The European Central Bank has set out proposed accessibility features for a digital euro app, with usability and accessibility testing planned as part of a pilot due to start in 2027.
The app is intended to let users access basic digital euro services, and its design would include features aimed at removing common barriers for people with different needs, the ECB said in a statement on Thursday.
The central bank added that the proposed design would go beyond the requirements of the European Accessibility Act, an EU law setting accessibility rules for certain products and services, and a related technical standard known as EN 301 549.
It stated that the app design follows the highest level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, an internationally used framework for making digital content accessible, adapted for mobile payment applications.
The ECB said planned features include enhanced visual design, full keyboard navigation, screen reader support, time-out warnings, simplified language, error prevention and reduced motion settings.
“Like cash, the digital euro will be a public good and, in the digital age, every European should be able to access it on equal terms,” said Piero Cipollone, an ECB Executive Board member who chairs the High-Level Task Force on a digital euro.
Testing to start in 2027 pilot
The proposed features have been shared with market participants and other stakeholders and were developed with consumer organisations, accessibility experts and national central banks, the ECB said.
The app is currently being developed and is due to be tested during the digital euro pilot to be launched in 2027.
Separately, the central bank said requirements would be further validated through usability and accessibility testing with members of Spain’s ONCE Foundation for Cooperation and Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities, as well as staff of the ECB and 19 national central banks.
Under the European Commission’s proposed digital euro regulation, the ECB said the Eurosystem app would be one of several ways to access basic digital euro services, alongside channels offered by payment service providers, which would remain the main point of contact for end users.
