Information about the accessibility statement

Each organisation subject to the accessibility requirements of the Act must prepare an accessibility statement for its websites and mobile applications and publish the statement on its website.

The accessibility statement describes the accessibility status of the online service and any deviations from the accessibility requirements. In addition, the statement explains how the user can give feedback on accessibility.

What information do I need to provide in the accessibility statement?

The mandatory information for the accessibility statement is specified in an Act of the European Commission. Each organization to which the law applies makes a statement for its websites or mobile applications. The statement must include the following information:

  1. How well does the website or app meet the accessibility requirements? Assessment of the accessibility status of a site or application: a) fully meets the requirements, b) largely meets the requirements, or c) most of the requirements are not met.
  2. What content or parts of a website or app do not meet the accessibility requirements and why?
  3. When was the statement prepared and updated, and is the information in the statement based on a self-assessment or external expert assessment?
  4. How can the user provide accessibility feedback and who or which unit in the organisation is responsible for processing accessibility feedback?
  5. How can the user contact AVI for a request for clarification or a complaint? (A request for clarification or a complaint can only be made after the transition period has expired.)

Each paragraph has more detailed subparagraphs.

  • Amendments have been made to the Digital Services Act, which bring new services and actors within the scope of the requirements and obligations laid down in the Act. The application of the Act to new services will begin in June 2025 after a transition period. You can read about the amendments here.

    • What are the accessibility requirements of the statement?

    Here, accessibility requirements refer to the WCAG 2.1 standard A and AA criteria described on our website. The entire WCAG 2.1 guidelines can be found on the W3C community website.

    Disproportionate burden

    The accessibility requirements may be deviated from in certain respects and on a temporary basis if the implementation of the accessibility requirements would impose a disproportionate burden on the organisation.

    The principle of disproportionate burden can only be used for part of the content, not for the entire website. Disproportionate burden cannot be invoked if a completely new online service is purchased.

    A disproportionate burden can only be invoked in advance as planned, for example if, based on an accessibility assessment carried out in advance, it can be demonstrated that the implementation of the requirements causes a disproportionate burden on the organisation’s operations.

    The Act does not provide detailed criteria for when the disproportionate burden can be invoked and when, for example, development costs or modification would be considered a disproportionate burden.

    When assessing a disproportionate burden, particular consideration shall be given to the needs of persons with disabilities to use the service in question and to the size, financial position, nature and extent of the service provider.

    In practice, the larger the operator or the more important the service or content, the more difficult it would be to appeal to a disproportionate burden.

    The use of the disproportionate burden criterion must be described in the accessibility statement when explaining which parts do not meet the accessibility requirements and why.

    The service user has the right to request clarifications from the service provider on the use of disproportionate burdens. The user also has the right to receive the content or service in a form that implements the accessibility requirements (or in some other manner that suits them) if the content or service is essential for determining or implementing the user’s interests, rights or obligations.

    Is there a template for the accessibility statement?

    The European Commission has provided a template for the accessibility statement. A template of the statement can be found in the official EU languages on the Commission’s website.

    Tool for preparing the accessibility statement

    The Regional State Administrative Agency produced a clearer version of the accessibility statement in Finnish and Swedish which is based on the EU template. The accessibility statement tool is an online form guiding the user and enabling organisations to create an accessibility statement that meets EU requirements more easily.

    Start drafting an accessibility statement.