Forward planning is important for accessibility management

By Lisa [dot] Hagsten [at] kommunikation [dot] lu [dot] se (Lisa Hagsten) - published 21 September 2020

The new law on accessibility to digital public services (EU Web Accessibility Directive) comes into effect as of 23 September. The aim is to increase digital accessibility for all users, including those who are disabled.

For Lund University, the new law means that the content of all LU’s websites – webpages, documents, video etc. – are to be accessible according to the international web standard WCAG 2.1 level A+AA. Both the technology and content are to be accessible.

The law also entails that each website is to have an accessibility statement that describes to what extent the website fulfils the legal requirements as well as how and when measures are planned to rectify inaccessible content on the website. The statement is also to have a function for reporting deficiencies regarding accessibility.

The regulatory authority for the new law is the Agency for Digital Government (DIGG).
Read more about regulatory work on the DIGG website (in Swedish).

Lund University has an estimated 1 000 different websites. Each head of unit has ultimate responsibility for the unit’s website and that the content complies with the existing laws and regulations, such as GDPR, copyright and accessibility. It is therefore the head of unit who is responsible for the publication of an accessibility statement on their own website by 23 September at the latest.

Support material

Support material for all web publicists at Lund University has now been produced at "Drupallathunden". This includes information about the accessibility statement.
Read about how to produce an accessibility statement – LU’s guide to web accessibility. (At the moment the information is only in Swedish.)

The new law regarding web accessibility affects many differ roles within the University, such as managers, teaching staff who produce educational material for the web, developers who code websites, managers of systems that are accessed via the web, communication officers who publish web pages and administrators who produce documents for the web. A university-wide project, the Web Accessibility Project, was initiated in the spring to support all these roles.

What are the responsibilities of the university-wide project for web accessibility?

“The project aims to support the entire University on accessibility management, for example through guides, templates, training and networks”, says LU’s communications director Caroline Runéus, who is the project owner.

“The project is not responsible for ensuring every unit is to get started on accessibility management or for websites, documents and systems to comply with legal requirements – that is the responsibility of each unit within LU.”

What is the situation regarding accessibility management at LU, as the law comes into effect on 23 September?

“The degree of progress on the accessibility adaptation of their websites, documents and systems varies between the different units – some have come a long way, whereas others have just started working on it”, says Caroline Runéus.

“Neither Lund nor probably any other higher education institution will have everything in place by 23 September. It is important to have forward planning and be able to inform people through the accessibility statement.”

“The accessibility adaptation involves time and resource-intensive work. However, it is important work that makes the University’s websites better and more user-friendly for everyone!”

Questions about web accessibility?

You are welcome to contact the project group for the university-wide Web Accessibility Project via tillganglighet [at] kommunikation [dot] lu [dot] se (tillganglighet[at]kommunikation[dot]lu[dot]se)