Digital accessibility portal

Two new voices for reading Luxembourgish

2026-03-30T00:00:00.000Z

Two new voices for reading Luxembourgish

In three months, Mia and Mil have learnt a great deal. They now have a good command of Luxembourgish and are familiar with the most common screen readers. Here's how to get started with them.

Photo: Dominique Nauroy

One female voice, one male voice, both equally adept at reading out texts written in Luxembourgish, available on computers and smartphones: this is a first that the SIP invites you to try out today.

The result of nearly a year's work, Mia and Mil have been through their paces: first a stint at the Zenter fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch, where they rapidly learnt 70,000 Luxembourgish words; then some rigorous coaching at LouderPages, a publisher with expertise in speech synthesis - LouderPages has produced several speech synthesis systems for languages as diverse as Nepali, Turkmen and Tswana; and finally, a validation of their skills by testers at the Centre for the Development of Visual Skills (CDV). Throughout this time, we at the Information and Press Service (SIP) played the role of parents.

Mil and Mia introduce themselves

Transcript

Moien, mäin Numm ass Mil.

Ech schwätzen Lëtzebuergesch.

Je parle aussi français.

Ich kann auch ein bisschen Deutsch.

I am the English voice, I am here to assist Mil for the English language.

Mia

Hallo, ech sinn d'Mia, ech sinn déi zweet Lëtzebuerger Stëmm vum "Screen Reader LB" Projet.

In January, Mia and Mil were introduced to the wider world: anyone could install the voices and suggest improvements. This feedback from early adopters was monitored right through to the end of the beta testing phase, which concluded today.

We were keen to offer you two voices that were as close to perfect as possible. However, there were many challenges. In addition to the specificities of the Luxembourgish language, we also had to ensure the ability to correctly pronounce passages in French, English or German within the same text. To this end, additional dictionaries were developed.

Every detail matters: how do you pronounce a date correctly? An emoji? An acronym? We are used to hearing 'C-G-DIS'. These voices must therefore be guided through specific dictionaries, which will teach them to pronounce 'SIGI', 'TICE' or 'ANLux' just as we do in Luxembourg. The same applies to first names - Paulette, Emil, João... - and certain surnames, from Bertemes to Zendaya, via Grethen and Weydert.

Reading an article on music theory reform

Transcript

De Museksunterecht zu Lëtzebuerg gëtt moderniséiert: Reform vum Solfège ab 2026

Heading level one

Communiqué

Created on

19/01/2026

19 January 2026

Aktualiséiert den 20/01/2026

20/01/2026

De Museksunterrecht ass e wichtege Pilier vum lëtzebuergeschen Educatiounssystem. Fir d'Inhalter an d'pedagogesch Approchen ze moderniséieren an un déi aktuell Entwécklungen unzepassen, gëtt eng Reform vum Museksunterrecht op de Wee bruecht, mat engem besonnesche Fokus op d'Branche vun der Formation musicale (FM), allgemeng Solfège genannt. Déi grouss Linne vun dëser Reform goufen den 19. Januar 2026 bei enger Pressekonferenz vum Minister fir Educatioun, Kanner a Jugend, Claude Meisch, an der Micky Thein, Koordinatorin vum Aarbechtsgrupp, dee fir d'Reform vum Solfège zoustänneg ass, presentéiert.

Today, these two voices are responsive, can reproduce text at high speed and operate without ever needing to communicate with a remote server: in this way, immediacy and confidentiality are both ensured.

In addition to the screen reader function, these voices can also be used to read text aloud (the 'Read Aloud' function) on macOS, using the system's 'Speak Selection' accessibility feature, and on Windows with third-party tools such as Balabolka or the 'Read Aloud' browser extension.

Mia and Mil are available on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. Guides have been written for each platform, in four languages. We recommend that you read them before installing RHVoice and the Luxembourgish voices on your phone, tablet, or computer.

For Windows

The voices can interface with NVDA and JAWS screen readers.

For macOS and iOS

The voices interface with VoiceOver.

For Android

Voices interface with TalkBack.

Finally, if you'd like to contribute to the project, you have two options:

send us examples of pronunciation to be improved, providing the source of the document and the conditions of use (computer or mobile device, screen reader, selected voice);
get involved as a developer in the project, which is published entirely as Open source on GitHub:

Fancy taking part in one of these projects? We invite you to contact the SIP, and we'll discuss your project.

We would like to thank the Ministry for Digitalisation, which, as part of the Tech-in-Gov 2025 call for projects, selected our proposal: it is primarily thanks to this funding that Mia and Mil became, a year later, a concrete reality - one that will require ongoing support: perfecting a voice is a task that never ends.

Taub oder schwerhörig in einem mehrsprachigen Land: Willkommen in Luxemburg

2026-02-26T00:00:00.000Z

Taub oder schwerhörig in einem mehrsprachigen Land: Willkommen in Luxemburg

Jackie Winandy, Gründerin der Vereinigung Daaflux, gibt Einblick in den Alltag von gehörlosen und schwerhörigen Menschen im Großherzogtum. Was sind die größten Hindernisse? Und gibt es Fortschritte bei der Berücksichtigung ihrer Beeinträchtigung?

Foto : Getty Images / istockphoto.com / AegeanBlue

"Sie erfüllen die Anforderungen in den drei Verwaltungssprachen. Sehr gute Englischkenntnisse sind von Vorteil." Solche Formulierungen sind in luxemburgischen Stellenanzeigen allgegenwärtig. Anforderungen, die für viele kaum zu bewältigen scheinen. Für betroffene Menschen in Luxemburg ist der Weg jedoch noch deutlich schwieriger.

In den Nachbarländern gibt es in der Regel eine dominante Verwaltungssprache. Das schafft mehr Klarheit und erleichtert vieles im Alltag. In Luxemburg kommen zu bestehenden Kommunikationsbarrieren zusätzliche sprachliche Hürden hinzu.

Offizielle Informationen, die ausschließlich auf Französisch oder Englisch verfügbar sind, stellen ein erhebliches Hindernis dar – insbesondere im Kontakt mit Behörden, im Gesundheitswesen und bei digitalen Angeboten.

In Luxemburg gibt es nur eine Schule für gehörlose Kinder. Dort lernen viele zuerst Deutsch. Deshalb spielt die deutsche Schriftsprache im Alltag eine große Rolle.

Für die Kommunikation ist jedoch die Deutsche Gebärdensprache zentral. Gehörlose Menschen brauchen Gebärdensprache, um Inhalte vollständig zu verstehen und sich präzise auszudrücken. Lippenlesen funktioniert nur eingeschränkt und hängt stark von der Situation, der Aussprache und den Lichtverhältnissen ab. Viele Gehörlose verstehen lange oder komplexe Texte in deutscher Schriftsprache nur schwer, da Deutsch für sie oft eine Zweitsprache ist.

Technische Hilfsmittel und kurze schriftliche Notizen unterstützen die Verständigung, sie ersetzen die Gebärdensprache nicht. Auch Menschen mit Cochlea-Implantat nutzen häufig visuelle Unterstützung oder Gebärdensprache und brauchen gute akustische Bedingungen sowie eine deutliche Aussprache.

Französisch sowie Englisch oder andere Sprachen in der Schule fallen vielen hörgeschädigten oder gehörlosen Kindern schwer, wenn sie diese Sprachen zu Hause nicht nutzen.

Viele gehörlose Kinder wurden nach Deutschland geschickt, insbesondere nach Bad Camberg in Hessen, wo sie spezielle Schulen für gehörlose Kinder besuchten. Auch deshalb ist Deutsch bis heute die zentrale Bildungs- und Alltagssprache der Gemeinschaft gehörloser Menschen in Luxemburg.

Heute betreut das Centre de logopédie in Strassen mehr als 300 Schülerinnen und Schüler im spezialisierten Unterricht, darunter rund 40 mit einer Hörbeeinträchtigung. [Anm. d. Red.: Spezialisierte ambulante Maßnahmen ermöglichen eine Förderung direkt im normalen Unterricht, ohne die Schülerinnen und Schüler aus ihrem gewohnten schulischen Umfeld herauszunehmen.] Dies stellt für viele hörgeschädigte Kinder und Kinder mit Cochlea-Implantat eine wichtige Unterstützung dar. Allerdings ist diese Begleitung nicht über die gesamte Unterrichtsdauer hinweg gewährleistet.

Diese Schülerinnen und Schüler lernen in der Regel Luxemburgisch, Deutsch und Französisch. Der Erwerb weiterer Fremdsprachen stellt sie jedoch vor große Herausforderungen. Französisch wird in der Grundschule unterrichtet, Englisch später im Sekundarbereich. Sind die Eltern selbst gehörlos, gestaltet sich der Zugang zu Fremdsprachen häufig noch schwieriger. Infolgedessen versteht nur eine Minderheit der schwerhörigen Menschen – mit unterschiedlichem Grad an Beherrschung – auch Luxemburgisch. Englisch spielt im Alltag lediglich eine untergeordnete Rolle.

Für viele gehörlose Menschen ist sie die Sprache, die sie am besten verstehen – selbst wenn Deutsch für einige von ihnen als Fremdsprache gilt.

Derzeit stehen in ganz Luxemburg lediglich drei Dolmetscherinnen und Dolmetscher für Deutsche Gebärdensprache zur Verfügung – ein deutlich unzureichendes Angebot. Viele gehörlose Menschen orientieren sich daher nach Deutschland, wo sie ein breites kulturelles Angebot in Gebärdensprache und deutscher Sprache vorfinden. Auch Bildung in deutscher Sprache und Gebärdensprache ist dort leichter zugänglich, ebenso wie medizinische Konsultationen oder Krankenhausaufenthalte: So lassen sich Menschen mit Cochlea-Implantat häufig in Deutschland operieren und behandeln. Dort gibt es spezialisierte Zentren mit großer Erfahrung sowie entsprechend ausgebildete Ärztinnen und Ärzte, Logopädinnen und Logopäden und Technikerinnen und Techniker.

Auf Webseiten und in Apps des öffentlichen Dienstes gibt es zahlreiche digitale Barrieren: Videos ohne Untertitel, fehlende Transkriptionen, einsprachige Inhalte sowie ein nur begrenztes Angebot in Gebärdensprache und in Leichter Sprache. Zudem gibt es kaum Alternativen zur telefonischen Kontaktaufnahme, etwa Live-Chats, E-Mail-Kommunikation oder Videokommunikation mit Unterstützung in Deutscher Gebärdensprache. [Anm. d. Red.: Für Webseiten und Apps des öffentlichen Dienstes sind Untertitel und Transkriptionen gesetzlich vorgeschrieben; zudem wird empfohlen, Informationen auch auf Deutsch oder in Leichter Sprache bereitzustellen.]

Dennoch sind Fortschritte erkennbar: mehr Untertitel – wenn auch nicht immer fehlerfrei – sowie mehr Inhalte in deutscher Sprache. Im privaten Sektor wird Barrierefreiheit von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen bislang kaum berücksichtigt. Größere Unternehmen setzen entsprechende Maßnahmen zumindest teilweise um.

Deaf or hard of hearing in a multilingual country: welcome to Luxembourg

2026-02-26T00:00:00.000Z

Deaf or hard of hearing in a multilingual country: welcome to Luxembourg

Jackie Winandy, founder of the Daaflux association, sheds light on the daily lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the Grand Duchy. What are the main obstacles they face? Do they see any improvement in the way their disability is taken into account?

Photo : Getty Images / istockphoto.com / AegeanBlue

"You meet the language requirements for the three administrative languages. Fluency in English is an asset." These lines are commonplace in job advertisements in Luxembourg. For many, these requirements seem like a difficult challenge to meet. The path is even more difficult for deaf and hard-of-hearing people living in Luxembourg.

In neighbouring countries, there is generally one dominant administrative language. This provides greater clarity and reduces barriers in everyday life. In Luxembourg, language barriers add to existing communication barriers.

Official information available only in French or English is a considerable obstacle to everyday communication, particularly in contacts with the authorities, in the field of health and in digital services.

In Luxembourg, there is only one school for deaf children. Many of them learn German first. This is why written German plays an important role in everyday life.

However, German sign language is essential for communication. Deaf people need sign language to fully understand content and express themselves accurately. Lip reading only works to a limited extent and is highly dependent on the situation, pronunciation and lighting conditions. Many deaf people find it difficult to understand long or complex texts in written German, as German is often their second language.

Technical aids and brief written notes facilitate communication, but are no substitute for sign language. Even people with cochlear implants often rely on visual aids or sign language and need good acoustic conditions and clear pronunciation.

French, English and other languages taught at school are difficult for many hearing-impaired or deaf children if they do not use them at home.

Indeed, many deaf children were sent to Germany, particularly to Bad Camberg in the state of Hesse, to attend schools for deaf children. This is also why German remains the main language of education and everyday life for the deaf community in Luxembourg today.

Today, the Centre de logopédie, based in Strassen, caters for more than 300 pupils in specialised education, including around 40 with hearing impairments. [Editor's note: Specialised outpatient interventions allow for direct care within the mainstream classroom, without removing the pupil from their usual school environment.] This provides support for many hearing-impaired children and children with cochlear implants, but this support is not provided throughout the entire school day.

These pupils generally learn Luxembourgish, German and French. However, learning foreign languages poses great difficulties for them. French is taught in primary school, and English later in secondary school. When parents are deaf, access to foreign languages is often even more difficult. As a result, only a minority of hearing-impaired people also understand Luxembourgish, with varying degrees of proficiency. English plays only a minor role in everyday life.

For many deaf people, it is the most understandable language, even though some of them may consider German to be a foreign language.

Currently, there are three German sign language interpreters available in the whole of Luxembourg: this is clearly insufficient. As a result, many deaf people turn to Germany, where they find a wide range of cultural activities in sign language and German. Education in German and sign language is also more accessible there, as are medical consultations and hospital stays: people with cochlear implants often have surgery and treatment in Germany. This country has specialised centres with extensive experience and doctors, speech therapists and technicians trained for this purpose.

There are many digital barriers on public service Websites and mobile apps: videos without subtitles, transcripts unavailable, monolingual content, limited sign language and easy language options, and few alternatives to telephone contact (such as live chat, email or video communication with sign language interpretation). [Editor's note: for public service websites and apps, subtitles and transcripts for videos are a legal requirement; it is also recommended that information be published in German or easy-to-read language.]

However, progress is being made: there are more subtitles (though not always accurate) and more content in German. In the private sector, SMEs pay little attention to accessibility. Large companies tend to implement it, at least partially.

Accessibility frameworks: spring cleaning before the big facelift

2026-02-06T00:00:00.000Z

Accessibility frameworks: spring cleaning before the big facelift

2026 will be a pivotal year for our accessibility assessment frameworks. The revision at the beginning of this year paves the way for a more extensive update, which will incorporate the update to the European standard.

Screenshot of the GitHub repository ReferentielAccessibiliteWeb

The web and PDF accessibility frameworks, RAWeb and RAPDF, are both moving to version 1.1. This update is necessary following their introduction in 2024 and 2023 respectively.

The primary objective was to incorporate the numerous comments received from the community, which remains very active. The main purpose of these comments is to make the criteria, tests and methodologies more consistent where ambiguity may remain, but also to remove references to technologies that are no longer in use.

Together, this revamp, reviewed by the community, has led to the following advances:

Support for the European Accessibility Act (EAA)
Simplification and clarification of ambiguities
Updating of obsolete techniques (e.g. Internet Explorer)
Updating of WCAG correspondences

The work covered a total of 33 criteria and 26 glossary entries (not including work related to mapping).

All changes are documented in the RAWeb 1.1 changelog.

The support of the EAA, particularly for criteria dedicated to videos, allows this framework to be used outside the strict frame of Luxembourg public domain websites.

In addition, certain criteria, tests, methodological elements and glossary items have been rewritten in order to be summarised following the removal of certain requirements (test 1.2.4, for example), or enriched to clarify the meaning (methodologies for criterion 3.1 in particular). New glossary items have been added, such as Document, Cryptic Content and Computed Role.

Simplification and clarification of ambiguities
Removal of screen reader-based tests
Addition of PDF/UA-2 correspondences

The work covered a total of 9 criteria and 4 glossary entries (not including work related to mapping).

All changes are documented in the RAPDF 1.1 changelog.

The testing methodology has been streamlined so that a screen reader is no longer required for evaluation, with tests now based on two tools: Acrobat Reader and PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC).

The technical framework is therefore slightly more concise, even though it now includes PDF/UA-2 mapping for each criterion.

These updates allow us to accommodate changes to the European standard, EN 301 549, which is due to be upgraded to version 4.1.1 in autumn. This version of the standard incorporates, among other things, version 2.2 of WCAG. It also offers a much broader scope, allowing for the evaluation of a wide range of goods and services (bank counters, transport ticket machines, e-books, etc.), a task dedicated to OSAPS in Luxembourg.

