EAA-ready audio guides for European cultural venues.
Open your museum, park, or archive to 87 million Europeans with disabilities. Live in a day. No app install required, on any phone.
Forward-thinking institutions moved first. Join the European founding-customer pilot.
The short version
What the EAA means for your audio guide.
The European Accessibility Act became enforceable on 28 June 2025 across all 27 EU member states. For audio guides specifically, it means the experience must work for visitors with visual, hearing, cognitive, or motor impairments - not just visitors who happen to fit the default.
Audio is no longer enough
Audio guides must be perceivable for Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors too. That means full transcripts, captions, and language flexibility - not just narration.
App-only is a failure mode
Visitors who do not have the app, cannot install it, or use older devices get locked out. EAA expects content to be reachable without specialized hardware.
Single-language coverage is a gap
A guide that only ships in the venue's host language excludes a meaningful share of international visitors, including many with cognitive-load needs.
Screen-reader support is not optional
The device visitors carry - their own phone - has to be able to read the page out loud. That is a property of the visitor page, not the headset.
We use the phrase EAA-ready for audio access deliberately: Wexplo covers the audio-guide layer, end-to-end. Building access (ramps, tactile signage, ticketing kiosks) is out of scope and stays with your facilities team.
The audio-access checklist
What we ship, by impairment category.
Every visitor page on every Wexplo site includes the following. No upgrade required, no per-language fee, no add-on module.
For visually impaired visitors
Screen readers, larger text, and high-contrast modes are first-class on every visitor page.
- Semantic HTML with ARIA labels on every audio-player control
- AI-generated alt text on every photo, translated into all 14 languages
- Dark mode plus visitor-controlled appearance toggle for light sensitivity
- High-contrast focus states, keyboard navigation across the whole guide
For Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors
No audio required. The full content of every stop is readable, in the visitor's language.
- Live transcript on every stop, scrollable and selectable
- Captions auto-generated for each of 14 languages
- Adjustable playback speed from 0.25x to 2x, plus 15-second skip controls
- Visual progress bar so visitors can pause, scrub, and resume
For visitors with cognitive-load needs
Plain-language UI, no app install, no signup, and 14 language fallbacks.
- No required app install or account - QR scan opens the visitor page in any browser
- 14 languages with native-accent narration, switchable mid-stop
- Clear "Where to look" prompts so visitors know what each stop is about
- Numbered stops on indoor sites, GPS triggering on outdoor sites - pick the model that fits
For visitors with motor impairments
Web-based, large tap targets, no fine touch or device-specific gestures.
- Single-tap play and pause, no swipe gestures required
- Browser-based so it works with assistive switches and voice control on iOS and Android
- No headset to pick up, plug in, or wear - visitors use their own phone
- Inline-audio assets let curators interleave pre-recorded sign-language voiceovers with AI narration
Every venue with at least one accessibility feature configured also displays the Accessible guide badge to visitors before they enter, so the audience that needs it knows what to expect.
Beyond Europe
The same checklist clears ADA, AODA, and WCAG 2.1 AA.
The technical standard underneath EAA, ADA Title III, and AODA is the same: WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Wexplo visitor pages are built against it, so the work you do for one regulator helps you with the others.
United States
ADA Title III
Private museums, galleries, and cultural venues fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act. WCAG 2.1 AA is the de facto technical benchmark courts and DOJ guidance reference.
Read the sourceCanada
AODA
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the federal Accessible Canada Act both require digital content to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.
Read the sourceWorldwide
WCAG 2.1 AA
The technical standard underneath every regulation above. Wexplo visitor pages are designed against the WCAG 2.1 Level AA success criteria and tested with screen readers.
Read the sourceBe one of the first 10 European venues to ship.
We are running a founding-customer pilot for 10 European cultural venues. It includes 30 days of hands-on setup support so you are scanning your own QR codes within the first week, with weekly check-ins from a real human on our team.
Frequently asked questions
Does Wexplo make my venue 100% EAA compliant?
Honestly, no - and any vendor that says yes is overclaiming. Wexplo makes your audio-guide layer EAA-ready: screen-reader support, transcripts, alt text, captions, and 14 languages. Building access (ramps, doorways, tactile signage, ticketing kiosks, parking) remains your responsibility and varies venue-by-venue. We are not an accessibility-audit firm; we ship the audio-guide layer so when you or your consultants run the check, this part is already covered.
What is the implementation time?
Live in a day. Sign up, write your stops, click Generate, print QR codes. Most pilot venues are scanning their own QR codes within an afternoon. Translations across the remaining 13 languages take about 90 seconds each.
Do visitors need to install an app?
No. Every visitor scans a QR code with their built-in camera and the audio guide opens in their browser. No App Store dance, no account, no install screen. This removes one of the most common EAA failure modes for legacy audio-guide platforms.
Which languages do you support?
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, Ukrainian, and Arabic - 14 in total, with native-accent narration. Request additional languages for enterprise contracts.
Does it work for Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors?
Yes. Every stop ships with a full transcript plus auto-generated captions in all 14 languages. Deaf visitors get the same content as hearing visitors, with no audio required. You can also upload pre-recorded sign-language voiceovers as inline audio assets that play alongside the AI narration on the same stop.
How is content updated after we publish?
Through the creator dashboard, on your schedule, with no developer involvement. Edit a stop, re-translate, re-narrate, and the QR codes stay the same. No re-printing, no re-narration sessions, no App Store review.
What does this cost?
We are running a founding-customer pilot for the first 10 European cultural venues that ship with Wexplo. The pilot includes 30 days of hands-on setup support so your first stops are live in days, not quarters. Standard pricing tiers (Free, Starter $49/mo, Growth $149/mo, Business $399/mo, Enterprise custom) are documented on the /sites page.
Procurement reviewer? See the full Security and Compliance posture, including DPA, subprocessors, and data residency.
Ready to be the venue that moved first?
Show your visitors that you planned for everyone. We will build a sample stop from your venue on the call, so you can scan it before we hang up.