The Public
Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations (SI
2018/852) have been published and have effect from 23 September 2018. They
transpose Directive 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on
the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies.
The objective of the Directive is the establishment of a
harmonised market for the accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites and
mobile applications. The Directive aims to make websites and mobile
applications of public sector bodies more accessible to users, particularly
persons with disabilities. According to
the Explanatory Note to the Regulations:
- Part 1 establishes what the Directive applies to, and lists
the types of public sector bodies and content that are exempt from the
Directive. - Part 2 imposes an obligation on a public sector body to make
its websites and mobile applications more accessible, to the extent that this
does not impose a disproportionate burden. It also contains a further
obligation for a public sector body to publish an accessibility statement on
compliance with the accessibility requirement, and keep that statement under
regular review. It also sets out the requirement for a public sector body to
make a disproportionate burden assessment, and specifies the type of factors
that must be taken into account when making such an assessment. - Part 3 sets out the standards that a public sector body’s
website or mobile application must meet to be presumed to be in conformity with
the accessibility requirement. - Part 4 establishes the requirements for monitoring public
sector bodies’ compliance with the accessibility requirement, and for reporting
back to the European Commission on these findings. - Part 5 establishes the relevant enforcement bodies, and sets
out the framework for enforcement, including the procedure for assessing
accessibility statements. - The Schedule lists the specific requirements for the
Minister for the Cabinet Office’s report to the European Commission on the
outcome of the monitoring.
It must however be pointed out that the list of exemptions,
which is surprisingly wide, and the long lead times for some obligations hardly
chimes well with the stated purpose of the Directive. For example, the basic
compliance obligation does not bite until as late as June 2021 in some cases (reg
4(c)) and a public sector body need not comply with the accessibility
requirement ‘if doing so would impose a disproportionate burden on the public
sector body’ (reg 6(1)).
A darkly humorous note is provided by reg 9(2), which
requires that ‘no later than 23rd December 2021, and every three years
thereafter, the Minister for the Cabinet Office must submit a report to the
European Commission on the outcome of the monitoring [reg 9(1)]’.