WCAG 2.2 was published on 5 October 2023. A lot has happened since then, so why wait another year before seeing it transposed into our frameworks? In Luxembourg, as in all EU Member States, the web accessibility directive, which governs the accessibility of public websites, is based on European standard EN 301 549. The version of the standard currently in force is version 3.2.1, published in March 2021, which still refers to WCAG 2.1, as WCAG 2.2 had not yet been published at that time. EN 301 549 v3.2.1 is a harmonised standard, all Member States have agreed to apply it, and this version has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. Having the same level of requirements across Europe makes it possible to create a single market for companies active in the fields of the web, mobile technology and accessibility. Going beyond the requirements of the current standard by implementing the new features of WCAG 2.2 would be contrary to the objective of a single European market. We must therefore wait for the new version of the European standard to be published in the Official Journal of the EU before considering the new features of WCAG 2.2. This publication is scheduled for October.

However, the SIP's mission will continue to be limited to accessibility assessment tools for the web, mobile applications and PDF documents. Our three frameworks - RAWeb, RAAM and RAPDF - will therefore undergo a major overhaul this autumn. RAWeb 2 and RAAM 2 are scheduled for publication in early January 2027.

In addition, we remain attentive to the community and are keen to include your suggestions for improving these frameworks on a regular basis.

Digital accessibility gets its own observatory

2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

Digital accessibility gets its own observatory

We are pleased to present the latest website designed and managed by the Information and Press Service: the Digital Accessibility Observatory, which aims to provide you with all the latest data on accessibility, updated frequently.

Photo by Lacheev on iStock

An annual summary of the state of digital accessibility in Luxembourg's public services is what the Digital Accessibility Portal has offered you so far. It was possible to go further and make better use of the data collected since 2021: this has now been done. As of yesterday, the Digital Accessibility Observatory is online.

Here is what it will provide you with:

Accurate and comparative data on
- audits conducted by the Information and press service (SIP);
- accessibility statements;
- mediations conducted by SIP;
- and the most frequently identified non-compliances.
These data will be updated frequently, and those already available provide a history covering the last five years: it is therefore easy to see how compliance has evolved, by platform or by administrative level.

Like the Digital Accessibility Portal, the Observatory is available in two languages: French and English.

Accessibility ranking

The accessibility ranking, which is the first module to appear on the home page, reflects the ongoing efforts made by the public administration to promote digital accessibility. It is easy to compare scores from one year to the next and from one platform to another.

But above all, this information is intended for people with disabilities: here, they can directly find references to websites and mobile apps that they know they will be able to access without too many problems.

Selecting a website or app takes you to a page where all the details of the audit are broken down. Better still, if this website or app has been audited elsewhere, particularly in previous years, you can access this information with a single click.

Distribution of compliance rates

This 'distribution of compliance rates' view, which uses the same data but segments it into percentiles, is undoubtedly the most suitable for tracking accessibility trends since the first audits in 2021. Here too, it is possible to display the sites listed in each column and access the assessment details.

Compliance rates by administrative level

Is there a noticeable difference between the state, municipal and public law levels? This question is answered by the module 'compliance rate by administrative level', which also offers historical research.

Accessibility statements

Essential for people with disabilities and mandatory under the law of 28 May 2019, accessibility statements are nevertheless rare: barely one in two websites has a complete and up-to-date statement, and one in ten apps (see the 'statements' page). The hope is that this legal obligation will gradually be better respected.

Non-compliance

What is wrong with the design or editorial content in the pages of a website or in the screens of a mobile app? Where are the main digital barriers? Videos, page structure, forms, images, office documents...: where should the focus be in terms of staff training? Are the same obstacles encountered year after year? This 'non-compliance' page was designed to answer these questions. Here, the criteria of the reference frameworks have all been summarised and simplified, but experts can follow a link to the relevant reference framework in each case.

Mediations

One of the key elements of an accessibility statement is a contact address for questions relating to digital accessibility. Sometimes, dialogue between citizens and the administration does not progress satisfactorily, which is why the SIP, like the Ombudsman, acts as a mediator. Consequently, the 'mediations' page shows, for each year, the number of requests submitted to the SIP and, in parallel, the number of accessible responses provided by the administration.

One of the main challenges in creating this observatory was its accessibility. Indeed, this website focuses heavily on data visualisations, which are relatively complex to make accessible. We had a full audit of the website carried out in accordance with RAWeb, and the website is now fully compliant.

For the time being, the audits conducted by the SIP constitute the raw material for the Observatory. However, the SIP wishes to eventually open it up to audits carried out by other public administrations in Luxembourg. This will provide an opportunity for additional, enriched and regularly updated information.

This platform is, of course, likely to evolve. If you have any feedback or requests on this subject, please do not hesitate to contact us.

This project, supported and funded by the Ministry for Digitalisation, was made possible thanks to the Tech-in-Gov programme.

2025: the government's good scores are no fluke

2026-01-30T00:00:00.000Z

2025: the government's good scores are no fluke

Analysis of the 2025 accessibility audit campaign provides rather reassuring news regarding compliance with digital accessibility on public websites, particularly those belonging to the government.

Image by bilalulker on iStock

This is a trend we hope will never slow down: since 2021, public websites have been increasingly compliant with digital accessibility rules. Their compliance rate, which stood at 44% in 2021 and 61% in 2024, rose to 66% last year.

This average is based on the sixteen websites that underwent a full audit. The progress observed is not solely the result of a few frontrunners pushing up the average rate: only four websites failed to reach 50%, i.e. partial compliance; there were six in 2024 in a comparable sample.

Admittedly, few websites achieve full compliance, a goal enshrined in the May 2019 law, but the trajectory is reassuring.

Description of graph 1

This bar chart shows sixteen public websites targeted for comprehensive audits in 2025, listed in descending order of compliance with RAWeb criteria, from the Digital Accessibility Observatory (100%) to snhbm.lu (39%).

Below 50%, a website is not considered accessible. That is 4 out of 16 websites audited.

Similarly, apps have recovered after two difficult years (43% then 37% in 2023-2024). With a compliance rate of 48%, they are back to almost the same level as in 2022. This recovery is therefore to be welcomed, even if there is still a long way to go.

Finally, the average score of simplified audits has increased by one point compared to 2024, to 62%. Each year, in addition to the two web and mobile campaigns, the Information and press service (SIP) carries out around 100 site audits, based on small numbers of pages to be tested and criteria to be evaluated.

Description of graph 2

This bar chart shows the average levels of compliance according to whether the site belongs to the state (74%), the local level (municipalities, municipal unions, etc.&# 8239;: 57%) or other level (public institutions and similar bodies : 59%), among 93 public sites targeted for simplified audits in 2025.

Due to their number, these simplified audits allow conclusions to be drawn by administrative level. State websites perform particularly well (74%, compared with 57% for local authorities and 59% for public bodies). These proportions have remained largely unchanged from one year to the next. The figures are more flattering than those from full audits, which is understandable given the more limited scope of the assessment. However, they reflect a consistent focus on digital accessibility on the part of the development teams responsible for government websites.

Accessibility statements, on the other hand, fare poorly. They are essential for specifying the compliance status of a website or app and provide valuable information to people with disabilities, who can find out the details of non-compliance and contact the organisation if necessary.

However, among the websites listed by SIP, only half of them have an accessibility statement that was updated less than three years ago. This is far too few, and the situation is even more alarming for mobile applications: only 10% have an updated statement.

When a request relating to accessibility is submitted to an administration, SIP may act as a mediator: this happened six times last year. In two out of three cases, an accessible solution was provided within a month, a slightly better score than in 2024.

Launched on 2 February, the Digital Accessibility Observatory aims to better highlight the efforts made by public actors in support of this cause. It compiles data from more than 550 audits conducted since 2021 and provides tools for understanding the major trends in this field. To find out more, we invite you to read our introductory article.

Be part of the Luxembourgish screen reader adventure

2026-01-19T00:00:00.000Z

Be part of the Luxembourgish screen reader adventure

This is the latest development at the start of the year: Mia and Mil, two new voices to reproduce texts in Luxembourgish as faithfully as possible. Come and see how you can help us get to grips with them.

Photo by agrobacter on iStock

Screen readers are practical, even essential for blind people, but they are not without their flaws. For example, many languages are still missing. For Luxembourgish, the SIP offers a solution available today in beta testing to enable blind or visually impaired people to obtain the most accurate reproduction of digital content possible.

This solution consists of two voices – a female voice, Mia, and a male voice, Mil – which have been trained to reproduce texts written in Luxembourgish as accurately as possible. These voices are also capable of reading a few words or parts of sentences in French, as is often found in texts written in Luxembourgish.

These new voices are available via the RHVoice application, which has long provided synthesized voices that are not always integrated into major operating systems. The RHVoice application works on four environments: Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

After a development phase, initial tests were carried out to evaluate the two voices. They are now sufficiently refined for us to present them to you. However, they still need some fine-tuning, which is why we are calling for contributions until 31 March 2026. So be one of the pioneers and help make these voices even more realistic!

How can you help?

We need your feedback on specific points:

Any difficulties encountered when installing RHVoice or using speech synthesis;
Words in Luxembourgish, French or English that are not pronounced correctly;
Numbers, abbreviations and special characters whose voice output could be improved.

Please send your results to accessibilite@sip.etat.lu with the title "screen reader tests" by 31 March. Each time, please specify the context of the test, i.e. the operating system, the screen reader used, the voice selected and the content read (e.g. the Website URL). Spread the word!

You will quickly see progress: every month, an updated version of the application and voices will be released, incorporating new fixes.

Based on your feedback, the SIP will be able to improve the two voices, but not the RHVoice application (its features, usability, etc.), as it is not developed or updated by the SIP.

Guides have been written for each platform in four languages. We recommend that you read them before installing RHVoice and the Luxembourgish voices on your phone, tablet or computer.

For Windows

The voices can interface with NVDA and JAWS screen readers.

Pour macOS et iOS

The voices interface with VoiceOver.

For Android

The voices interface with TalkBack.

This is a Tech-in-Gov project, supported and funded by the Ministry for Digitalisation, which took place during the second half of 2025, following the selection of LouderPages, a specialist in the field who contributes to the RHVoice solution. The SIP was also able to count on the support of the CDV, which produced the first user tests and provided numerous corrective suggestions. The ZLS is also one of the key players: it provided central elements of the speech synthesis and supported us throughout the project on issues of prosody, grammar and lexicon..

CAPTCHA, when security takes precedence over accessibility

2025-09-22T00:00:00.000Z

CAPTCHA, when security takes precedence over accessibility

According to the latest WebAIM survey of screen reader users, CAPTCHAs are still the number one accessibility issue for this audience. We take a look at this technology and its impact on accessibility in general and in Luxembourg in particular.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

A CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) is a test whose purpose is to differentiate human users from robots.

CAPTCHAs are most often used to prevent:

spam on forms that allow users to enter information without authentication;
Website scraping, i.e., the automatic extraction of data from web pages;
Certain brute force attacks (e.g., searching for an account password by rapidly trying a large number of possible passwords).

The classic CAPTCHA is a visual test that displays distorted text in an image, and requires the user to copy the contents of this image into a form field. This vision-based test is, of course, inaccessible to people with visual impairments unless it is accompanied by an alternative, such as audio (e.g., RAWeb criterion 1.5).

Example of a visual CAPTCHA (source Wikipedia)

Because this test is particularly vulnerable to advances in AI, it is used less and less frequently, and other types of CAPTCHAs have been developed, such as tests requiring object recognition:

Screenshot of ReCAPTCHA v2

According to the latest WebAIM study conducted among screen reader user in 2024, CAPTCHAs remain the number one accessibility issue on the web for blind and visually impaired users.

Depending on the type of CAPTCHA, they can also be a problem for people who are deaf or hard of hearing (audio CAPTCHA), with motor disabilities (CAPTCHAs requiring fine motor skills to align images), or with cognitive disabilities (calculations, puzzles, etc.). Even in terms of user experience in general, this is problematic because the goal is to solve a technical problem by relying on the user, without providing any compensation.

An increasing number of CAPTCHAs attempt to detect bots transparently, that is, by analyzing browser characteristics and interaction patterns (e.g., mouse movements) to see if they correspond to what is expected of a normal user. This approach can, of course, cause problems, especially if the definition of a "normal" user does not include people with disabilities. A user of assistive technology does not navigate in the same way as a user without assistive technology. For example, screen reader users generally do not use a mouse but a keyboard to navigate the web. The CAPTCHA must therefore handle these cases and avoid discriminating against users based on their disability.

Furthermore, CAPTCHAs are most often located on the critical path of an online process, for example, on a registration form. In this case, an inaccessible CAPTCHA blocks access to the service for an entire category of the population based on their disability.

As is often mentioned, in Luxembourg, this represents 15% of the population, according to the latest STATEC study on the subject.

To better understand the situation on Luxembourg public websites, we conducted a study in September 2025 using our tool capable of detecting 13 CAPTCHA solutions on the market. Out of 821 websites tested, we detected 101 sites that featured a CAPTCHA on at least one page, or approximately one in eight. Specifically, the following solutions were detected:

reCAPTCHA on 98 sites
Friendly Captcha on 2 sites
hCaptcha on 1 site

Of course, it is possible that other types of CAPTCHAs are present and have not been detected. We have also manually detected inaccessible CAPTCHAs on other public websites, but this manual search makes it difficult to conduct a study on all pages of public websites known to our services.

Example of an inaccessible visual CAPTCHA detected on a public website

You can find the results of this study on data.public.lu.

These CAPTCHAs are mainly present on the websites of municipalities and associations of municipalities (37), and public and related institutions (58). Central government websites (6) are generally spared, which shows that other solutions exist.

The vast majority of the websites on which we detected a CAPTCHA use Google's reCAPTCHA solution. This solution is effective but controversial due to its use of each visitor's personal data and requires consent in Europe to comply with the GDPR.

There are three different versions of reCAPTCHA:

v3, which is transparent, meaning it does not require any user interaction;
v2 with a checkbox, which is well-known because it requires object recognition (crossings, fire hydrants, etc.);
v2 invisible, which is similar to v3.

We cannot recommend using v2 because, according to the W3C's “Inaccessibility of CAPTCHA” note, it has recently suffered regressions in terms of accessibility, whether in terms of keyboard navigation or audio alternatives.

Since v3 is transparent, it does not pose any accessibility issues in itself. Problems can arise when reCAPTCHA v3 is not certain that the user is human, leaving it up to the site manager to manage this situation, which may lead the site to display a traditional inaccessible CAPTCHA or block the user.

While the transparent CAPTCHA approach is attractive, every website manager must conduct accessibility tests to ensure that users with disabilities are not at risk of being systematically blocked by these devices.

Among the 98 websites using the reCAPTCHA solution, we detected 53 sites featuring an interactive mode with object recognition provided by a v2 of reCAPTCHA. Therefore, currently, more than half of the CAPTCHAs on public sites pose accessibility problems.

Many services called CAPTCHA solvers now exist to solve CAPTCHAs for a fee. Some blind people also use the services of certain LLM programs with adequate prompts to solve CAPTCHAs, with a high success rate.

Given the limited effectiveness of CAPTCHAs, depending on the use case, other security measures may be more suitable for protecting your website while limiting the impact on users. For example, this could be a spam filter for a contact form, or a Web Application Firewall to generally protect your website from malicious requests.

The W3C, in its note “Inaccessibility of CAPTCHA”, discusses a whole series of state-of-the-art approaches that can meet these security needs without having the same negative impact on accessibility. Two types of approaches are considered:

Interactive approaches, in which the user must perform an action to prove they are human. These approaches include multi-device authentication, somewhat similar to what is done in two-factor authentication on a website, or cryptographic identity verification, a concept developed by Cloudflare, for example, as an alternative to CAPTCHAs;
Non-interactive approaches, which include most of the transparent CAPTCHAs mentioned above. The W3C note details different approaches (e.g., honeypot, proof-of-work) that can be combined with each other without any user impact.

A new family of CAPTCHAs is based on the proof-of-work approach (e.g., Friendly Captcha, Cap, mCaptcha, etc.) and generally yields good results in terms of both accessibility and privacy. This approach does not require any interaction, although some CAPTCHAs still require you to check a box saying "I'm not a robot." The underlying principle is to have your computer perform difficult cryptographic calculations. For a user, these calculations will take a few seconds. For a robot, if these calculations must be performed regularly, their cost will be prohibitive.

