An overview of the when, who, and how of the European Accessibility Directive from a WordPress and Finland context.

1. THE EU ACCESSIBILITY
DIRECTIVE – WHAT
YOU NEED TO KNOW
Daniel Koskinen
1
28.9.2018

2. 2
The power of the Web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability is an
essential aspect.
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
2

3. 3

4. 4
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-06-769_en.htm

5. The Directive
5
5

6. 6
“The providers of information and services,
such as public sector bodies, rely increasingly
on the internet in order to produce, collect and
provide a wide range of information and services
online which are essential to the public.”
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.
2016.327.01.0001.01.ENG

7. 7
Unifying national legislation

8. When?
8
11

9. New public sector websites
must be accessible by
September 23, 2019
9

10. Old sites published before
September 23, 2018
must be accessible by
September 23, 2020
10

11. Mobile applications must be
accessible by 23 June, 2021
11

12. Who?
12
11

13. In Finland
13
● Government institutions (ministries etc)
● Municipal institutions (schools etc)
● Some parliamentary institutions and the Office of the
President
● Associations that perform a public service

14. In Finland (continued…)
14
● Independent public sector organisations such as Kela
● Universities and universities of applied sciences
● The Finnish Orthodox Church
● Corporations providing a service

15. In Finland : also (probably)
15
● All organisations governed by public law
● Services providing strong digital identification,
such as online banks
● Third sector organisations receiving public
money for their website
● Water, energy, traffic and postal services meant
for the general public

16. In Finland : By 1 January 2021
16
● Credit providers
● Banks
● Companies providing investment services
● Insurance companies

17. Exceptions
17
15

18. Exceptions
18
● Small and experimental digital services built in an
educational context.
● Live streamed events (but the video should be
made accessible in a reasonable time if published
after 23 September 2020)
● Maps, if the essential information is available
elsewhere in an accessible form

19. Exceptions (continued…)
19
● National broadcasters such as YLE in Finland.
● National heritage collections
● Office file formats (MS Office, PDF etc) published
before 23 September 2018, unless they are essential
for daily administrative processes.
● Third party content that are not essential to the
website and are not funded by a public entity.

20. Disproportionate burden?
20

21. Required:
Accessibility statement &
feedback mechanism
21

22. Monitoring
22

23. FIN€S
23

24. In Finland:
24
● Etelä-Suomen Aluehallintovirasto
● Valtion lupa- ja valvontavirasto (Luova) starting in
2020

25. Defining accessible?
25
22

26. EN 301 549 v 1.1.2 chapters 9-11
26
http://mandate376.standards.eu/standard

27. Accessibility requirements suitable
for public procurement of ICT
products and services in Europe
27
http://mandate376.standards.eu/standard

28. ≈WCAG 2.0 level AA
28
https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/

29. 29
Perceivable Operable
Understandable Robust
Four principles of WCAG

30. 1. Perceivable
30
27

31. Guidelines
31
Make it easier for users to see and hear content including
separating foreground from background.
Guideline 1.4 Distinguishable

32. Success Criteria
32
(Level AA)
The visual presentation of text and images of text has a
contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for the following:
●Large Text: Large-scale text and images of large-scale text
have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1;
●Incidental: Text or images of text that are part of an
inactive user interface component, that are pure decoration,
that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture
that contains significant other visual content, have no
Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

33. How to build accessible sites?
33

34. The WordPress Accessibility Handbook
https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/handbook/
34

35. https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/
35

36. https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/
36

37. https://inclusive-components.design/
37

38. 38
https://webaim.org/standards/wcag/WCAG2Checklist.pdf

39. 39
Suomeksi
● Saavutettavasti.fi
Ohjeita verkkosisältöjen ja viestinnän saavutettavuudesta
● Papunet:
http://papunet.net/saavutettavuus/
● Tarkistuslista verkkosivujen tekijöille (Näkövammaisten liitto
ry):
https://www.nkl.fi/fi/etusivu/saavutettavuus-esteettomyys/
saavutettavuus-verkossa-ja-mobiililaitteissa/tarkistuslista-
verkkosivujen-tekijoille

40. WordPress
40
22

41. Colour contrast checks in Gutenberg
41

42. Alt text field next to editor
42

43. More (potentially) useful tools
43
● Contact Form 7: Accessible Defaults
https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7-accessible-
defaults/
● WCAG 2.0 form fields for Gravity Forms
https://wordpress.org/plugins/gravity-forms-wcag-20-form-
fields/
● WP Accessibility
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-accessibility/

44. How to Make Accessibility Hard and Expensive
44

45. Involve and educate the whole team!
45

46. 46
Embrace it
50

47. Up-to-date information on Finnish
legislation:
https://vm.fi/saavutettavuusdirektiivi
47

48. Thank you!
@danielck
48