Web Accessibility Directive. The latest in a long chain of annoying terms, 23 letters to add to the “to do” list. Just when you finally thought you had the GDPR requirements under control, the next change has already arrived.
Actually it is a wonderful thing. Finland is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the European Convention on Human Rights, so it is committed to realising human rights and fundamental freedoms for everyone in full and taking action to ensure that every citizen can live independently and engage fully in society in all areas of life. One area of life is technology.
As such, the Web Accessibility Directive is about human rights.
What does accessibility mean?
Places are reserved in cinema theatres for wheelchair users, trams and trains can be boarded without needing to step up stairs, and restaurants can be entered via a ramp. Unobstructed access is now the norm in urban environments. The legal amendment focusing on accessibility seeks to eliminate barriers from the digital world and create online services that are easier to access. Accessibility is the digital equivalent of unobstructed access to buildings: just as an architect needs to design buildings to accommodate people with restricted mobility, online services need to do the same.
There has been much debate and plenty of guidelines concerning the accessibility of online services. JHS Recommendation 129, published in Finland in 2005, sets out guidance on the construction of accessible online services. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 also seek to communicate the same information. However, the well-meaning recommendations have not resulted in true equality in online services, and so the Finnish Parliament is currently drafting a new law to address this. Once the law is enacted, accessibility will become an obligation rather than an enlightened approach by service providers. Failure to fulfil this obligation could lead to conditional fines.
Accessibility means that everyone can use and understand websites and mobile apps, and services are built using technologies and methods that allow them to be accessed with different devices and aids.
Now is the time for action
The Act on the Provision of Digital Services, based on the EU Web Accessibility Directive, was passed into law in early 2019. This act enforces accessibility requirements for websites and digital services to ensure inclusivity for all users.
The law primarily applies to public administration websites, transaction services, and mobile apps, as well as other publicly funded online services. It also extends to some private businesses that perform public administrative duties, such as vehicle inspection stations and non-life insurance companies. While the primary focus is on these entities, it is widely anticipated that accessibility requirements will eventually extend to more private companies.
Timelines for Compliance:
- Websites and online services published on or after 23 September 2018: These must already comply with accessibility requirements since 23 September 2019.
- Websites and services published before 23 September 2018: These had until September 2020 to meet compliance standards.
- Mobile apps: These had the longest transition period, with compliance required by June 2021.
Failing to meet these requirements may result in conditional fines. This enforcement ensures that digital spaces are as inclusive and accessible as physical spaces, where ramps, wide doors, and low-floor trams have become part of everyday life.
If your website or service needs to comply and does not, you should act now. For new website projects—particularly those connected to public administration—accessibility requirements must be incorporated from the start. Including these requirements in tenders is critical to achieving compliance and delivering services that everyone can use effectively.
The four principles of accessibility
The four principles that underpin accessibility are that the service is perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. When the four principles are realised, the website meets the accessibility requirements. You can use various tools to evaluate the accessibility of your websites and services, and you can naturally ask us for help in auditing the site. The accessibility requirements should be kept in mind when tenders are requested for new website projects connected to public administration.
The Web Accessibility Directive and the associated requirements will keep people busy to begin with, but the outcome will eventually manifest itself in the same way as unobstructed access has become a part of the urban environment: low-floor trams are a part of the cityscape, and ramps and sufficiently wide doors are the norm in construction. For most people, the changes will have little to no impact on their everyday lives, but, for some people, a ramp represents a great opportunity and a revolution in enabling them to live the same life as everyone else.
Does your online service meet the AA standard set out in the Web Accessibility Directive for the use of fonts and contrast (WCAG 2.1 AA)?
Accessibility also applies to content
Of the principles discussed above, understandability is particularly difficult to interpret and evaluate. However, it is the principle that relates most directly to the content of services, as the other criteria are largely based on technical frameworks and methods of implementation.
Make your online content understandable by using clear language, dividing texts up into easy-to-read sections, using plenty of descriptive sub-headings (as we have tried to do in this blog post), illustrating text or offering content in video format, and making descriptive link texts.
Which of these links do you think would be easier to understand: Read about accessibility or read more? From the perspective of accessibility, the answer is simple: the first option contains information about the content that the link leads to, while the other is non-specific.
Accessibility in a nutshell:
- The accessibility of websites is controlled by legislation known as the Act on the Provision of Digital Services. The act is based on the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
- This legislation seeks to ensure that all users can use digital services irrespective of whether they have any hearing or visual impairments, difficulties with motor skills or other functional limitations.
- The requirements affect mainly public administrative bodies, but it will also affect publicly-funded companies and companies that discharge public administrative duties.
- New and recently-published online services had to comply with the requirements already by 23 September 2019.
- A lack of accessibility may be punishable by a suspended fine.
- The Ministry of Finance’s website provides further information on the accessibility requirements
- For basic details on accessibility, see saavutettavasti.fi and saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi (mostly in Finnish)
Accessibility checklist for calls for tenders
Adapt this checklist to suit your context and append it to your next call for tenders. Keep in mind that it is not the goal to meet either all or none of the accessibility targets. The aim is to make online services as accessible as possible within reasonable limits. Development plans can be prepared for any recognised shortcomings, and entities can express their willingness to receive development ideas and allocate specific resources to improving accessibility.
- The design of the online service takes accessibility into consideration for all end devices
- The online service operates flawlessly on all officially supported browsers
- The technical implementation complies with the WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines
- The online service has an accessibility statement (an unofficial statement explaining the accessibility principles of the site.
- An external auditor should conduct usability and accessibility testing on online services.
Need help?
If you’re behind the times when it comes to accessibility, or are unsure of what you need to comply, get in touch and our experts can help you understand, plan and improve your website, online store or web application to meet modern accessibility guidelines and requirements.