CAPTCHAs are often implemented on contact forms. Since the entry into force, on June 28, 2025, of the law of March 8, 2023 on the accessibility of products and services, these contact forms can be considered electronic communication services. Under these conditions, an inaccessible CAPTCHA on a contact page could render this service non-compliant and could expose any public or private sector organization to sanctions.

Please do not hesitate to contact the competent oversight body for the accessibility of products and services, OSAPS, if you have any questions about this.

Furthermore, CAPTCHAs that test cognitive functions will no longer be permitted on public sector websites and apps in the next update of the European standard EN 301 549, which will be published in 2026. This standard will include the new WCAG 2.2 success criterion "Accessible Authentication (Minimum)."

The principle behind this criterion is to avoid cognitive tests (puzzles, calculations) that are not accompanied, for example, by an alternative or assistance.

Screenshot of MyGuichet (September 2025)

Visual CAPTCHAs that require object recognition are an exception to this criterion. These will, however, require a non-visual alternative.

In Luxembourg, approximately one in eight public websites we tested contains a CAPTCHA. More than half of the CAPTCHAs on public websites pose accessibility issues. While some proposed solutions have a low user impact (transparent CAPTCHAs, proof-of-work), it is nevertheless the responsibility of each site manager to ensure that people with disabilities will not be blocked by these devices.

If you think you may need a CAPTCHA, consider using other security systems. If you are certain that CAPTCHAs are the solution to your needs, in this case, prioritize transparent solutions and conduct tests with assistive technologies and possibly with the users concerned to ensure their compatibility.

Explaining in simple words isn't as easy as it seems

2025-04-22T00:00:00.000Z

Explaining in simple words isn't as easy as it seems

Since 2012, Klaro's mission has been to make documents, primarily administrative ones, understandable to everyone. This exercise, which goes beyond rewording, is far from child's play.

In 2011, Luxembourg signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A year later, Klaro, the Competence Center for Easy Language, was born. Today, three people work there part-time. Their main mission: to inform, raise awareness, and train in Easy Language.

Christopher Schmitt and Béa Brosius in the Klaro offices. Photo : Dominique Nauroy

Easy Read (leichte Sprache in Germany or its French equivalent FALC) goes beyond a simplified version of a given text. It involves adhering to a set of rules proposed by Inclusion Europe. These rules can be refined based on the nuances and specificities of each language.

What do these rules say? Some examples: one idea per sentence, short sentences, bulleted lists, examples from everyday life, no metaphors, abbreviations, or hyphenations, no difficult words unless they are clearly explained, preferring positive over negative expressions... In addition to these writing rules, there are also other specific principles for page layout and structuring information, the Web, and even videos.

An administrative document is generally written at a language level of B2 to C1, explain Christopher Schmitt and Béa Brosius. Easy Language is equivalent to an A1 language level, or the level of a basic user. This allows people with intellectual disabilities to understand the information in front of them. It also offers the same opportunity to people who are not comfortable with French or German, adds Ms. Brosius.

But the process cannot be summed up as a translation: The choice of words and turns of phrase is not everything. You may have superfluous elements in a brochure that don't provide any information in the context of the subject, and conversely you may be missing elements of context. More than simply reformulating, it's a question of optimising the initial text with a view to the purpose for which it is intended, explains Georg Ernst.

An example: Klaro released a guide during the last election. It showed how to vote. If a mistake is made when marking the ballot, citizens can feel helpless or even scared. We wanted to clarify this situation to reassure and provide all the information, says Schmitt.

An Easy-to-Read document generally takes up more space and more pages than the original version: sentences are short, one sentence per line should be used if possible, the text has more breathing room with more generous line spacing, and the font size is sometimes larger. Beyond the text content, it is just as important to structure your document well, to choose meaningful photos and appropriate pictograms adds Mr. Schmitt.

Klaro is the benchmark in Luxembourg for learning this way of writing and translating ideas: numerous workshops and coaching sessions are held at their office at the castle of Bettange-sur-Mess, as well as at INAP, to encourage the public administration to embrace this approach. However, Klaro is not restricting its offer to the public sector: the European Accessibility Act, which requires, for example, products to be accompanied by instructions in an easily understandable language, comes into force at the end of June and should see an influx of new customers.

Case study: you have attended the Klaro training course and would like to write your first Easy-to-Read content. Once you have finished your work, you can send it to Klaro and wait for it to be examined by the proofreaders in the ‘isie’ workshop. These proofreaders are people with intellectual disabilities, who are paid for their work. For the most part, they are able to read ‘leichte Sprache’, i.e. an Easy-to-Read text written in German. German is easier for Luxembourgers. People with hearing disabilities also use Gebärdensprache - German sign language. But given the country's multilingual situation, we recommend two versions, in Leichte Sprache and in FALC, of the same text, says Ms Brosius, but it all depends on the target audience: they may understand neither French nor German.

An exchange can take place if the content remains cryptic in the eyes of the verification group. Suggestions for reformulation are regularly put forward. At the end of this process, if the content has indeed been checked by a workshop and complies with the rules, it can be labelled with the Inclusion Europe ‘Easy to read’ logo.

There is no obligation to work through Klaro and the isie workshop. However, a company based in Germany or France is unlikely to adopt the range of specific words used on a daily basis in the Grand Duchy (e.g. “Formatioun” is preferable to “Weiterbildung”, “Chamberwahlen” to “Parlamentswahlen”, or “handy” to “smartphone”).

Klaro also creates a number of Easy-to-Read document templates, such as housing contracts and payslips, which are usually full of abbreviations. These templates are freely available.

While Easy-to-Read content is now available on guichet.lu, there is still a huge amount of work to be done considering all the information currently produced by the public administration. Priority should be given to all practical information, says Ms. Brosius.

In addition to these tasks, Klaro is working with the Zentrum fir d'Lëtzebuerger Sprooch to draw up rules for Read-to-Read Luxembourgish: these should be ready by the end of the year. It's a growing demand, explains Ms Brosius, who believes the challenge is an ambitious one, given that the spelling of the language has not often been learnt at school, which inherently creates a barrier.

Klaro's other projects include Accessilingua, an artificial intelligence-based solution that provides a FALC / leichte Sprache version of source content. Following a call for projects launched by the Ministry for Digitalisation, one candidate was selected last year. The initial results are promising, according to Mr Schmitt, although this is only a first step: the document will have to be proofread before it can be sent to the isie workshop. Initially, this programme will only be available to government bodies. But Klaro hopes that it will eventually be open to the general public.

The Accessibility Menu, a Friend to Eschew?

2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z

The Accessibility Menu, a Friend to Eschew?

During our 2024 audit campaign, we discovered that more and more websites are implementing an "accessibility menu." In 2024, 20% of the sites for which we conducted a simplified audit had one. Here's an analysis of the impact of these menus on the accessibility of sites that use this technology.

Photo: © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / StefaNikolic

Such a menu can often be opened by a button with an icon representing a disability, such as the Vitruvian Man or a person in a wheelchair.

Example of a button to open an accessibility menu

These accessibility menus allow you to customize certain site presentation settings related to accessibility, such as changing text size, enabling enhanced contrast, managing text spacing, etc.

Example of an accessibility menu on a government website.

In Luxembourg, public websites subject to the law of May 28, 2019, must comply with the accessibility rules defined in the European standard EN 301 549, "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services." This standard is implemented in the Luxembourg accessibility framework RAWeb.

Some features offered by these accessibility menus help meet legal requirements. This is particularly the case with the "enhanced contrast" mode. If the graphic design of a site cannot easily be brought into compliance with criterion 3.2 relating to text contrast, an enhanced contrast mode is an acceptable alternative to achieve this objective.

Other features offered by these accessibility menus meet requirements that go beyond those required by the European standard. For example, zooming, enlarging the text, enlarging the cursor, and offering a dyslexic font: all these features go beyond legal requirements. We recommend prioritizing compliance with the standard before going beyond its requirements.

Finally, some settings offered by accessibility menus can also be managed at the browser or operating system level (e.g., text size, enhanced contrast, reduced animations). They are therefore independent of the site visited, have the advantage of applying to all sites, and therefore do not require configuration on each new site visited.

In our 2024 simplified audit campaign, we audited 93 websites. Among these, 19 had an accessibility menu and 16 had an accessibility menu that caused at least one accessibility issue.

Description of graph 1.

This column chart shows the average accessibility scores for all sites (overall, 61%), sites with an accessibility menu (53%), and sites without an accessibility menu (63%), across the 93 public sites targeted for simplified audits in 2024.

Accessibility score of different website categories in the 2024 audit campaign

The average accessibility score across the 93 websites was 61% for the accessibility criteria tested in the simplified audit. When an accessibility menu is in place, the accessibility score drops to 53%, and for sites without an accessibility menu, the score is 63%.

There is therefore a correlation between the implementation of an accessibility menu and a lower level of accessibility: when a menu is present, the level of accessibility is lower. There is also a causal relationship; some of the additional problems encountered are directly due to this menu or its integration into the site.

One of the recurring problems we detected on sites with a menu was related to the enhanced contrast feature. When this feature is enabled, there should be no loss of information; all content must remain readable with a high level of contrast. This was often not the case.

The European standard and the Luxembourg framework require that:

all accessibility features be documented, for example in the accessibility statement (criterion 14.1);
the button for activating an accessibility feature meets the needs of the users concerned (criterion 14.2). E.g., a button to activate a high contrast mode must itself be in high contrast, otherwise the user who needs it will not be able to find it.

Without an accessibility menu on a website, these criteria are not applicable and therefore have no impact on the compliance with the European standard.

While implementing an accessibility menu on a website may seem like a quick win for improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, we have seen in this article that this is not always the case. Without truly considering digital accessibility, there is a risk of adding accessibility problems without solving existing ones. Implementing such a menu is, of course, not prohibited, but it will be necessary to test its integration to ensure that it is indeed accessible and meets the specific criteria for these technologies. We also recommend carrying out a comprehensive accessibility assessment, which can start with an audit carried out by experts, in order to know where we stand and to prioritize the corrections to be implemented.

Experts in mobile accessibility, you're going to struggle (a little) less

2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z

Experts in mobile accessibility, you're going to struggle (a little) less

RAAM 1.1 has just been unveiled! With clearer tests and methodologies, and an expanded glossary, the Mobile App Accessibility Assessment Framework has been dusted off.

The RAAM, first presented in June 2021, has undergone its first facelift to version 1.1.

We have incorporated the feedback gathered in a survey last year about this change, as well as the issues that were open on GitHub.

Photo: © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / PeopleImages

Eleven new entries have been added to the glossary - some of them taken from the recent RAWeb, with a view to standardising common resources - while eight others have been revised to clarify the content.

It is with this same aim of clarification that almost a third of the criteria have been rewritten, including expanded and more detailed tests and methodology.

RAAM 1 Assessment methodology

iOS

Activate the Increase contrast option (Settings > Accessibility > Text display and size > Increase contrast) or if present in the application, activate the replacement mechanism enabling the application to be displayed with a sufficient contrast ratio.
Identify on the screen the texts, the texts contained in graphic elements and the texts embedded in videos that could cause contrast problems.
Activate the Colour Contrast Analyser software on the computer and capture the foreground and background colours on the mobile device either
- by broadcasting the screen of the mobile device to the computer;
- by taking screenshots of the elements to be evaluated (and importing them onto the computer).
Check:
- for normal size text, that the contrast value is 4.5:1, at least;
- for large text, that the contrast value is at least 3:1.
If this is the case, the criterion is validated.

Note: It is possible to use the Accessibility Inspector application available on macOS to carry out a quick evaluation of screen contrasts. The software has an "Audit" function which allows you to automatically test certain text and graphic elements on screens. This function does not detect all contrast faults, and additional tests following the methodology described above will be necessary.

Android

If it exists in the application, activate the replacement mechanism to display the application with a sufficient contrast ratio.
Identify on the screen the texts, the texts contained in graphic elements and the texts embedded in videos that could cause contrast problems.
Activate the Colour Contrast Analyser software on the computer and capture the foreground and background colours on the mobile device either
- by broadcasting the screen of the mobile device to the computer;
- by taking screenshots of the elements to be evaluated (and importing them onto the computer).
Check:
- for normal size text, that the contrast value is 4.5:1, at least;
- for large text, that the contrast value is at least 3:1.
If this is the case, the criterion is validated.

Note: It is possible to use the Accessibility Scanner application to carry out a quick evaluation of screen contrasts. The application does not detect all contrast defects, and additional tests following the methodology described above will be necessary.

RAAM 1.1 Assessment methodology

iOS

Activate the Increase contrast option (Settings > Accessibility > Text display and size > Increase contrast) or if present in the application, activate the replacement mechanism enabling the application to be displayed with a sufficient contrast ratio.
Identify on the screen the texts, the texts contained in graphic elements and the texts embedded in videos that could cause contrast problems.
For texts whose size (normal or enlarged) cannot be appreciated with the naked eye, you will have to measure it (see the dedicated section in the methodology).
Activate the Colour Contrast Analyser software on the computer and capture the foreground and background colours:
- by broadcasting the screen of the mobile device to the computer;
- or by taking screenshots of the elements to be evaluated (and importing them onto the computer).
For the texts with issues identified previously, check:
- For texts that are less than 24px in size without a bold effect, or less than 18.5px with a bold effect, that the contrast value is at least 4.5:1;
- For texts that are 24px or larger without a bold effect, or 18.5px or larger with a bold effect, that the contrast value is at least 3:1.
If this is the case, the criterion is validated.

Android

If it exists in the application, activate the replacement mechanism to display the application with a sufficient contrast ratio.
Identify on the screen the texts, the texts contained in graphic elements and the texts embedded in videos that could cause contrast problems.
For texts whose size (normal or enlarged) cannot be appreciated with the naked eye, you will have to measure it (see the dedicated section in the methodology).
Activate the Colour Contrast Analyser software on the computer and capture the foreground and background colours:

by broadcasting the screen of the mobile device to the computer;
- or by taking screenshots of the elements to be evaluated (and importing them onto the computer).

For the texts with issues identified previously, check:
- For texts that are less than 24px in size without a bold effect, or less than 18.5px with a bold effect, that the contrast value is at least 4.5:1;
- For texts that are 24px or larger without a bold effect, or 18.5px or larger with a bold effect, that the contrast value is at least 3:1.
If this is the case, the criterion is validated.

A new criterion (14.3, dedicated to the accessibility of the documentation provided by the support services) has been added, with the aim of making the message clearer. This criterion was previously included in theme 12.

With regard to synchronised media, tests have appeared in criteria 3.7 and 3.8 to support live media. While these are included in the exemptions provided for in the law of 28 May 2019 (transposition of the Web Accessibility Directive), live media are included in the scope of the law of 8 March 2023 (transposition of the European Accessibility Act).

Finally, for each criterion where possible, a link has been established to the APPT documentation. APPT offers a technical guide to making apps accessible. It provides example code scripts in various languages that meet the requirements set out.

The test environment now includes the latest and penultimate versions of iOS and Android.

We end this overview with the methodology page: it includes all the information that was previously shared with the 'legal requirements' page. This 'legal requirements' page has been slimmed down, so that all the information relating to the frameworks can be found under their respective menu items. The methodology also specifies that it is possible to test with or without a keyboard accessibility service on Android. Finally, the section entitled "Take screenshots" explains how to evaluate text sizes for criterion 2.2.

To find out more, take a look at the Changelog.

2024: the headwinds of accessibility

2025-01-15T00:00:00.000Z

2024: the headwinds of accessibility

Websites that are increasingly accessible and, at the same time, apps that are moving away from the objective set out in the law: this great discrepancy, which has already been seen in the past, raises questions

Year on year, the accessibility monitoring of public service websites show ever higher scores: this is the first thing we can learn after four years of assessing their accessibility.

Photo : Getty Images / istockphoto.com / SilviaJansen

Each year, between 15 and 17 sites undergo an in-depth monitoring. The average compliance rate for these sites was 44% in 2021, rising by four points the following year, then by six points in 2023, and finally by seven points last year, to reach 61%. The trend is therefore positive.

A site is considered non-compliant if it obtains a score of less than 50%, partially compliant if the score is between 50% and 99%, and fully compliant only at 100%.

In 2021, four out of ten sites had reached or exceeded the 50% compliance threshold, while less than half had done so by 2023... and almost two-thirds (63%) last year.

A site audit consists of giving good and bad points (136 compliant or non-compliant criteria) for around fifteen pages. If a criterion is non-compliant on one page, it will automatically be non-compliant on all.

Description of graph 1

This bar chart shows sixteen public sites targeted for in-depth monitorings in 2024 in decreasing order of compliance with RAWeb criteria, from the Digital Accessibility Portal (100%) to the cc-ctsa.lu site (35%).

Below the 50% mark, a site is not considered accessible. That is 6 out of 16 sites audited.

