The Government's Commitment to digital accessibility

Background

Public-sector websites and mobile applications must be accessible to all users without discrimination, particularly people with disabilities.

To this end, Luxembourg ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006, which promotes access for persons with disabilities to information and communication technologies, in particular web and mobile accessibility. The Web Accessibility Initiative defines web accessibility as follows:

“Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. More specifically, people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities, for example older people with changing abilities due to ageing. Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including auditory, cognitive, neurological, physical, speech, and visual disabilities."

Digital accessibility thus improves quality of life by facilitating access to public services. As such, it is a government priority. The Information and Press Service (SIP) supports its implementation.

Responsibilities

The SIP is responsible for carrying out periodic accessibility checks on the websites and mobile applications of public-sector bodies. Regular reports on these checks are submitted to the European Commission. The SIP is also responsible for handling any complaints concerning the digital accessibility of websites or mobile applications, in consultation with the public-sector bodies concerned (see the “Complaints” section below).

The SIP also has a role in informing, raising awareness and training public-sector bodies on digital accessibility. As part of this role, it offers a Digital Accessibility Observatory and regularly publishes interviews and thematic articles on the Digital Accessibility Portal to make the subject easier to understand. Two courses are also available in the INAP catalogue: an introduction to digital accessibility and a course on creating accessible Office documents.

Complaints

If you encounter an accessibility issue on the website or mobile application of a Luxembourg public-sector body, please contact us using this complaint form. We will reply by email within one month. You can also report the issue directly to the public-sector body concerned via the “Accessibility Statement” page on its website, or contact the Ombudsman, Luxembourg’s independent complaints body for public authorities.

Legal framework and standards

At the European level, the accessibility requirement for public sector websites and applications is described in the 2016/2012 Directive. This directive has been implemented into the Luxembourgish law of 28 May 2019 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. Both the Luxembourgish law and the European directive are based on the European standard "EN301 549 V2.1.2 (2018-08) "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services" (Pdf) which provides harmonised technical accessibility requirements at the European level. For websites, this European standard officialises the recommendations of the W3C standard WCAG 2.1.  

Contact us

If you would like to find out more about this law or the resulting accessibility requirements, please contact us at accessibilite@sip.etat.lu.