Legal framework - Digital Accessibility

Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public-sector bodies (external link) prescribes the accessibility of digital services provided by the public sector in the EU member states. In Austria, the Directive was adopted at the federal level as the Web Accessibility Act and at the regional level through nine corresponding regional laws.

The European Directive

The technical standard as defined by the Directive is the European standard "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services" version 3.2.1 (2021-03) (external link). These are the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA (external link) along with some additional criteria.

The publication of an accessibility statement is also required by law. The Commission Implementing Decision establishing a model accessibility statement in accordance with the Directive (external link) describes in detail what such a statement should look like, where it must be found and what content must be included.

The Directive provides for the use of monitoring and ombuds offices (complaints offices). Every three years, each member state must evaluate the data collected and publish a monitoring report. The Commission Implementing Decision establishing a monitoring methodology and the arrangements for reporting by Member States in accordance with the Directive (external link) provides all the necessary details.

The Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz

The federal government has adopted the Web-Zugänglichkeits-Gesetz (WZG) (external link) to incorporate the EU Directive into national legislation. The WZG states that the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) is to accompany Austria's path to digital accessibility and document it in the form of monitoring reports. To this end, the FFG examines federal websites and apps for their accessibility, draws up reports and collects reports from the nine federal provinces. The FFG also acts as a service centre, supporting users of websites and apps as well as public institutions in improving accessibility.

Scope of application and deadlines

The Web Accessibility Act applies to websites and apps

of the federal government and
of institutions that
- were founded for the special purpose of fulfilling tasks of a non-commercial nature that are in the public interest,
- have at least partial legal capacity and
- are predominantly financed by the federal government or other institutions within the meaning of this section, or which are subject to supervision by them regarding their management, or whose administrative, management or supervisory body consists mainly of members appointed by the federal government or other institutions within the meaning of this section.

The WZG does not apply to

office file formats that were published before 23 September 2018 and whose contents are not required for ongoing administrative procedures of the respective legal entity;
pre-recorded time-based media, such as video and audio media, published before 23 September 2020;
live time-based media;
online maps and mapping services, provided that essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use;
third-party content which is neither funded nor developed by the respective legal entity and is not subject to its control;
reproductions of items from cultural heritage collections that cannot be made fully accessible due to (1) the incompatibility of the accessibility requirements with the preservation of the item concerned or the authenticity of the reproduction, or (2) the unavailability of automated and cost-effective solutions that could easily extract text from manuscripts or other items from cultural heritage collections and convert it into content compatible with the accessibility requirements;
content that is only available to a closed group of people and not to the general public (extranets and intranets) and that was published before 23 September 2019, until such websites undergo a substantial revision;
websites and apps of schools, kindergartens or nurseries, with the exception of content relating to essential online administrative functions;
content that is considered an archive and therefore only contains content that is neither required for ongoing administrative procedures nor has been updated or edited after 23 September 2019;
content where meeting accessibility requirements would impose a disproportionate burden on the respective legal entity. When assessing the disproportionality of the burden, particular consideration shall be given to the size, economic capacity and nature of the entity; the estimated costs and benefits for the entity in question relative to the estimated benefits for persons with disabilities; and the frequency and duration of use of the website or app in question.

According to Directive (EU) 2016/2102, the accessibility requirements apply to federal government websites and apps:

from 23 September 2019 for websites published after 23 September 2018;
from 23 September 2020 for websites published before 23 September 2018;
from 23 June 2021 for all apps.

Sanctions

The EU Directive and the WZG do not prescribe sanctions or penalties.

The nine regional laws

The federal provinces have incorporated the directive into their regional legislation. This was achieved by amending existing laws and enacting new ones. The regional laws define the relevant monitoring and complaints offices. Just as the FFG is responsible at the federal level, the competent regional authorities are responsible for monitoring and operating complaints offices at the regional level.

Here are the links to the anti-discrimination and accessibility laws enacted by the individual federal provinces:

Further information

Click on the respective federal province to access further specific content on the applicable legal situation, contact points and additional relevant information.