The SIP itself wished to submit the Digital Accessibility Portal to an audit, and has worked towards achieving the compliance required by law (i.e. a score of 100%). Experience has shown that this objective is far from unattainable.

Over the last three years, we have calculated the most recurrent non-compliance issues. Here are the critical points most frequently cited in monitoring reports:

Script incompatible with assistive technologies

This is a major problem: consider, for example, a menu bar that is inaccessible because it cannot be navigated by assistive technologies, such as screen readers, which vocalise the structure and content of a site to enable blind people in particular to consult it.
Poor structuring of the page or within the page
- Tags used only for layout purposes
- Unstructured list
- Inappropriate headings structure
- Unstructured web page
An unstructured page, or a page with poorly structured elements, means that people with disabilities can miss out on some of the information. The most obvious example is the unstructured list: who hasn't used dashes instead of the canonical bulleted list? And yet the latter is very practical for the visually impaired: the screen reader can announce the existence of a structured list with the number of items it contains and shortcuts can be used to navigate quickly between lists or within the same list.

Even more annoying is the inappropriate headings structure. On screen, it's easy to understand the hierarchy of headings thanks to different font sizes, for example. However, this hierarchy is not always respected in the code. A screen reader does not know how to interpret what is displayed, so it will render the HTML tags, in particular the heading tags (<h1> to <h6>). They must therefore be consistent with what can be seen on the page: this is not always the case, and can disrupt the browsing experience.

More generally, the web page itself should be made up of different blocks (header, main area, navigation area, search area, footer). If this composition is not reflected in the code, users of assistive technologies can quickly get lost.

Less problematic is the case of tags used only for layout purposes, which can lead users to wonder. For example, to put text in bold, it may be tempting to use a heading tag, or to use a quote tag to highlight text, although in either case it may not be a heading or a quote.
Insufficient contrast
- Insufficient interface component contrast
- Insufficient text contrast
- Focus not visible enough
To cater for certain types of visual disabilities, care must be taken to always maintain a minimum contrast for texts and interactive components (buttons, links, form fields, etc.). Since 2021, public authorities have been working in this direction, so that this issue is no longer in pole position for non-compliance. Related to these issues, the visibility of the focus is essential for those who navigate using a keyboard: the site must be able to make the focus of the interactive element sufficiently visible.
Missing language changes

Luxembourg is the place par excellence where languages mingle, on café terraces or on web pages. But... try to understand someone speaking to you in Portuguese with Chinese pronunciation rules: a voice synthesiser user experiences the same adventure when the HTML code of the page asks the voice synthesiser to read a paragraph written in French in English. It's difficult to understand. We invite you to reread our wrap up on the lang attribute.
No accessible version of office documents

Inaccessible PDFs are still a major problem today: PDFs scanned in image mode or untagged... all examples that make documents inaccessible. Today, on the most visited public sites in Luxembourg, the majority of these PDFs are inaccessible, as our study in the spring of 2023 revealed. Finally, it should be noted that, in the accessibility statements, which in particular list non-compliance issues and derogations for disproportionate burden - the volume of work is considered to be such that a derogation is invoked - PDF documents top the list of these derogations.

These audits are accompanied each year by around a hundred so-called simplified audits, which offer an additional perspective. Here too, the average scores have improved, from 55% in 2021 to 61% last year. However, they show another interesting breakdown: by administrative level, state sites confirm their clear advance ahead of local authorities sites - or local authorities associations - and the others - public establishments, etc.

Description of graph 2

This column chart shows the average compliance scores of state, municipal and other public entities sites over the first 2020-2021 campaign and the following three (2022-2024).

Everyone picked up a few points: six for the State and local authorities, and one for other public sector bodies. That said, the rate of change was more flattering for the municipalities, which rose from 42% to 48% (14%), than for the State, which rose from 60% to 66% (10%).

The Top 10 most common errors include, in addition to those already mentioned, issues relating to forms: fields without labels (the voice synthesiser will not know whether to announce a first name, a date of birth, etc.) or forms without relevant error management (in the case of mandatory fields, misspelled e-mail addresses, etc.).

While the good results for websites are to be welcomed, the picture is partly clouded by the relative under-performance of mobile applications. The average score for apps audited in 2022 was 49%, one point above the average for websites audited that same year. Unfortunately, this score has fallen to 43% and then 37% in 2024. For the first time last year, none of the apps audited achieved partial compliance.

This is not specifically a question of platform: although the apps audited are slightly more accessible on Android than on iOS (44% compared with 41%), the difference is too small and the sample too restricted to draw any conclusions.

One thing is certain, however: the lack of commitment on the part of developers to creating accessible apps is already reflected in the absence of accessibility statements, which provide vital information about the non-compliance of the site or app. While almost half of Luxembourg's public Websites have such a declaration, only 13% of public apps currently have one.

Finally, we would like to remind you of the right of every citizen to ask the public administration for an accessible version of online information that is not accessible. Twenty complaints were received between 2022 and 2024. Only in eight of these cases was it possible to find a solution to a specific problem in the short term, either by actually correcting the problem on the site or by providing an alternative functionality that would guarantee an equivalent level of service. Inaccessible PDF documents are the main reason for complaints.

Description of graph 3

This bar chart shows the main reasons for complaints from users of public sites and apps, from 2022 to 2024.

Despite these last two areas for improvement, throughout 2024, the Information and Press Service was able to observe a real involvement and desire for genuine investment of all the administrations within which it carried out an awareness-raising mission.

The year 2025 will see the rise of a new public body dedicated to accessibility: OSAPS (Office de surveillance de l'accessibilité des produits et services). From June onwards, not only the private sector, but also certain public sector bodies, particularly in the field of mobility, will have to offer accessible products and services. This time, this Office will have the power to impose financial penalties.

This article is a summary of a report on the state of accessibility of public sector websites and mobile applications in Luxembourg, produced every three years for the European Commission. This is the second report of its kind written by the Information and Press Service. You will find a description of the monitoring methods used, the full results (audits, user complaints, derogations, etc.) and detailed analyses of the data collected over the period 2022 - 2024.

Finally! The digital accessibility portal available in English

2025-01-14T00:00:00.000Z

Finally! The digital accessibility portal available in English

Long requested, the multilingual version of our portal is finally online

For the frameworks, and in particular the RAWeb, derived from the French RGAA, the exercise consisted in taking up, as much as possible, the terminologies present in WCAG and in the European standard, in order to give the auditors, already familiar with these tools, frameworks, equipped with tests and concrete methodologies, relating to known universes.

Photo : © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / 1001gece

We have taken the greatest care in proofreading frameworks, news articles and other content available on this site. This work is notably the fruit of a valuable collaboration with the teams of the Information and Press Service. Of course, we remain at your disposal if you think that a translation could be improved, by letting you suggest to us which English term, which expression borrowed from the language of Shakespeare could be more suitable.

Via GitHub :

RAWeb Github
RAAM Github
RAPDF Github
For other content: accessibilite.public.lu Github

Or by e-mail.

We took this opportunity to give the frameworks dedicated to assessing the accessibility of mobile apps (RAAM) and PDFs (RAPDF) a facelift, by integrating the presentation previously dedicated to RAWeb.

The growing popularity of the three Luxembourg accessibility framework, in particular RAAM, quickly spread to several countries in the European Union. This observation led us to initially focus on an English version, backed by the original French version.

All future content on the site (upcoming articles, upcoming updates to the repositories) will naturally be available in these two languages.

Which sites and apps deserve an accessibility assessment?

2024-12-17T00:00:00.000Z

Which sites and apps deserve an accessibility assessment?

You can react to the sample proposal developed by the SIP until January 24, 2025

In January 2024, in order to assess the digital accessibility of public sector websites and apps, we published for the first time a campaign spanning two years, 2024 and 2025. The aim is to give those responsible for the audited public sites and apps the necessary preparation time, for example in the event of a portal redesign.

Photo : © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / Rawpixel

While the sample for 2025 has already been established – and can be consulted on Open Data –, the 2026 sample can still be updated. On the menu: fifteen sites must be the target of a detailed audit, also called full audit, 93 will be subject to a simplified audit, and finally six mobile applications, Android and / or iOS, must also be selected for this purpose.

The proposed 2026 sample is therefore provisional and may change to take the opinions of the various representatives of people with disabilities in Luxembourg into consideration, but also to take the observations made by certain public bodies into account.

Please note that the number of audits per section must remain unchanged, i.e., per year, fifteen complete web audits, 93 simplified web audits, six complete mobile audits. We are also keen to select an equivalent number of iOS and Android apps. Finally, for each of the lists, we try to represent in the most balanced way the following themes, proposed by the European Union:

recreation and culture;
employment and taxes;
education;
housing and community amenities
public order and safety;
environmental protection;
social protection;
health;
transport;
other.

You can react directly in the Discussions section on data.public.lu, at the bottom of the 2026 sample, or by e-mail.

We thank you in advance for your participation.

Native apps will become more popular

2024-11-13T00:00:00.000Z

Native apps will become more popular

Jan Jaap de Groot was in Luxembourg last week. We met this recognized Dutch expert in mobile app accessibility.

Chairman of the Appt Foundation, which shares a great knowledge base on app accessibility and offers a dedicated handbook, co-founder of Abra, where he develops accessible mobile apps and offers his services as a consultant, invited expert at the W3C and facilitator of the Mobile Accessibility Task Force, Jan Jaap de Groot was invited to speak on the subject at the GovTech Lab.

Jan Jaap de Groot. Photo : Dominique Nauroy

For me, it started during my third year at the university, in a class called Advanced Mobile Development. As soon as Android and iOS came out, I was interested in building apps. Around ten years ago, the Accessibility Foundation in the Netherlands had the idea to develop an accessible app for blind people. They were the first target audience, before releasing the app to everyone. The idea was to offer a city trip and, at some dedicated locations, thanks to the GPS you had an audio description of the place. At that time, I didn’t know it was possible for blind people to use a smartphone. It was my first project for people with disabilities.

It’s difficult just to stick to the European standard EN 301 549 when you’re auditing mobile apps. This is the reason why we [at the Appt Foundation] have written our own methodology, trying to explain step by step how you can apply success criteria to mobile apps. A lot of people are using this methodology, however some of them think it’s the truth whereas, for some points, we just give our opinion.

It’s difficult to write guidelines, especially if you want them to be used not only in your company or in your country but also elsewhere. So, at some point, you have to collaborate. This eventually led to my participation, two and a half years ago, in the Mobile Accessibility Task Force (MATF), part of the W3C. I was appointed in January as the new lead of this MATF. Ten to twenty mobile accessibility experts are actively contributing and we expect to publish new guidance in December – it will be a first draft, but still it will be an event since not much has been published over the last ten years. The goal would be to create guidance that could be used worldwide, in order to fully apply WCAG to apps.

I think so. This is what we see when we look at the national dashboard where the Dutch government tracks accessibility statements. You can have five statuses, from A to E. Anyway, it’s quite hard to get status A, many stay stuck in status B. This is particularly true for apps: you can have restrictions depending on your framework, especially if you develop cross-platform apps. I believe that native apps will become more popular because then you have full control and there is no limitation due to third party frameworks.

Issues related to the WCAG criterion named “4.1.2 Name, Role, Value”. A lot of apps don’t have accessible names for interactive components. You can have a pin code screen where the ten buttons (1, 2, 3…) are just rendered by screen readers as “button”, “button”, “button” and so on. You must guess which button is which number. This is the feedback we get from audits and from our hotline.

Landscape mode is clearly one of the most common issues. But users never complain about this. Landscape mode is much more difficult to support for a developer, especially if you design it after you have already released the app. For instance on Android, when you switch to landscape mode, the app “recreates” itself, so you have to add some logic. Example: the user is entering data, then they rotate. If the developer didn’t add support for caching the input, then it’s gone. It’s not that hard if you do it from the start.

You can test around 20% of the criteria, but those criteria cover maybe around 50% of the issues. In the near future, with AI you can maybe push it a little bit further. Example: AI could visually determine if the screen contains a header, where it is precisely, and then check if this header is properly coded. It would otherwise be difficult to do it programmatically.

It really depends: if the public app is built by a third-party commercial company, usually it is worse than if it is an in-house app built by the government: those are usually a lot better than commercial apps.

I really enjoy it. At the beginning I was not finding like-minded people. Very few people are exclusively focusing on building accessible mobile apps. And this is what I like with the MATF: the daily job of these people is to work on the accessibility of mobile apps. We also share knowledge in a Slack group: this is something that was missing.

Accessibility at the heart of the CTIE Web&UX service

2024-10-25T00:00:00.000Z

Accessibility at the heart of the CTIE Web&UX service

Nicolas Ambroise, digital accessibility expert at the State Information Technology Center (CTIE), lifts the veil on how digital accessibility is experienced on a daily basis in the Web&UX service.

How does the Web&UX department support its clients to ensure better accessibility? What are the major challenges ahead? Do UX and accessibility go well together? Nicolas Ambroise took part in the Q&A game.

Nicolas Ambroise. Photo: Dominique Nauroy

I started my career in Luxembourg in 2011 after studying at an engineering school in Nancy.

After ten years in mobile and web development, I joined the CTIE. For the past two years, I have been the digital accessibility referent for the CTIE's Web&UX (User experience) department. My main mission is to advise teams in order to improve the accessibility of websites and applications developed by the State.

Unlike most people who embark on this path, it was not the presence of disabled people in my entourage that pushed me into this field. A perfectionist, I want to improve the quality of websites and applications through best practices: not only in terms of accessibility, but also in terms of SEO, security, performance optimization, standardization, etc.

The accessibility aspect is what allows me to be of the greatest service to users because what is beneficial for people with disabilities is beneficial to everyone.

It is made up of around twenty people with varied profiles (project manager, UX & UI designer, front-end developer, back-end developer, accessibility expert). It is responsible for the technical and graphic creation of state websites as well as their maintenance. The portfolio contains more than 250 sites (thematic portals *.public.lu excluding MyGuichet.lu, sites of ministries and administrations *.gouvernement.lu, embassy sites *.mae.lu). The content is developed by the clients themselves.

Overall, the CTIE teams are aware and are increasingly able to anticipate and thus avoid simple or recurring problems.

CTIE conducts its own accessibility audits, which allows us to have an objective assessment of our own work. The findings and advice help us to constantly improve the websites.

The information and press service (SIP) is the body responsible for monitoring the accessibility of sites. It works on the accessibility standards used in Luxembourg, such as RAWeb.

INAP helps us to provide training to raise awareness among editors on this topic. We must be aware that the accessibility of a site does not only mean accessible HTML code but also accessible content (texts, media, etc.).

Finally, let us mention the Office for Monitoring the Accessibility of Products and Services (OSAPS), which was recently created. It must guide and, where appropriate, sanction companies in their process of improving accessibility. It is an actor who contributes to raising awareness of accessibility issues in Luxembourg, but it is not directly linked to our activity.

My goal is to advise and detect accessibility issues as early as possible in the process of creating or redesigning sites. For example, it is possible to detect a contrast problem as early as the mockup stage.

After each creation or redesign of a site, an audit is carried out to check accessibility. Following the audit, a reflection phase with the developers allows the best solution to be chosen to correct the problems reported.

Since the law of May 28, 2019 relating to the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector organizations, the subject has gained visibility. The CTIE teams are increasingly receptive, aware and the questions I am asked are becoming more relevant.

Accessibility audits report constantly increasing compliance rates. These results, published annually by the SIP, encourage other partners to follow this growth.

The Web&UX service provides customers with a content editing platform (Content management system, CMS) that allows them to achieve a very high RAWeb 1 compliance rate. However, editors who enter content must be trained to be vigilant so as not to lower this rate.

We provide training and support to editors on accessibility issues. We are currently working on creating video tutorials for editors to raise their awareness of the issues most often observed during accessibility audits on content (presence of alternatives on images, change of language in the text, structure of tables and lists, etc.)

The two themes are closely linked and a site analysis regularly brings up common observations. The border is quite porous and for the moment there has not yet been any major conflict.

For example, we had a discussion about the notion of mobile first. On the UX side, the desire was to offer a minimum of information in mobile mode and more details in desktop view. On the accessibility side, the need remained to have the same information on desktop as in mobile or zoom mode. This led to compromises such as placing certain content in accordion elements, etc.

The graphic designers who work on our projects are all aware of and trained in accessibility issues (e.g. contrasts). When the client arrives with a model that was created in advance without our advice, this often results in several round trips to adapt it.

This design system, currently in the draft phase, will aim to provide citizens with a qualitative and consistent user experience through the State's online services. It will be primarily intended for the CTIE and service providers under contract with the State.

