Out-Law News 2 min. read

Public sector websites and apps must subscribe to new accessibility standards


Websites and mobile apps operated by public sector bodies in the EU will have to correspond to new accessibility standards under new EU laws finalised earlier this week.

The European Parliament approved a new Directive on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies (44-page / 379KB PDF) on Wednesday, voting to endorse a draft backed by the EU's Council of Ministers earlier this year.

The new Directive, which stems from European Commission proposals first published in December 2012, has still to be entered into the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU). After that procedural step is taken, EU countries will have 21 months to implement the legislation into national laws.

Public sector bodies will then have a further year to apply the accessibility standards to new websites. Existing websites must be upgraded to conform to the standards within two years of the deadline for national implementation of the Directive, and mobile apps must conform within 33 months of that date.

Under the new Directive, public sector bodies must "make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust". Public sector bodies can adhere to those requirements by implementing measures in line with technical standards. They are only required to adhere to the new requirements "to the extent that those requirements do not impose a disproportionate burden" on them.

The European Commission welcomed the adoption of the new rules.

In a joint statement, EU commissioner for the digital single market Andrus Ansip and EU commissioner for the digital economy and society Günther Oettinger, said: "Everyone should benefit from the opportunities offered by the internet and fully participate in the digital society. Today's adoption is an important step in the right direction. New rules will ensure that people with disabilities – especially blind, deaf and hard of hearing persons – can more easily access and use the websites and mobile applications of public services."

"We will ask the European standardisation organisations to quickly develop the harmonised standard on the accessibility requirements required for the Directive," they said.

Ansip and Oettinger also said they hoped the proposed new European Accessibility Act, which would impose common accessibility standards on areas of industry, such as banks, smartphone manufacturers and e-commerce platforms, would also be adopted.

MEP Dita Charanzová, rapporteur to the Parliament on the new Directive, said she wants web accessibility standards imposed beyond the public sector too.

"Just as physical government buildings should be accessible, so too should the digital gateways," Charanzová said. "We solved the public side of web accessibility, but the internet is far more than government websites and apps. We need reform also for the private world of services, from banks to television stations to private hospitals. I hope that we can soon adopt the European Accessibility Act, so that both public and private services are accessible to all our citizens."

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