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Web accessibility - Design solutions for everyone

Web accessibility is about designing digital content so that it is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. This is an important aspect of digital inclusion that we must continually focus on in relation to digitalization.

Purpose of the Accessibility Act

As a public organization, AU's websites are covered by the Accessibility Act from September 23, 2020. The law on web accessibility aims to ensure that as many people as possible can use public authorities' websites and mobile applications. This is especially important for users with disabilities. The fundamental goal is that no content on a public website should depend on the use of a single sense. This means that individuals with hearing impairments should be able to read everything, visually impaired individuals should be able to hear everything, and so on.

Improving accessibility on our websites will facilitate use for target groups such as individuals with dyslexia, visual impairments, hearing impairments, and motor disabilities. Additionally, a number of accessibility improvements also lead to an enhancement of overall user-friendliness, benefiting all users.

The Danish Accessibility Act stipulates compliance with WCAG 2.1 at levels A and AA.

WAS statement

The law also includes a requirement for a web accessibility statement, which must be available on all websites. Here, we describe how we comply with web accessibility, in which areas we do not, and how we are continuously working to improve it. The WAS statement is prepared by AU IT for all websites in TYPO3 and will be found in the footers of the websites starting from September 23, 2020.

Guidelines regarding the accessibility act

A wide range of guidelines that websites must adhere to involve technical accessibility issues. These technical accessibility problems will be continuously addressed by developers at AU IT. Additionally, there are several editorial accessibility issues that all content producers in TYPO3 should be aware of, which are outlined below. Generally, it is a good idea to ensure that the law is at least followed for new content, and that editors create a plan to address existing content.

Regarding the latter, Siteimprove's Accessibility tool is effective for identifying pages with issues, and a dashboard has been created in Siteimprove where you can select a collection of widgets related to accessibility. Here, you will find an overview of accessibility problems, PDFs, and a score for the accessibility of your site.
Note: Firefox does not display Siteimprove's tool correctly, so please use a different browser.

Siteimprove Accessibility Dashboard

Exceptions to the law

In the Accessibility Act, there are some general exceptions for content that does not have to meet accessibility requirements. These include:

  • Documents (typically in PDF or Word format) published before September 23, 2018, or assessed as not necessary for active administrative processes.
  • Video and audio published before September 23, 2020.
  • Live video and audio are also exempt, but if they are retained on the website after the live broadcast, they must be made accessible within 14 working days from the date of the original transmission.
  • Archival content; content that has not been updated or edited after September 23, 2019.
  • Online maps and mapping services are generally not covered by the web accessibility law. However, maps published for navigation purposes are included.
  • Third-party content that is not financed or developed by or under the control of the relevant public authority.
  • The law does not cover reproductions of items from cultural heritage collections that cannot be made fully accessible due to incompatibility of the accessibility requirements
    with either the conservation of the item in question or the authenticity of the reproduction (for example, contrast).
  • Content on extranets and intranets published before September 23, 2019, until such websites undergo a significant revision.
  • If the requirements are deemed an undue burden, compliance with all or part of them may be waived. However, this must be explained in the accessibility statement (WAS).

The web editors responsibility

As a web editor on AU's websites, you are responsible for ensuring compliance with accessibility regulations, copyright laws, and GDPR.

Therefore, it is important that you have a general understanding of what this responsibility entails and which types of content might potentially be problematic to publish on the websites.

Learn more about:

WCAG

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Revised 07.11.2024
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