The design system will also make it possible to streamline collaboration between teams and to gain efficiency and speed in the development of digital projects, thanks to a common baseline. This will contain the ergonomic, graphic and accessibility principles applicable to the State's digital projects.

Unlike most design systems, we have gone for a standardization of components without a graphic charter and without a framework. This will allow the design system to be suitable for a majority of digital projects and to be easily reused.

We are working on improving the detection of major accessibility errors when writing content and configuring sites. A browser extension and a bookmarklet are in development. The ideal would be to integrate this module directly into the CMS so that errors are reported when the editor enters, even before the content is published online.

In this vein, it remains essential to guide users to improve the accessibility of their office content (PDF) and their videos.

A final word: being 100% compliant with a standard is not enough to include all users. It is important to keep the human element and collect feedback for all our processes.

A first for Luxembourg at a11y Paris

2024-07-03T00:00:00.000Z

A first for Luxembourg at a11y Paris

The RAWeb, RAAM and RAPDF frameworks generated clear interest during the event which brought together digital accessibility professionals at the end of June.

In just a few years, it has become one of the essential events for digital accessibility professionals: a11y Paris is indeed bringing together more and more people and the 2024 edition, organized at the Maison de la Radio, did not deny this trend. The Open Data and Access to Information division of the Information and Press Service (SIP) was therefore proud to be able to present its work on the stage of studio 104, in particular its three reference frameworks dedicated to the evaluation of web, mobile and PDF accessibility.

Photo: © Sophie Drouvroy 2024

This presentation, which we invite you to find online (PDF from the projected PowerPoint document and verbatim of our communication; the video should follow by the autumn), was also an opportunity to say who we were, what we represent in Luxembourg and in which international working groups we are involved.

In front of this assembly mainly made up of accessibility professionals, our ambition was to share the work that has come to fruition around RAWeb and RAAM, two open source reference frameworks that fully cover the European standard EN 301 549 and offer, like the French General Reference Framework for Improving Accessibility (RGAA), a breakdown into topics, criteria, tests and methodologies. RAWeb is also compatible with the RGAA, from which it takes and enriches the list of 106 criteria. The SIP is doing everything possible to ensure this compatibility during the next updates of the RGAA.

This reference framework is one of the attempts to democratize a standard that is still considered opaque and sometimes difficult to interpret. Other countries are also getting involved, even outside the European Union. For example, Canada published a summary of the standard at the end of May. This document can be an introduction for anyone who wants to dive right in.

As for RAAM, it is a mobile app auditing tool that has few equivalents in the world, and whose popularity has been growing in Europe since its publication in 2021. This is one of the reasons that is pushing us today to translate this framework, like RAWeb and RAPDF, into English by early 2025.

The presentation of the SIP left no one indifferent, as evidenced by the marked interest and the many questions from the public. We would like to warmly thank all those who congratulated us and encouraged us to continue on the path we have begun to trace.

In addition to the SIP representatives, Luxembourg also had two digital accessibility specialists within the CTIE, as well as the coordinator of the new Office for Monitoring the Accessibility of Products and Services (OSAPS), which will take office next year. OSAPS is preparing a major event at the Chamber of Commerce entitled "  Business and Accessibility  " for 23 September.

The a11y Paris 2024 edition was held on June 25 and 26 and offered thirteen conferences, two round tables and ten workshops centered around digital accessibility, its respect and the steps to achieve compliance, but also modes of use, the concept of design system, the consideration of "dys" conditions or the integration of clear language into editorial content. A wide, rich, exciting range of topics, which already invites us to wait for the 2025 edition.

How much does accessibility cost?

2024-05-14T00:00:00.000Z

How much does accessibility cost?

Digital accessibility has a cost. SIP interviewed six public administrations to find out what it costs in terms of resources deployed.

"The means of accessibility": with this title in mind, we interviewed four Luxembourg public authorities - the Centre des technologies de l'information de l'État (CTIE), the Chamber of Deputies, the City of Luxembourg and the Syndicat intercommunal de gestion informatique (SIGI) - as well as two French authorities: Grenoble Metropolitan Council and the Basque Country Agglomeration Community (CAPB), whose sites have achieved a very high level of accessibility.

Photo: © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / DragonImages

The question of resources necessarily implies the question of budget, but not only that. It's just as much a question of staff training, individual determination and daily commitment to improving the accessibility of a site, an app or office documents over the long term and, once excellence has been achieved, to staying the course. Anything but self-evident.

The first thing to note is that the vast majority of these public administrations do not have a "digital accessibility officer". This task is therefore assigned to managers in the Communications department, sometimes in the IT department... who are not always familiar with the specifics of an area that many describe as complex.

Especially as, in the case of the redesign of the vdl.lu and chd.lu websites, the 2019 law on digital accessibility of public sector websites and apps had not yet been passed. As a result, there was a certain amount of uncertainty as to which framework or standard to use as a basis. "We were accessible, yes, in a certain sense... but we didn't know exactly what we had to achieve", says Simone Hornick about the vdl.lu website launched in summer 2017, which three years later was judged not to be compliant according to the RGAA criteria in force at the time. This was a real "wake-up call", in the words of the manager, for whom "we thought we were accessible, but then we realised that the efforts we had made were not enough".

Two years later, the same site was audited, and its compliance rate was doubled, a sign that it had really taken on board the imperatives set by the law.

As for the Chamber's website, it was given a makeover while the 2019 law was being prepared. The objectives were then known and clear. However, the internal audits carried out prior to online publication showed that, despite the accessibility requirements set out in the specifications, the service delivered was not up to scratch. The site was non-compliant, and it would take half a year to make a host of corrections to achieve partial compliance. The team around Loïc Saint-Ghislain, who managed the project, did not stop there, and by 2023 the chd.lu site was in the top 5 most accessible sites among those audited by the SIP.

If the project manager is not an expert in the field, he or she can call on the advice of professionals who will be able to provide the development team with precise guidance, cutting short the all-too-frequent "it's impossible to make this function accessible". This triptych project owner - development team - accessibility expert is increasingly used in web and mobile projects. This is the method used by the Grenoble metropolitan authority, which now prides itself on offering its users a compliant website that is 100% accessible.

These experts are valuable, but they also come at a cost. And here and there you can sense a certain weariness when, in order to launch new sites or new apps, the project owner must once again take up his pilgrim's staff to a land to be evangelised anew: "In 2015, when we started redesigning the vdl.lu site, accessibility was an unknown theme for agencies. I can tell you that it's not much better today," says Simone Hornick in an interview conducted in mid-November 2023.

Some of these agencies have only recently begun to promote their expertise in digital accessibility as a selling point.

Linked to the question of bringing agencies up to standard is that of training editorial teams: a key issue for the CTIE, which currently manages a catalogue of some 230 public sites, and whose accessibility scores are among the highest in the audits. While it is responsible for the architecture of the sites it manages, the CTIE also provides support to government departments in their day-to-day compliance with accessibility practices. An e-learning course is currently being prepared, which will focus on writing accessible content, with practical exercises. "The problems encountered are always the same: tables without headers, no alternative associated with images, etc.," says David Thomas, head of the CTIE's WebUX department.

Accessibility requires a real investment on the part of the project team. But is the cost astronomical? In terms of the overall budget for the chd.lu website, it represents 5%: "No one had the idea of cutting back on this item", says Mr Saint-Ghislain. As far as the City is concerned, accessibility accounted for 7 to 8%. As a general rule, accessibility accounts for between 5 and 10% of the total cost of a project, and tends to decrease as the overall budget increases. However, this proportion is likely to fall once the principles of digital accessibility are fully integrated into the offerings of web and mobile development agencies.

More than a financial issue, it is also a question of commitment. It's interesting to see how the idea of a 100% accessible site has been accepted from the outset and will be maintained in the case of the grenoblealpesmetropole.fr website. In the same way, it is clear that it was on the basis of a strong political will that an accessible and eco-designed platform was created for the CAPB and the municipalities of the Basque Country.

Sometimes, the motivation is to be found in related projects: whether for the City or the Chamber of Deputies, one of the black spots remains the presence of PDF files, which are becoming more numerous and less accessible. But working with accessible files means that they can be read by machines, which means greater efficiency. This is the idea that the Chamber of Deputies is beginning to entertain in order to improve the transparency of the legislative process, whereas at present, exchanges between the government and the Chamber of Deputies are based on untagged PDFs.

Last but not least, name and praise is undoubtedly more effective than name and shame. Interest in the annual accessibility rankings for websites and apps published by the SIP has been confirmed, and by next year will give rise to a genuine digital accessibility observatory.

Having trouble with RAAM?

2024-05-06T00:00:00.000Z

Having trouble with RAAM?

The framework for assessing the accessibility of mobile apps is about to get a facelift. But first... tell us how to improve it.

On 21 June, RAAM celebrates its third birthday. This is your chance to tell us about your experience and expectations.

Photo: © Getty Images / istockphoto.com / Ivan Pantic

We didn't expect it - or, to be more accurate, we didn't dare believe it. However, three years after its creation, RAAM is known, used and appreciated beyond the borders of the Grand Duchy, where it continues to be an active reference in the day-to-day evaluation of the accessibility of mobile apps.

Designed to offer an evaluation approach that takes full account of the criteria in European standard EN 301 549, RAAM provides an operational framework for checking compliance with accessibility requirements, based on 107 control criteria.

What needs to be improved? clarified? reformulated? completed?

Before launching the process of updating the framework, the SIP intends to gather testimonials and complaints from those who are familiar with the framework, and who work or have worked with it, in the private or public sector.

We invite you to complete the form below, which will ask you, in four pages and four minutes in total, a few questions about your use of the framework. You can also write to us at accessibilite@sip.etat.lu with the subject "RAAM: suggestions for improvement". Put pen to paper!

RAWeb, a framework that really includes everything

2024-02-08T00:00:00.000Z

RAWeb, a framework that really includes everything

The new framework extends the RGAA to fully meet European requirements.

After a framework dedicated to mobile applications (RAAM) published in 2021, then another dedicated to PDF documents (RAPDF) last year, now comes the brand new RAWeb (Référentiel d'évaluation de l'Accessibilité Web). Has the fever for framework taken hold of the Information and Press Service? Why abandon a well-established framework? We'll explain everything in just three minutes, timed.

The Référentiel Général d'Amélioration de l'Accessibilité Web (RGAA), developed by DINUM, is well known to digital accessibility experts in France and Luxembourg. It incorporates the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, published by the W3C and known as WCAG 2.1. The RGAA transcribes each criterion in the form of operational tests, to make it clearer, more intelligible and more accessible to developers, auditors, referrers and accessibility experts.

Photo iStock / cyano66

There is one pitfall in this panorama: in the European Union, the benchmark for digital accessibility is standard EN 301 549, the current version of which (3.2.1) has been in force since March 2021. This European standard incorporates WCAG 2.1, so it has been possible to establish a concordance between each WCAG / RGAA / EN 301 549 criterion.

But the European standard goes beyond the scope set by the authors of WCAG. Here are a few examples of areas that are not covered by either the WCAG or the RGAA:

Is it as easy to activate captions in a video as it is to pause it?
Does an identification based on biological characteristics offer an alternative method?
Does an editing tool make it possible to create accessible content? Does it guide the user in doing so? Does it offer correction aids?
When a file is converted from one format to another, is its accessibility information preserved?
Is the video quality of an application offering remote communication sufficient (in particular to enable deaf people to read lips)?

The standard is not confined exclusively to the web, but defines criteria that can be applied (or not) to any type of interface.

The SIP decided to keep the RGAA in its entirety and add the criteria that were missing. In addition to the original 106 criteria, the new RAWeb framework now includes 30 criteria that meet all the requirements of the European standard.

These 30 criteria are broken down as follows:

The "Multimedia" theme has received five new criteria (4.14 to 4.18);
The "Consultation" theme has received two new criteria (13.13, 13.14);
Four new themes ("Documentation and accessibility features", "Editing tools", "Help desk services" and "Real-time communication") have received three, six, two and eleven new criteria respectively.

No.

Apart from a few essentially multimedia-oriented criteria and the "Help desk" theme, the vast majority of the newcomers will apply in very specific contexts. They will therefore rarely be considered as part of a web audit.

In the future, the next evolutions of the RGAA will continue to be integrated into RAWeb.

The simplified audit method remains unchanged, based on the same test criteria.

RAAM, which is dedicated to the accessibility of mobile apps, contains the criteria required by the European standard from the outset.

2024 is the launch year for the new RAWeb, the year in which it will be applied, particularly as part of the comprehensive audit campaign. Over the coming weeks, we invite you to share your feedback with us, by sending a message to accessibilite@sip.etat.lu or on the project's GitHub repository.

From year to year, a less disproportionate burden?

2024-01-26T00:00:00.000Z

From year to year, a less disproportionate burden?

What has been the evolution of accessibility statements on the issue of disproportionate burden in three years?

Public bodies may exempt certain content published online from the accessibility rules on the grounds of "disproportionate burden" when it is reasonably impossible to make a content or feature accessible. This wording takes into account the costs that would have to be incurred in relation to the estimated benefit for people with disabilities.

Photo: iStock / cyano66

This content and functionality must be precisely listed in the statement. Alternatives must be able to offer equivalent content and functions... provided that their production does not itself constitute a disproportionate burden.

In December 2023, we took a look at all the public websites in Luxembourg and came to this initial conclusion: although this is a legal obligation, just over half of these sites (51%) currently have an accessibility statement. As for mobile apps, the situation is even worse: only 13% have one.

It is precisely this statement that informs users with disabilities whether the site is compliant (non-compliant, partially compliant, compliant) in terms of digital accessibility and specifies, point by point, each feature and content that has been deemed non-compliant following an audit. Finally, it lists the inaccessible elements on the grounds of disproportionate burden.

Check our page on digital accessibility obligations, which includes a section on the accessibility statement, to check whether yours covers the essential elements. It goes without saying that this statement must be... accessible. To this end, a form for drafting the statement is at your disposal.

Just as digital accessibility is an ongoing process, the statement should be regularly updated. But many of the statements submitted in 2020 have never been updated. In total, of the 418 statements recorded, only 68 have been updated and sent to the Information and Press Service... that's around 16%.

Three points clearly dominate the derogations for disproportionate burden, first and foremost office documents (PDF and Office files), which are used massively by certain administrations and whose accessibility is more difficult to ensure than information published in HTML format.

This is closely followed by issues relating to keyboard navigation and the accessibility of navigation menus: if these features are not compliant, users with disabilities are de facto prevented from accessing the entire site or, in a better case, they find it particularly difficult to use.

Finally, sites and apps that use authentication procedures systematically cite the LuxTrust login system, a third-party service over which they have no control.

Description of graph 1

This bar chart shows, in descending order, the elements most frequently mentioned as a disproportionate burden in accessibility statements, starting with office documents, keyboard navigation and authentication procedures, present in 31, 29 and 13% of statements respectively.

Other, less frequently mentioned issues relate to search features, old content, links with irrelevant accessible names, poorly formatted lists and headings, videos without captions or text transcripts, and unidentified language changes.

In 2021, two-thirds of sites and apps that submitted an accessibility statement mentioned one or more disproportionate burdens. This rate has fallen sharply to just one third of statements in 2023. Although this change is to be welcomed a priori, and would suggest that measures have been taken to remedy certain cases that were considered too difficult to deal with at the time, the most likely explanation is undoubtedly to be found in the more representative number of statements, which has almost quadrupled in the space of three years, rising from 118 to 418 by the end of 2023.

Any public sector body that publishes a website or mobile app must publish an accessibility statement and inform the Information and Press Service. It is on this basis that we produced this article, but not only. A crawler went through all the sites listed in the SIP inventory to check for statements that had not been sent to us, in order to obtain the most up-to-date results.

2023: the web is making progress, mobile apps are lagging behind

2024-01-22T00:00:00.000Z

2023: the web is making progress, mobile apps are lagging behind

A number of public websites have performed well, but there is still considerable room for improvement on mobile devices

Fifteen public websites were subject to a detailed accessibility audit in 2023. The trend is positive: the compliance rate stands on average around 54%, six points up on 2022 (48%). 2022 itself had gained four points since the very first audit campaign in 2020-2021.

However, this momentum should not obscure the fact that this average is still too close to the threshold of partial compliance (50% and above), and that the objective set by law is, quite simply, 100% compliance.

Photo: iStock / anyaberkut

The disparities seen last year are even more marked this year, with five very good performers fairly high up the league table (Portal for Public Procurement Contracts, logement.lu, National Portal for Public Inquiries, Inspectorate of Labour and Mines and, finally, the new Chamber of Deputies website), all well ahead of the number one for 2022 (covid19.public.lu, 66%).

First lesson: at 89% compliance, full compliance is not an unattainable goal, even for rather rich and complex portals.

