Danish web content accessibility act

AU is a public-sector organisation, and therefore AU websites are subject to the Danish web content accessibility act of 23 September 2020 (Tilgængelighedsloven). The Act is designed to ensure that as many people as possible can use the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. This applies not least to users with disabilities. The fundamental objective is to ensure that no content on a public website is dependent on the use of a single sense. In other words, the hearing impaired must be able to read everything, the visually impaired must be able to hear everything, etc.

Improving accessibility will make it easier for users with e.g. dyslexia, visual impairments, hearing impairments and mobility impairments, to use our websites. Additionally, some accessibility improvements will also improve the overall user-friendliness of the websites and will therefore benefit all users.

The Danish web content accessibility act aims to meet the standards of WCAG 2.1 at levels A and AA.

Accessibility statement

The Act also requires that a web accessibility statement be included on all websites. The statement describes how we meet the requirements for web accessibility, the areas where we do not meet these requirements and what we are doing to remedy this. The accessibility statement was prepared by AU IT for all websites in TYPO3 and is included in the footer of all webpages after 23 September 2020.

Requirements in connection with the Danish web content accessibility act

A large number of requirements for webpages are technical issues that will be dealt with by AU IT during 2020. However, there are also editorial issues that all TYPO3 content producers should be aware of. They are covered below.

In general, it is a good idea that, as a minimum, new content complies with the Act. However, editors should prepare a plan to ensure that current content is also updated. We do not have to meet all the requirements by 23 September 2020. The accessibility statement will inform users of the requirements we have not met. However, we must also declare that we are working on meeting all requirements.

In relation to the latter, Siteimprove’s accessibility tool is good at identifying pages with problems. We have created a dashboard in Siteimprove where we have assembled the most relevant accessibility widgets. Siteimprove provides an overview of accessibility issues, PDFs and an accessibility score for your website.
NOTE! Firefox does not show the tools in Siteimprove properly, so use another browser.

Siteimprove Accessibility Dashboard

Recommended guides for TYPO3 editors:

Exemptions from the Act

The Act contains a number of general exemptions for content that does not have to meet accessibility requirements. They relate to:

Documents (typically in PDF or Word format) published before 23 September 2018
or that are deemed unnecessary for active administrative processes
Videos and audio content published before 23 September 2020
Live videos and audio content are also exempted. However, if a live presentation is stored on the website, it must be made accessible within 14 working days from the date of the original broadcast.
Archive content: Content which has not been updated or edited after 23 September 2019
As a general rule, online maps and mapping services are not covered by the web accessibility act. However, maps published for use in navigation are included.
Third-party content that is not financed, developed by or under the control of the public body in question.
The Act does not cover reproductions of objects from cultural-historical collections
that cannot be made fully accessible because the accessibility requirements are incompatible
with either the preservation of the object or the authenticity of the reproduction (e.g. contrast).
Content on the extranet and intranet published before 23 September 2019 until such websites undergo significant revision.
If the requirements are assessed to be a disproportionately heavy burden, it is possible to omit them or elements of them. However, this must be accounted for in the accessibility statement.