Norway: The government now decides how you create your web site
Beginning July 1st 2014 a new law comes to life in Norway that say that all websites must follow paragraph 11 in the Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act and the regulations that legislate the universal design of information and communication technology (ICT) in Norway.
Let me first of all say that I am not against the concept of universal design and creating websites that work for everyone. This is specially important for sites that is created to deal with information to the general public (hospitals, government sites, etc). In my eyes that’s a no-brainer.
So, disclaimer away – What is all this? From the governments point of view this is
Universal design means “designing, or accommodating, the main solution with regards to physical conditions, so that the solution may be used by as many people as possible,” regardless of disability.
And to accommodate this they created a law in 2013 that everyone must comply with when creating a web site after july 1th 2014, that contains text, images, video etc… The only sites excluded from this law are private (personal) web sites. But if you are a company and want at web site you must comply with §11.
The requirements are relevant for private businesses, organisations, and government agencies. They are applicable to websites and self-service machines. The use of social media, such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter, for non-commercial purposes are not covered by the regulations.
So, here comes the first question. How do you make your customer service Twitter account comply with this new legislation?
Web sites must follow these standards: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA is the standard for the universal design of websites. There are some exceptions regarding time-based media: 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded content), 1.2.4 Captions (Live content) and 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded content)
What does this do to your online training videos? your commercial YouTube channel? All radio channels that provide podcasts or live feeds?
The legislation dictates that all IT solutions must pass 35 of the 61 criteria of success in WCAG 2.0 – meaning all “A” and “AA” criteria except criteria 1.2.3, 1.2.4 and 1.2.5. You can read the 35 criteria here http://uu.difi.no/verktoy/sjekkliste/wcag-20-disse-kravene-gjelder if you can read norwegian. if not the information is not accessible, but you can find english translation to each and every WCAG 2.0 criteria in english at w3.org
It is not WACG 2.0 itself that are wrong here and it is an excellent guideline on how to create better accessible web sites for everyone, it is that Norway create a LAW that demand that if I’m not designing my website (colors / contrasts etc) the way the government want it to look, and tell me i MUST have an underline on my links, if not it is an illegal web site, I feel they’ve gone too far.
Also, This new law can in my view in a way to be seen as an anti-free speech law, creating an economic barrier that makes it too expensive for everyone to create audio with text transcripts and videos with sub texts for web publishing.
I have not found any information about how Difi can sanction websites or solutions that doesn’t comply with this law but I guess they’ll find a way.
The new law is in effect for all NEW solution from July 1, 2014 and for ALL sites from 2021. Content Management System providers has a big job ahead of them. I also find it a bit puzzling that noone i know that works with web front-end or graphic design of web sites has said anything. Download the color contrast analytics tool here to check if your site comply with the paragraph 1.4.1 about use of colors… http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastAnalyser This WILL have a larger impact on all singlepage sites and sites that uses responsive design.
Links
- WACG 2.0 from w3.org
- difi UU (norwegian)