The second lesson is that, while the CTIE "trumps" the top four places, revealing a certain expertise in digital accessibility, other players have managed to ensure compliance, most notably the project team behind the redesign of the chd.lu portal.

Less than half of the sample (7 sites) exceeded the 50% compliance mark, the threshold that separates non-compliance from partial compliance.

Description of graph 1

This bar chart shows fifteen public sites targeted for full audits in 2023 in descending order of compliance with the RGAA criteria, from marches.public.lu (89%) to liser.lu (27%).

Below 50%, a site is not considered accessible. 8 out of 15 sites audited

A compliance rate is a summary of compliance and non-compliance identified through 106 RGAA criteria, with in turn are divided into thirteen themes. However, it is only a measure, and a high rate does not guarantee an accessible site. A web portal may have a rate of over 90%... if the remaining percentages penalise inaccessible navigation, the set of web pages cannot be consulted by people with disabilities.

Which criteria were most often found wanting? In other words, what went most wrong in the audits carried out in 2023?

There are many style issues, and yet they are relatively simple to improve: text and interactive components (such as buttons) that need better contrast, empty paragraphs that could be replaced by a dedicated style with an appropriate margin, and a focus that is too inconspicuous, or even invisible, when a user navigates using the tab key. In most cases, all that's needed is to adjust the site's style sheet. Occasionally, a specific development, such as the provision of a style switcher, is required.

Description of graphic 2

This bar chart shows the ten of the 106 RGAA criteria most frequently cited in the audits carried out on fifteen public sites in 2023.

In the top three: elements that are easy to resolve

Then come questions of information structure: do headings properly organise the content of the page? Do headings and lists use canonical HTML tags? These and other factors enable assistive technologies to ensure that the page is navigated as smoothly as possible. These technologies will render the content all the better if each language change has been indicated by developers... or the content editors.

This last point is important: in a certain number of cases (insufficient contrasts, abusive use of HTML tags for presentation purposes, absence of relevant headings, decorative images that are not ignored by screen readers), the responsibility can fall to the development team or the editorial team... hence the need for dedicated accessibility training adapted to all those involved in a web project.

The compatibility of scripts with assistive technologies is a specific issue for developers. These are often vital interaction elements - a navigation menu, for example - for which compliance with ARIA design patterns may require new development.

Office documents (PDFs and Office documents) complete the picture: they are not easy to make accessible and can be a barrier to information unless an alternative, such as an accessible web page, is provided. The year 2023 saw the arrival, on our portal, of a framework specially designed for the accessibility of PDFs: we invite you to consult it and to (re)read our study on the accessibility of PDFs published on public sites.

It's impossible to talk about any progress here, when the compliance rate for apps audited last year was 49%... compared with 43% in 2023. A loss of six points raises questions, given that only two apps in the ranking are compliant: Meteolux, with a more than respectable score of 66%, and vdl.lu (59%).

Description of graph 3

This bar chart shows six public apps targeted for full audits in 2023 in descending order of compliance with RAAM criteria, from the Meteolux app on Android (66%) to the LLO app on iOS (26%).

Only two apps were partially compliant in 2023: the situation warrants a major overhaul.

In a world where apps are being used on an ever-increasing scale, the effort to ensure they are compliant must be of the utmost importance.

The framework dedicated to apps, RAAM, divides 107 criteria into fifteen themes. Six criteria account for half of all non-compliances:

Two criteria integrated into the "Colour" theme, penalising inadequate contrasts in text and user interface components;
One criterion invalidating components that are incompatible with assistive technologies (for example, a component that does not announce its nature or name, buttons without labels, a menu that does not announce a change of state, "open" or "closed");
A criterion revealing the absence of appropriate headings to structure the information;
A criterion revealing the impossibility of doubling the font size while keeping all the text legible;
Finally, a criterion revealing an incompatible app in landscape mode.

Other criteria include ensuring that decorative images are ignored by screen readers, that lists are correctly structured, that user interface components can be controlled by the keyboard or any other pointing device, and that the app's documentation is accessible and describes its accessibility features.

In addition to the full audits, the SIP carried out 93 simplified web audits. The average score (56%, two points higher than in 2022) is close to that recorded for the full web audits. Ten sites have a compliance rate of over 80% - all .public.lu sites, including infocrise.public.lu, the only site to achieve full compliance, according to the criteria examined. More than half of the sample (56 sites) exceeded the 50% compliance mark.

Description of graph 4

This bar chart shows, in descending order, the compliance rates of the top ten sites from the sample of 93 sites analysed in 2023 as part of the simplified audit campaign, from infocrise.public.lu (100%) to justice.public.lu (81%).

93 sites benefited from a simplified audit in 2023. The top ten excel.

At the bottom of the ranking are still mainly local authority sites. The gap between these and the state-run sites remains wide. And while the gap is tending to narrow by three points compared with 2022, this is not due to an improvement in the average for local sites (which remains at 47%) but to a slight fall in the average for state sites, which has dropped by three points.

Description of chart 5

This column chart shows the average levels of compliance with the RGAA criteria according to whether the site belongs to the State domain (64%), the local level (communes, communal unions, etc.: 47%) or another level (public establishments and similar bodies: 49%), among 93 public sites targeted for simplified audits in 2023.

From one year to the next, the average number of municipalities stagnates and remains in the non-compliant range

Eighteen in 2020-2021, nine last year and three on 19 December 2023: the complaints that any citizen can submit, in particular via the SIP's online complaints form, this year concerned exclusively accessibility problems relating to PDF files on government websites. In all cases, a solution was quickly proposed.

Comparedwith 2022, the picture is fairly positive: despite a poor performance in terms of mobile apps, the sites are showing palpable progress, but this is only a half-hearted result if we consider the margin for improvement that still exists... right up to compliance. 2025 is a year away: the private sector will also have to set an example in terms of digital accessibility, as required by the law passed in March 2023. The public sector has one year to show its credentials. Here are the websites and apps that will be audited over the next two years.

Which sites and apps should be audited in 2024 and 2025?

2023-12-19T00:00:00.000Z

Which sites and apps should be audited in 2024 and 2025?

You can react to the sample proposal drawn up by the SIP until 12 January 2024.

The 2023 digital accessibility audit campaign is drawing to a close, and in early January we will be publishing here a summary of the main conclusions we have drawn from this annual exercise. But before looking in the rear-view mirror, the SIP has prepared a sample proposal for the digital accessibility audit frame, for the years 2024 and 2025.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

The underlying idea is to give additional leeway to the organisations concerned in order to aim for full compliance, the objective set by the May 2019 law.

As every year, the publication of this sample proposal also aims to gather the opinions of the various representatives of people with disabilities in Luxembourg.In addition, an e-mail was sent to them on 18 December in which they were invited to react and express their opinions.

The final sample may change in order to incorporate their comments and, where appropriate, to take account of observations made by certain public bodies. For example, the timetable for the redesign of a web portal may not coincide with the proposed schedule.

The general public is invited to join in the discussion by contacting us at accessibilite@sip.etat.lu.

At this address, you will find the sample proposals for monitoring digital accessibility 2024-2025.

You can download two Excel files (one for each year) listing

the sites that will be subject to a full accessibility audit;
the sites that will be subject to a simplified accessibility audit;
mobile applications that will be subject to a full accessibility audit.

Please note that the number of audits per section must remain unchanged, i.e. 15 full web audits, 93 simplified web audits and 6 full mobile audits per year. We are also committed to selecting an equivalent number of iOS and Android apps. Finally, for each of the web lists, we are trying to achieve the most balanced representation of the following themes proposed by the European Union:

recreation and culture;
employment and taxes;
education;
housing and community amenities
public order and safety;
environmental protection;
social protection;
health;
transport;
other.

Thank you very much for your participation.

The lang attribute, to make the page audible... and understandable

2023-10-05T00:00:00.000Z

The lang attribute, to make the page audible... and understandable

One of the simplest accessibility elements to implement is also one of the most overlooked.

In Luxembourg perhaps more than anywhere else, it is not uncommon for the same HTML page to contain words in different languages. Nothing extraordinary: what you hear on the Knuedler is reflected on the web.

Photo: Unsplash / Romain Vignes

While this coexistence is perfectly possible, there are two things that need to be taken into account to ensure that a screen reader reproduces the text as faithfully as possible:

In the code, locate the <html> tag, i.e. the very first tag after the <!DOCTYPE html> declaration. Add the lang attribute to it. So, for a page written mainly or exclusively in French, the code will be: <html lang="fr">.

At this point it is worth reminding that the code for Luxembourgish is not "lu" - which corresponds to the Luba-Katanga spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo - but "lb".

Next, in the body of the page, you'll need to tell the screen reader when the text changes language, for example by framing the passages written in another language within the paragraph, as follows: <p>Of course, I don't like all his films, but he had the talent to adapt <span class="fr">Astérix et Obélix, mission Cléopâtre</span> for the cinema in 2002.</p>

If you are using a CMS to manage your site, it is likely to offer this type of functionality. Where this is not the case in the standard CMS, there are usually plug-ins available to manage language changes.

Who will benefit from this? First and foremost, it will help blind and visually impaired people. They will struggle to understand the text read by the screen reader if it interprets a text or a portion of a text in the wrong language. But other users, such as those with dyslexia, can also use voice-based systems. The same comprehension challenges will affect them, if language changes are not clearly marked.

Below is a one-minute video to show you how the same paragraph is rendered by the JAWS screen reader, without and then with the language change indications:

Paragraph vocalisation

Transcription of video

No indication of language change in the code

[The following text is read in a French voice.]

De toute façon, dit Juliette, c’est ça ou une joint-venture. Je lui conseille de veiller aux lanceurs d’alerte. Elle referme Night flight, fixe son regard sur la photo des Twin Towers et elle évacue : non mais what's going on dear ? Antoine n’est plus whistleblower. De toute façon qui viendra fouiner sur un Health Data Hub ? Je m’insurge : la sécurité, c’est pas un nice to have, c’est un must have. Elle ignore, préfère partir en chantant Once there were two knights and maidens. They'd walk together. Out in the gardens. In all kinds of weather.

[heading level one] With indication of language change in the code

[The following text is read mainly in French, but each English expression is read in English]

De toute façon, dit Juliette, c’est ça ou une joint-venture. Je lui conseille de veiller aux lanceurs d’alerte. Elle referme Night flight, fixe son regard sur la photo des Twin Towers et elle évacue : non mais what's going on dear? Antoine n’est plus whistleblower. De toute façon qui viendra fouiner sur un Health Data Hub? Je m’insurge : la sécurité, c’est pas un nice to have, c’est un must have. Elle ignore, préfère partir en chantant Once there were two knights and maidens. They'd walk together. Out in the gardens. In all kinds of weather.

You can try your hand at this by using or editing the code on the codepen.io website, using the page from the video.

By ensuring your text is properly tagged, you check off no fewer than four criteria on the list of elements required for an accessible website:

And yet, in the audits regularly carried out by the Information and Press Service on a selection of public sites, while the language attribute defined at page level is almost never missing, language changes within the body of the page are very rarely indicated.

Conversely, be careful to use the lang attribute only when necessary. Some words borrowed from English are now found in French dictionaries. Planning is one of them. In a page written in French, it is therefore not necessary to specify it in the code. If in doubt, do not hesitate to consult the official dictionaries for the languages frequently used on public Luxembourgish websites:

for Lëtzebuergesch: Lëtzebuerger Online Dictionnaire (LOD ) (using spellchecker. lu may help to detect words missing from the dictionary);
for French: Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé;
for German: Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache;
for English: Oxford English Dictionary.

To conclude, let's mention some reasons other than those strictly related to accessibility. Getting the language right will be a great help to online translation tools (think of the automatic page translation service provided by Google Chrome). We can also think of other flexible options: for example, third-party programmes included on the page (such as a video player) will display their navigation menu in the language specified on the page. Finally, on a purely stylistic note, hyphenation management via the hyphens property is provided by the browser when you fill in the lang attribute for the languages supported by your browser.

For more information, we recommend reading Adrian Roselli's article on the topic.

The impact of developer best practices on accessibility

2023-07-10T00:00:00.000Z

The impact of developer best practices on accessibility

Digital accessibility is becoming an imperative for many companies. Stéphanie Walter, an expert in inclusive design, stresses the importance of choosing the right partner.

Stéphanie Walter began her professional career in Germany, before moving to Strasbourg, where she learned about accessibility. She is now based in Luxembourg, specialising in Enterprise UX. As a consultant for Maltem, she designs complex business interfaces for the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Her blog is packed with resources on digital accessibility, and she is already offering an introductory course in English on the subject. This training will also be offered to design students at the University of Strasbourg as from the start of the 2025 academic year. This training is well-timed given the recent enforcement of the European Act on Accessibility.

Stéphanie Walter. Photo: Rémy Chautard

Yes, the aim is to highlight issues of digital accessibility and to ensure that these problems do not arise at the graphic design stage: by questioning the relevance of colours, choosing contrasts, planning keyboard navigation and giving space to accessibility features (such as subtitles or video transcription), among others.

This course must be extended by another one dedicated to code, to show in concrete terms how HTML and CSS can be used to implement integration that respects the various criteria linked to digital accessibility.

There is a whole series of accessibility best practices that are, quite simply, good development practices: associating labels with form fields, using the right tag for a button without trying to recreate the element by devious means, mastering languages before taking on Javascript frameworks, etc. Good developer practice has an impact on accessibility.

I am a UX researcher and designer, which involves designing interfaces and tools specific to the bank and used on a daily basis by its employees. In my project team, I've been in this role for over three years.

The bank has launched a number of initiatives to improve physical accessibility. I wanted to push for digital accessibility. We are recreating an interface designed and developed eighteen years ago. It is now being rewritten in a new technology - React enriched with Material UI. There was a whole preliminary research phase to understand which features were being used and were relevant. Then we worked on refining the components to make them really accessible - for example, we don't just use a placeholder as a form label; we're reintroducing the halo - removed by Material UI - when focused using the keyboard.

I work with two front-end developers, who are not experts in accessibility, but who are nevertheless happy to discover and learn. What's more, the team is constantly evolving, so nothing can be taken for granted. It's not easy, you have to keep reminding yourself of the basics and staying vigilant.

The Luxtrust Android app. The developers have recreated a keyboard that doesn't allow you to copy and paste and on which, unlike the default keyboard, you can't see the character you've just typed, even for a moment. Similarly, there is no option to view the password in clear text. After several unsuccessful attempts, I almost blocked my account. It's hard to imagine that anyone could easily use this interface.

In the category of websites, I can mention the French tax portal. From a cognitive perspective, it's a nightmare.

Yes, that's generally true. At the same time, I'm concerned about the emergence of a new charlatanism: companies claiming to specialise in digital accessibility whose showcase site is far from compliant. The risk is that we end up with site owners who think they're doing the right thing, but turn to companies that aren't qualified, or who do the minimum with the help of overlays (accessibility tools added on top of an existing site, which can have limited effectiveness, editor's note). Some of the companies providing these overlays are now taking legal action against their detractors, who are accessibility experts, both in the United States and in France.

On social networks, there are also a number of self-proclaimed experts who spread untruths about accessibility or surf on a hard-line validist discourse (validism can be defined as systemic discrimination against people with disabilities, editor's note), ignoring the whole spectrum of disability. Obviously, these are not the majority of my interactions, but there is still work to be done to break down barriers, or to avoid reducing accessibility to a constraint.

I am also concerned about the implementation of the law that will enforce accessibility for goods and services in the private sector starting in 2025. I live in Luxembourg: who will I report to if I face an accessibility issue with a Belgian e-commerce site? This could lead to legal confusion... It will be interesting to see which company will be the first to receive a fine for non-compliance.

If that's what it takes to change society's perception of disability, then why not! There are far more people with disabilities than we realize, and integrating them into all aspects of our society is an undeniable necessity.

Few people know that people with disabilities can use digital tools

2023-05-22T00:00:00.000Z

Few people know that people with disabilities can use digital tools

Geoffrey Crofte is a UX designer at Foyer and puts digital accessibility issues at the heart of his work.

Do creativity and accessibility go hand in hand? Is it easy to make a website compliant? How do we become sensitive to these issues? Geoffrey Crofte was happy to answer our questions. Interview.

Geoffrey Crofte. Photo: Rémy Chautard

As a general rule, people who take a personal interest in this issue are often directly or indirectly affected. For example, they may have someone close to them who is disabled, or they may be disabled themselves.

This is not my case, as far as I know, but I was made aware of it about ten years ago, during my first professional experiences at Alsacréations in Strasbourg. They were already ahead in terms of web quality and had an accessibility expert. I learned from him, which significantly influenced my user experience approach. Right from the start, I wanted to do things right, so that users - all users - could navigate the interfaces I was developing.

