User rights

What can you give accessibility feedback on?

Your feedback can include a request for content that does not meet the accessibility requirements and content which is not in an accessible format that suits you. The request must be reasonable.

You can also provide feedback on any shortcomings you have noticed under accessibility requirements. In addition, you can request clarifications on justification concerning the so-called “disproportionate burden” of meeting the requirements.

You should be able to provide feedback on accessibility either by an online form or e-mail.

The service provider must respond to your feedback within two weeks. You can also leave feedback anonymously. In this case, the service provider does not need to respond to the feedback, but it should take into account the shortcomings in accessibility that were mentioned in the feedback.

Which websites and mobile apps can you provide feedback on?

You can provide feedback on the websites and mobile applications to which the legal requirements apply. In practice, almost all online services and mobile applications of public actors are covered by the law – for example, the websites and online services of Kela, the Tax Administration, TE Offices, and the websites and online services of cities and municipalities.

More information on which organisations are covered by the Act.

More information about which new digital services are covered by the Act.

If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Regional State Administrative Agency

The service provider must respond to your feedback within two weeks. In addition, if you have requested content in an accessible format, the service provider should provide you with a written certificate if, despite your request, it cannot provide the content in an accessible format.

If you are not satisfied with the response you received, or if you do not receive a reply at all, you can contact us at the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland and submit a request for clarification or a complaint about shortcomings in accessibility.

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland is the authority supervising compliance with the accessibility requirements of the Act in Finland. However, always make sure to submit a request or give feedback first to the operator responsible for the website or mobile app.

You can submit a complaint or request for clarification to the supervisory authority using an online form or by email at saavutettavuus@avi.fi or kirjaamo.etela@avi.fi. If you wish, you can also send a complaint or request for clarification by post to ESAVI registry, P.O. Box 1, 13035 AVI. The complaint or request for clarification may be free-form but it must include sufficient details in order for us to process it. Please indicate at least which website or mobile app the complaint or clarification is about, whether you have contacted the actor responsible for the website or app, and what is the accessibility challenge you wish to make a complaint about to the supervisory authority.

How do you know if you are making a request for clarification or a complaint?

You do not need to know in advance whether you want to submit a request for clarification or a complaint. If necessary, we at the Regional State Administrative Agency can help you proceed with the matter.

However, the following paragraphs explain the differences between a complaint and a request for clarification, and how you know which one your case is.

Request for clarification

You can submit a request for clarification to the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland in these cases:

• If the service provider has issued a written certificate, but the content will not be provided in an accessible format despite your request.
• You have received the above-mentioned written certificate, but you wish to complain about its contents.
• The service provider has not responded to your request concerning the accessibility of certain content within two weeks.
• You have not received any response to your other accessibility feedback within two weeks.

Processing the request for clarification

The Regional State Administrative Agency will issue a decision on the request for clarification. Both the person submitting the request for clarification and the service provider may still request a revised decision from the Regional State Administrative Agency. After the request for a revised decision, the Regional State Administrative Agency issues a new decision, which can be appealed to the Administrative Court.

Complaint

You can submit a complaint on accessibility to the Regional State Administrative Agency about a service provider that has not complied with the accessibility requirements of the Act. These requirements largely concern the technical functionality of the service.

You can also file a complaint if the service provider does not have an accessibility statement or the statement does not contain sufficient information on why some content has been excluded from the accessibility requirements.

You can also file a complaint, for example, on the fact that the service provider does not have an electronic channel, i.e. an online form or an email address to which accessibility feedback can be submitted.

You should first contact the service provider to ask about the matter.

Based on the accessibility complaint, we at the Regional State Administrative Agency can provide the service provider with administrative guidance, i.e. how the service provider should correct the matter. Administrative guidance draws the service provider’s attention to the law and compliance with it. Guidance cannot be appealed to courts, and the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act concerning an administrative complaint apply to the processing of a complaint.

If you are not sure whether your issue concerns accessibility

You also have the right to receive support and advice for the use of online services provided by public authorities. The authority must provide contact information on its website which you can

contact to ask for advice on how to use the service. If you are unsure whether the problem you are experiencing concerns accessibility, you should in any case contact the service provider for advice.