mo | Before | Month 8 | SERP feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| european accessibility act | 22,000 | 100+ | 3 | AI Overview cite |
| eaa compliance checklist | 5,400 | 100+ | 1 | Featured snippet |
| wcag 2.2 checklist | 8,100 | 47 | 4 | Featured snippet |
| en 301 549 | 3,600 | 100+ | 2 | Featured snippet |
| eaa deadline | 4,400 | 100+ | 1 | AI Overview cite |
| accessibility statement template | 2,900 | 63 | 2 | Featured snippet |
| what is aria-label | 6,600 | 100+ | 5 | People also ask |
| accessibility audit cost | 1,300 | 28 | 3 | — |
| eaa penalties ireland | 880 | 100+ | 1 | Featured snippet |
Get a plan like this
When regulation creates search demand, the first clear answer wins. Content Engine builds that answer, cluster by cluster.