First and foremost, the simple fact that it's an integral part of my daily life. When I make a design decision, it applies to all users, including people with disabilities. Text needs to be large enough and in sufficient contrast for everyone, to give just one example, but there are many other points to consider.

And when I spot major problems on other platforms, I point them out, either on LinkedIn or Twitter; in general, I'm rather outspoken. That's where the challenge lies for me, as there is resistance to change. The typical feedback I get is 'thank you, we'll pass it on to our technical teams', which is a polite response but doesn't necessarily lead to implementation. It's a pity because the solution to be applied is not always complicated.

My experience with Groupe Foyer, particularly Foyer Assurances, has also shown me that, above all, few people realise that individuals with disabilities can use digital tools and that simple solutions exist. Unless we know people who are affected, it's easy to overlook the issue of digital accessibility. Sometimes it just requires a bit of extra attention that can be incorporated into our daily tasks.

An audit carried out at the beginning of 2023 showed that our Website was 34% compliant with existing standards. We can double this score quite easily. Just as public bodies have to set an example before the new law on accessibility is applied to the private sector by 2025, it would be good for us to prove that, as an insurer, we are the first to make this effort.

"In addition to raising awareness, we also need to provide training

And this effort will benefit everyone: our customers, the company, and it's also an extra protection for ourselves later on... if we're lucky enough to grow old.

Whether it's the developer who's more familiar with the semantics of HTML language or the colleagues who make their PDFs more accessible, we need a trigger that makes them aware of the needs of these disabled users.

As well as raising awareness, training is also needed. Half of my design team and eight developers are taking accessibility training this year. This was decided last year. Accessibility is a natural extension of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) that we have been promoting for several years now.

I tend not to like the term "100% accessible"... but yes, it's possible to meet all the WCAG or RGAA criteria and still be creative. The Grenoble metropolitan website is 100% compliant. It's very attractive and, what's more, very easy to understand. It sets a good example to follow.

Today, the technologies to produce elegant, animated content that respects the preferences of those who, for example, want to avoid visual effects, display enhanced contrasts or navigate in dark mode are available.

Audits. The frameworks sometimes lack clarity or examples. From time to time, I struggle to understand what they're trying to tell us, even though I'm not new to the subject. Nowadays, anyone, expert or not, should have a simple, documented, demonstrative tool at their disposal, to help them improve the accessibility of their digital interfaces.

I know what I would not be able to achieve without accessibility

2023-05-15T00:00:00.000Z

I know what I would not be able to achieve without accessibility

Mario Perčinić has lived and worked in Luxembourg since 2016. With him, we have talked about music, programming, shopping and, of course, accessibility.

Mr. Perčinić is working for the Centre pour le développement des compétences relatives à la vue (CDV) in Bertrange. He is transcriber, adapting books for pupils and students who are blind or partially sighted, in various formats (ePub, Braille or print, to list some of them). He is also a multi-talented musician, plays in a hard rock band The Velvet in Luxembourg, records albums and performs concerts all over the country. Last but not least, he is interested in technology and accessibility of all possible gadgets, which can provide better quality of life to blind people. As a blind person, he gets by in a world that does not always place accessibility at the centre of its concerns.

Mario Perčinić. Photo: Dominique Nauroy

We have come a long way. Anything related to assistive technologies was at first designed for geeks... far from being mainstream. Today, I can walk into a store, buy any kind of PC or a smartphone, install Windows myself and get a free screen reader, which will perfectly do the job. Ten to fifteen years ago, this scenario was impossible.

Sure. I cannot just walk alone into the store because I do not know how it looks. I can only rely on the physical assistance from the person who comes with me or the sales assistant working in the shop.

"During the pandemic (...) I was very much dependent on online shopping... it was good to survive!"

If I am browsing through the online shop, taking into account that the website is accessible, I can notice what is available under certain categories and buy what I want independently.

During the pandemic, I could not walk to supermarkets and nobody was able to give me assistance. I was very much dependent on online shopping... it was good to survive! Now that everything has become normal, I was hoping that there would be much more shops going online in Luxembourg, unfortunately this did not happen.

Besides, there is room for improvement regarding e-commerce. Many websites are not accessible, or they seem to be accessible until you start to dig deeper, for instance if you want to access detailed information about a given product.

Of course. Especially since the directive started to enter into force in 2019. I also have to mention the very good job made here in the SIP (Information and Press Service). Most of my complaints have been solved out.

"In 2023, we must have accessible public documents and forms, no matter what kind of disability do we have."

PDF forms. I recently applied for Luxembourgish nationality. You have to complete PDF forms available on guichet.lu. They were completely inaccessible. In 2023, we must have accessible public documents and forms, no matter what kind of disability do we have.

With the help of the SIP, these forms have been fixed on guichet.lu and I have been able to fill them in on my own. I have asked a sighted friend to check them and it was correct. I have submitted them, went to the commune myself and completed all the procedures on my own. At the end of the day, all this brings a huge smile on your face.

Blind people cannot fix PDF forms themselves, because neither Acrobat Pro - the main tool for fixing that - nor other software are 100% accessible.

As a representative of the Access and Technology Committee, which worked on behalf of European Blind Union, I had the opportunity to participate in two accessibility summits at Google in 2013 and 2015. It is interesting to see from the insider's point of view how such a huge company is devoted to accessibility. When giants like Google, Apple and Microsoft are really committed to accessibility by following the rules for universal access, this can change the quality of life for disabled population a lot, and it is definitely a huge game changer.

The screen reader from Microsoft, Narrator, has improved a lot. One thing is missing: scripting. For power users, JAWS and NVDA are scriptable. JAWS scripting language is quite easy to learn if you know the basics of coding. With NVDA, you have to know Python, also easy to learn if you are into programming. On a daily basis I'm using many add-ons for NVDA. They extend its features, from different Windows apps to extending the usage and accessibility of browsers, web apps or e-mail clients.

"We need people on certain positions of the organisations for disabilities who understand what digital accessibility is

I know good developers, but most of the time they do not have any clue on accessibility, even if this is changing slowly. You have to understand the topic. Otherwise, you fix things just because somebody else told you so. Then accessibility will always be a problem. People with disabilities are good candidates to this kind of jobs.

We need people on certain positions of the organisations for disabilities who understand what digital accessibility is. If we have people who are incompetent, or not educated enough about digital accessibility and usability, things can go wrong very badly.

I will always fight for accessibility. I know what I would not be able to achieve without it. Accessibility is helping everyone. We have to understand this. A basic thing like Control-S in Word is an accessibility feature. It is useful for everyone.

About two years ago, I had accessibility problems with Luxtrust on Android. This authentication method is crucial in modern everyday life in Luxembourg for anybody. If you cannot use it, it is a disaster. I was probably not the only one who complained about this, luckily with the help from SIP we were able to fix the problem in a few weeks.

When an app gets a major update, it does not automatically mean that it is more accessible. Another example would be the Restopolis app, useful to find out what is on the lunch menu. I am using it every day. When version 2 had come out, it became completely unusable. Fortunately, major bugs for Android users have now been fixed.

I am also regularly using Adapto app, at first it was a total failure. Once again, in the last update of the app the most critical things were patched. It is not perfect, there are plenty of annoying errors, but I can use it. Also in the area of mobility: no website of the airline companies in Europe is accessible at this moment. I always have to ask someone else to help me buying a ticket.

I have seen many apps and websites evolving thanks to the complaints mechanism. But many people do not know about it.

If I had a few millions, I would definitely work on providing accessible solutions for blind musicians. For example, a typical guitar tuner which can be found on every corner is inaccessible for me. More and more guitar players are changing from a typical amplification on stage to various digital effect units, also called modelers: they are essentially using touchscreens and, thus, completely inaccessible to the blind community. The manufacturers who are making inaccessible products are leaving the group of users completely outside, which is absolutely unfair.

In The Velvet, I am the keyboardist and lead singer. Many modern synthesizers and keyboards are not accessible to blind musicians. Luckily for me, I was able to find a clone of the Hammond organ: it has no screen and therefore all the parameters can be changed directly via the buttons or switches.

The Velvet's 'Electric Wizard' music video

Lyrics

To the thunder and lightnings of a whirling storm

A visionary genius a prodigy was born

Destined to unravel the secret of the gods

Destined to ignite the wrath of the lords

Wizard without hat and tricks

Witchcraft without cans and bricks

Wizard without hat and tricks

Witchcraft without cans and bricks

The electric wizard

Neon messiah, master of the lightning

exploited by the thiefs

His gift of enlightment

destroyed by the kings

Wizard without hat and tricks

Witchcraft without cans and bricks

Wizard without hat and tricks

Witchcraft without cans and bricks

The electric wizard

My second keyboard, called Crumar Seven, is more complex and has a great system of deep editing. I can login into its web app through its Wi-Fi receiver and make all the changes. The interface shows up to be very accessible to all screen readers.

Blind people can be very good audio engineers and music producers. However, the tools needed for such jobs must be accessible. As a Windows user, I found out that I can do all the things by using Reaper as my main multitrack audio editor. It is cheap, very flexible and the developers of Reaper are very responsive when it comes to accessibility fixes. At the same time, the blind community from the developers to power users provides great additional library of scripts and add-ons enhancing the usability of Reaper (check here the Reaper Accessibility Wiki). Logic Pro is another good example: this app available on macOS is totally accessible via VoiceOver.

Again, I regret that the organisations representing the blind do not do more lobbying, saying: if you would fix these products, you would get more customers.

If you notice a lack of accessibility on a website or a mobile application of a Luxembourg public body, you can first contact the organisation directly.

If you don't get satisfaction, please contact the SIP or the Ombudsman.

This accessibility complaint form is available on the website of the SIP.

When a complaint is submitted via this form, the SIP acts as a mediator between the citizen and the public sector body. The SIP then informs the user of the conclusions, as soon as a solution has been proposed. In case where the reported accessibility problems are out of the scope of the law of 28 May 2019, the SIP informs the responsible organisation and gives feedback to the complainer, even if there is no legal obligation that has to be respected.

The Ombudsman can also act as a mediator according to the law and follow a similar procedure.

PDFs often inaccessible on most visited websites

2023-04-28T00:00:00.000Z

PDFs often inaccessible on most visited websites

However, the accessibility of these documents, which are often available in large quantities on Luxembourg's most visited public portals in 2023, is steadily improving

The prevalence of inaccessible PDF files on public websites is a significant problem for people with disabilities. These accessibility issues can completely prevent access to vital information and hinder the completion of administrative procedures, particularly when forms are concerned. In this article, we look at the accessibility of PDF files on the 17 most frequently visited public websites in Luxembourg.

Photo: Getty Images / istockphoto.com / nyvltart

When a PDF document is digitised as an image or not tagged, a blind or partially sighted user has no access at all to its content (for more details on this subject, see the article "PDF and accessibility, the false good idea").

In April 2023, the SIP analysed a sample of PDF files from the 17 most visited public websites in Luxembourg, according to Google's Top 1 Million:

adem.lu,
cita.lu,
gouvernement.lu,
govjobs.lu,
guichet.lu,
impotsdirects.public.lu,
inll.lu,
inondations.lu,
itm.lu,
lod.lu,
luxembourg.lu,
map.geoportail.lu,
meteolux.lu,
mobiliteit.lu,
petitions.lu,
portal.education.lu,
vdl.lu.

The top three PDF accessibility issues

Untagged PDFs

The PDF format was originally designed for printing. In 2001, a new version of this format introduced the concept of tagging, which provides assistive technologies with structured information about the content of pages, making them accessible to people with disabilities. In practice, tagging enables blind people to identify and interact with different types of content, such as headings, lists, paragraphs, tables, images, form fields, etc. The main office suites and DTP (Desktop Publishing) software can export tagged PDFs.

Documents scanned in image mode

When a paper document is scanned in image mode and exported in PDF format, optical character recognition (OCR) is required. Without this step, the document will consist solely of images for each page, which will not be accessible. Character recognition can be carried out using Adobe Acrobat Pro or any software specialising in OCR.

Protection against the use of assistive technologies

The PDF format offers a number of options for protecting documents, for example against modification. One of these options protects the document against the use of assistive technologies by people with disabilities. This option can be activated by mistake and should be avoided overall.

The analysis focused essentially on the three most blocking accessibility problems. There are, of course, many other potential accessibility problems (see the RAPDF PDF accessibility assessment framework for all the criteria to be met for producing accessible PDFs), but tagging is a prerequisite. If it is missing, a PDF is immediately considered not accessible.

General

We analysed 25,398 PDF files, representing a volume of 42 GB and over 471,000 pages. PDF documents represent 95% of the office files downloaded from the sites analysed. The remaining 5% were mainly documents from the Microsoft Office suite.

Of all the PDF documents available for download, 46% are a priori exempt from the accessibility obligation, as they were published before 23 September 2018 (exemption provided for in the law of 28 May 2019). In the remainder of this article, we will only consider PDF documents that are subject to the accessibility obligation, i.e. forms and documents published after 23 September 2018.

Description of graph 1

This diagram shows, in the form of a proportional map, the distribution of the 25,398 PDF files collected as part of this study:

13,781 PDFs in the scope of the law

5,591 tagged

642 forms
4,949 other structured documents

8,185 untagged

1,131 files scanned in image mode
705 forms
6,349 other unstructured documents

11,617 exempt PDFs

With regard to the accessibility of these documents, we have detected that 59% are untagged. Of these untagged documents, 9% are forms and 16% are scanned documents on which no optical character recognition has been performed.

From another perspective, if we look at the tagging of all PDFs according to their nature, we see that around 10% of PDF documents are forms. These documents are therefore particularly important because they support active administrative procedures. 52% are not tagged.

On a positive note, very few documents are protected against the use of assistive technologies (0.03%).

Evolution over time

Description of graph 2

This column chart shows the evolution of the share of unlabelled PDF files analysed as part of this study over a four-year period, from 2019 to 2022.

Description of graph 3

This column chart shows the evolution of the number of PDF files analysed as part of this study over a four-year period, from 2019 to 2022.

Based on the last modification date of the files studied, we can identify some interesting trends over the last four years. While the number of documents published per year has been increasing since 2019, the share of untagged PDFs is decreasing (from 64% in 2019 to 53% in 2022).

While the number of untagged PDFs is still far too high, particularly for forms, the general trend is towards a gradual improvement in the accessibility of downloadable documents.

Comparison of the main sites

Description of graph 4

This line graph shows the proportion of tagged PDF documents on the eight sites covered by the study.

There are significant differences between the sites in terms of the proportion of tagged PDFs. We are selecting here the sites that have more than a hundred PDF files available. Guichet.lu leads the way with 82% and meteolux.lu comes in at just 3%.

These results must be qualified, however, as our automatic tests do not allow us to determine whether the documents in question are exempt from the obligation to comply with accessibility standards. This is because a document may be issued by a third party and not be under the control of the publishing organisation, or an accessible alternative may be available. These two exceptions are provided for in the law.

Impact of production method

We then wanted to know the origin of tagged and untagged files. Fortunately, the PDF format has "Creator" and "Producer" metadata that can be used to identify the source.

Below are the Top 5 software and hardware products that our tests identified as producing the most tagged and untagged documents:

Top 5 producers of tagged PDFs

Microsoft Word
Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker
Adobe InDesign
Adobe LiveCycle Designer
Microsoft Powerpoint

Top 5 untagged PDF producers

Adobe InDesign
Konica Minolta
Pscript5.dll (Acrobat Distiller or GhostScript)
Microsoft Print to PDF
Adobe Acrobat

There is still a significant proportion (35%) of files whose origin cannot be identified via their metadata.

The main producers of untagged PDFs are InDesign DTP software, scanners and the PDF printing functionality included in most recent operating systems.

Description of graph 5

This line graph shows the percentage of untagged PDF documents scanned in image mode in the six sites covered by the study.

The prevalence of documents digitised as images on public sites varies. Their number is very low on a site such as guichet.lu (2% of untagged PDFs on this site) but very high on that of the City of Luxembourg (52% of untagged PDFs on the site).

Analysis of accessibility statements

All public websites are required to publish an accessibility statement. This is generally available via an "Accessibility" link in the footer of each page. The organisations in charge of these sites must describe the level of accessibility achieved and any accessibility problems of which they are aware. We wanted to find out whether these organisations are aware of any accessibility problems with the PDF files they publish.

11 of the 17 sites studied have an accessibility statement. These include

8 invoke an exemption provided for by law for old documents (4) or for documents originating from third parties (7).
7 invoke a derogation for disproportionate burden: the work involved in bringing their PDF documents into compliance would be too costly in relation to the estimated benefit for citizens.
3 mention PDFs as a non-compliance that will be corrected.

None of these statements make it possible to identify precisely which PDFs on their sites are not accessible.

Most of the organisations responsible for these sites are therefore aware of the problem, but are not necessarily in a position to resolve it in a simple way.

As we saw above, the top three producers of untagged PDFs are DTP software, scanners and the PDF printing function. That is why we believe it is important to raise awareness and to train the teams in charge of the production of brochures. If this is outsourced, it should be possible to include accessibility in the request (see our page on specifications).

It would also be appropriate to put in place processes to manage the accessibility of digitised documents (OCR and tagging stages or provision of an accessible alternative such as the source document before printing and digitisation) and, finally, to raise awareness among administrations to avoid using the PDF printing function as much as possible and to favour PDF export, which produces tagged documents.

To go further and work on the accessibility of the PDF documents produced, the SIP is making available the RAPDF framework, which sets out all the criteria to be met, and is offering a training course for the public sector entitled "Accessibility of PDF documents in practice". If you are interested, don't hesitate to sign up.

Setting up the sample

The sample of sites was obtained from the list of sites in the Top 1 Million of the Google Chrome UX Report (see also the methodology used by Google to compile this list). We searched for all .lu sites and detected sites in the inventory of public sites published by the SIP as open data. To simplify the exercise, we kept only State and local authority sites and excluded sites requiring identification as well as duplicates (e.g. www.services-publics.lu and guichet.public.lu). This method produced the list of 17 sites presented at the beginning of this article.

File analysis

The simplA11yPDFCrawler tool, developed at SIP, was used to collect and analyse the PDFs on these 17 sites. Only the office documents present on these sites were downloaded; external links were not taken into account. In order to carry out the study in a reasonable timeframe, this collection was limited to 24 hours per site, which means that some sites may make more documents available than those analysed in this study.

Limitations of the study

The tests do not verify the presence of an accessible alternative. Nor do they check whether the PDFs published are under the control of the publishing authority (exemption provided for in the law).

The law provides an exemption from the obligation to comply for all files published before 23 September 2018. Technically, we have no way of knowing the date of publication of a file. To get an approximation of this date, we have used the date on which the file was last modified, on the assumption that this date would be fairly close to the publication date and that a document cannot be published before it has been created or modified. This is a conservative assumption, and potentially underestimates the number of files falling within the scope of the law.

Open data

All the data used in this study is available in Open data in the dataset Analysis of the digital accessibility of PDF files on the 17 most visited public sites - April 2023, under CC0 licence.

Tanja Kleut: Technology is a door opener

2023-04-14T00:00:00.000Z

Tanja Kleut: Technology is a door opener

In this interview we discuss accessibility, digital barriers and how technology is helping blind people to be more independent in their daily lives

Tanja Kleut is working on digital accessibility at the European Parliament. She has lived and worked in Luxembourg since 2014. In nine years, she has seen the progress made in terms of accessibility in the capital, but also online. Do these improvements enable blind people to live, work, communicate and move around independently? Not yet, there is still a long way to go. She explains us why.

Tanja Kleut. Photo: Dominique Nauroy

I have always been focused on accessibility. If I want to get access to any content, it is through the technology. I lost my sight when I was 12 years old. Very early, I realised that the only way to get access to books and learning materials was with usage of technology. At that time, schoolbooks were available in paper format only, and I was not able to continue reading and studying in that way anymore. Thus, I was digitizing paper books in accessible digital formats with optical character recognition (OCR) software and then reading books with a screen reader and refreshable braille display. In that way I had access to learning materials. Technology was a door opener for me. Since then, technology has become more mainstream, and accessibility has evolved in the publishing industry.

Among other things, the disability rights movement asks for the right to access information: if the information is digital, then it is a matter of digital accessibility. Digital accessibility is my first passion: it is at the same time work, passion and daily reality. Seeing that I can help as an accessibility expert by providing constructive feedback, collaborate with the teams that are able to implement the changes so that information becomes accessible: this is rewarding.

Number one: inaccessible online forms. You just cannot navigate with the keyboard, select a radio button option, tick a check box or validate the Captcha. It happens usually on e-commerce websites, most often on web pages, but PDF forms can also suffer from the same problem.

"It would be helpful (...) that the alternative text of the image gives basic information of the shown product."

Second challenge: unlabelled buttons or icons. Often, images of products do not have alternative text. Even when a picture has an alternative text, this one is often too vague, especially for shopping, it does not give all the details that are shown on the picture. Basically, you get the name of the product, but the image conveys much more information than what is written in the product description. It would be helpful that product descriptions are more extensive (for everyone) and that the alternative text of the image gives basic information of the shown product.

I do my shopping online. I can read the textual description of each product and, with the delivery at home, I am independent. Of course, the system is not perfect: if, during my shopping on an inaccessible e-commerce website, the product is suddenly out of stock, I am not notified, I have no way to know that the milk in my basket is not available anymore. This happens when only the colour was used on the website to convey the information that the product is not available.

Third: menus that cannot be expanded with the keyboard.

"It is anyway impossible to use real estate websites"

The lists can quickly become long, we may also mention for instance 3D virtual tours, making property searches even more inaccessible - it is anyway impossible to use real estate websites. Pictures shown in 3D tours show real estate, but again, the description does not provide the same level of information. The real estate agencies should provide a detailed textual description.

Yes, since the first accessibility directive started to be implemented. Public sites and apps have been improved over the last two years, I am glad for that, and the distinction with the private sector is becoming clear. When I browse a website that I visited already and discover suddenly that a component or functionality has become accessible, this is a very nice surprise. Not much seems to happen yet in the private domain as this was not a priority. Sometimes a few accessibility improvements are being made, but then because there is no real internal commitment, when a new major update is published, accessibility is impacted.

"I am much more independent, and this is very important

I am much more independent, and this is very important. I can fill out administrative forms without having to ask anyone for help - this can already be a burden. Moreover, I don't have to share confidential information with someone else anymore. I can get more information related to cultural events, even purchase tickets; I am able to check schedules for bus lines, trains and so on.

This is not purely digital accessibility, but I have to mention that the tram is accessible. There is not this gap between the tram and the sidewalk - which happens with the train. I am just wondering why the doors do not open automatically: you have to find the door, then the button to open the door. Often, I have my hands full, and it is difficult to search for the button to open the door. Globally, Luxembourg City has become, over the years, much more accessible than it was when I arrived in 2014. I feel safe in the city centre.

A long time ago, I went to the Mersch municipal park for the first time thanks to the navigation app on my phone. I was so happy! I found where it was, I found it myself on my own, I felt like I can see. Nowadays I have plenty of navigation apps. The accuracy of the path depends on how well the map is supported.

It is a difficult question. Ideally yes. But perhaps in its next update, my banking app won't be as accessible as it was... then I may be criticised because I was advocating for that application. This is rather the responsibility of the service provider to declare the level of accessibility of their product.

It is true that there is not much information on accessibility of the services. First, at this moment I do not speak Luxembourgish, this is a barrier. Even if Luxembourgers speak French, I often feel some social exclusion. Besides, when it comes to visual impairment, everyone knows everyone here in Luxembourg. It seems like persons with disabilities are a bit hesitant when it comes to advocating for their own rights. Let's take an example: in Croatia, organisations representing persons with disabilities are chaired by persons with disabilities. I think this is important: they are really fighting for their own rights as persons with disabilities. This helps to have a true understanding of the challenges. Here, this is not happening so much. I complained to different associations of the blind and they are not fighting for the rights of persons with disabilities as much as I think they should.

As a user, I am really looking forward to it, because there are so many barriers. I know there will be a transition phase. But the sooner it starts, the better it is. The new European Accessibility Act allows users to address complaints and, because of infringements, economic operators will have to pay penalties. I am eager to discover how this Act will become a reality.

It is important that persons with disabilities use the feedback mechanism and complain about accessibility issues. However, public sector organisations have to take responsibility and build internal accessibility knowledge: introduce regular accessibility trainings, modify recruiting and procurement processes, and then receive feedback based on the digital accessibility they are working on.

These three. On Windows, I switch between NVDA and JAWS, it depends on the application I am using. Some actions cannot be performed by NVDA then I am using JAWS and vice versa. If the website is not accessible, I try to access it by using different screen readers. I sometimes must use NVDA and Jaws to get the information or to interact with the elements displayed on the HTML page. I may even have to try with another browser if this is really something that I want to access. For instance, online payments can trigger a pop-up, but the screen reader does not see the close button, so it is impossible to process to the payment. No solution is 100% reliable. It is a combination of three technologies - operating systems, browsers and screen readers, all of them regularly updated and following the common accessibility standards.

At the beginning, JAWS was the only choice. Then came NVDA. This one is free, open-source and allows more customisations. Even Narrator can be easier for some specific tasks inside Microsoft applications.

I use VoiceOver on my iPhone. At some point, I used an Android to get familiar with TalkBack. It is a matter of preference. I am glad that I can choose between mainstream devices, like everyone else!

A toolbox to ensure the accessibility of your PDFs

2023-04-05T00:00:00.000Z

A toolbox to ensure the accessibility of your PDFs

In addition to the guidelines for evaluating websites (RGAA) and mobile applications (RAAM), the following applies to PDF.

PDF is not new: it is thirty years old. It wasn't until 2001 and the introduction of tagged PDFs that PDFs could be read by screen readers, the necessary interface for the blind and partially sighted.

Other developments followed, such as text reflow, a technique that allows users who want to increase the font size to adjust the width of the paragraph to the width of the screen, so they don't have to scroll from left to right to read text.

Photo: iStock / simonekesh

However, two decades on, not all PDF documents are accessible, far from it. From texts scanned in image mode to a 100% compliant form, from LibreOffice to InDesign, there is a whole range of intentions and tools. Some authors, anxious to structure their document neatly using Word, will unknowingly make it accessible, like Monsieur Jourdain making prose without knowing it.

While Luxembourg's public sector websites and apps have been subject to accessibility requirements since 2019, the same applies to office automation file formats. Those published before the end of September 2018 are exempt, unless their content is necessary for active administrative processes. A forthcoming article will look at the accessibility of PDFs on the Grand Duchy's most frequently visited public websites.

Since 2020, the Information and Press Service has been offering training in PDF accessibility for the public sector. It is included in the INAP catalogue and is given several times a year.

In this context, the PDF framework aims to provide a structure and all the necessary tools for each administration to independently audit the digital accessibility of the office files it makes available to its users, thereby ensuring their compliance.

To help you become more familiar with it, the "Methodology" page invites you to download an archive, which contains the following files: a docx file, a PDF file created from the docx file, and a folder containing screenshots related to each test you will perform according to the criteria.

This framework is based on the European standard EN 301 549 v 3.2.1, more specifically chapter 10, "non-web documents", which applies to all PDF documents published on Luxembourg public websites. The criteria it contains are an adaptation of the WCAG success criteria for office documents.

Certain criteria and techniques from the European standard have been deliberately left out, either because they are irrelevant in the context of a PDF document (for example focus visibility), or because the use cases are too rare (for example, all the criteria relating to audio and video content integrated into a PDF, audio control, captioning, etc.)

The objective is to ensure that all checks can be carried out using the most commonly used office tools, such as LibreOffice Writer, Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, and others. It was therefore decided to exclude certain content and structures from the analysis. Adobe Acrobat Pro software, despite offering a range of accessibility tools, is not required for this standard.

So, what will be tested? What factors will influence the document's compliance? A total of 46 criteria, divided into ten themes, are being put under the microscope. Examples include the correct management of images conveying information, compliance with a minimum contrast, the presence of semantic logic in the structuring of tables, the relevance of accessible names of links and, of course, the compliance of forms.

Try things out and let us know what you think: this framework is not set in stone, and we will be making adjustments based on you feedback.

Last question worth asking: PDF or HTML? As we have seen, it is perfectly possible to produce a 100% accessible PDF. However, the complexity of producing accessible documents is greater in PDF, and updating them is less robust. It is possible to accompany the publication of any non-accessible PDF document with an accessible HTML document.

You may also be interested in the following resources:

A guide to "How to create an accessible PDF document in Word"
Comprehensive procedures for French government departments to produce accessible office documents.

Innovations driven by the world of disability

2023-04-03T00:00:00.000Z

Innovations driven by the world of disability

Far from stifling creativity, accessibility has been the source of inventions and products that today meet the needs of everyone

We live in a world of technologies, many of which were originally designed to compensate for disabilities, and some of which were developed by people with disabilities. Their uses have rapidly spread beyond their initial sphere to conquer the general public.

A blind man adjusts the volume of a "Talking book", the forerunner of the audiobook, at the library for the blind of the New York Public Library. 1954, CC0.

Here is a slice of life that is by no means universal, but in which everyone will no doubt recognise a moment in their daily lives. To write this article, I used tools so common that at first sight it would seem pointless to list them: a keyboard to put down on paper my ideas, several emails to discuss them with a few specialists, a phone call to check a source before leaving the office.

On the evening of this almost ordinary day, many people on the train are pulling out their smartphones. The sometimes lively atmosphere of the evening trains discourages some of them from taking out their headphones, so they watch their video with the sound turned off, and from time to time I glance over at my neighbour's screen where the automatically generated captions reproduce quite faithfully the lecture given by Jean-Marc Jancovici on energy and climate issues.

As I left the station, in the calm that has returned, the first pages of Couleurs de l'incendie accompany me. Pierre Lemaitre himself reads his own text, and the audiobook punctuates the end of my day, before I distract myself by listening to the film reviews on the Masque et la plume podcast in (very) fast-forward mode.

At the dinner table, everyone shares selected moments from their day and offers their best anecdotes. Little by little, the children become less small: it's no longer even necessary to remind them of a few basic hygiene rules - with the electric toothbrush, it's become fun.

At last everyone is asleep... or almost. I can hear my young teenager, headphones on, repeating: "next", "next", I deduce that he gives each track in his "discovery" music playlist little chance of being appreciated. And for tomorrow, shirt or jumper? Siri tells me the weather is summery, with showers expected.

From morning to night, I use tools that simplify my life, help me in my professional tasks, make my journeys smoother... I've adopted tools designed for people with disabilities, sometimes designed by them.

Who invented the keyboard? Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden and Samuel Soule are regularly cited as the designers of the QWERTY keyboard. This was at the end of the 19th century, and their typewriter was marketed a few years later by Remington.

Smith Premier typewriter from the 1920s or 1930s. Wikimedia, Wolfmann, CC-BY-SA-4.0

However, this story glosses over the invention of Pierre Foucault, a French inventor who became blind at a very young age. He collaborated with Louis Braille, who developed the dot alphabet. One of Pierre Foucault's aims was to enable blind people to communicate in writing with sighted people. In the mid-19th century, he produced a "keyboard-printing machine". This typewriter, made up of thirty levers ending in engraved punches, each operated by a key, made it possible to write in raphigraphy. This typographic system reproduced letters in relief on paper, which could be read both tactilely by blind people and visually by sighted people not trained in the Braille alphabet.

From the United States to France, let's continue our journey to Italy, in the very early days of the 19th century: there we find a blind countess, Carolina Fantoni; the countess's brother, Agostino; and a nobleman - and very gifted mechanic - Pellegrino Turri. According to one version of the story, Agostino invents the first typewriter to help his sister. Turri intervened to improve the tool by adding carbon paper. One version attributes the invention of the first typewriter and carbon paper to Turri alone, who was in love with the Countess. Sixteen letters written on this machine can still be seen in a museum.

Let's go back to the 20th century and introduce Vinton Cerf, who is considered one of the pioneers of the Internet and is also deaf. He played a key role in the development of the first email services, as he explains in an interview with Ability magazine in April 2020. He has had a rich career, working for NASA, ICANN, IBM and Google, among others.

It was at this same company, and at the same time, that another hearing-impaired engineer, Ken Harrenstien, developed a tool to automatically generate subtitles for videos published on YouTube, as reported in the New York Times in November 2009.

In a widely quoted article, "Disability drives innovations", journalist Shira Ovide asks the question: do you like audio books? "You have the blind to thank for that", she writes, recalling the story of their ancestor, Talking Books, an initiative launched in the 1930s in the United States, when less than 20% of Americans could read Braille. Some visually impaired people had managed to modify their record players so that the story could be told more quickly. Today, the same principle is at work when you want to hear your podcast in an accelerated version.

As for the electric toothbrush, it first appeared in Switzerland in 1954. The Broxodent was originally designed for users with limited motor skills. It has now become an everyday object for everyone.

These examples are by no means exhaustive; they are intended to illustrate a movement, that of inventors who were keen to provide practical solutions to situations of disability. It is not our intention to paint a hagiographic portrait of them, or even to suggest that without them and, more generally, without the world of disability, these innovations would never have seen the light of day. However, they were all the more important in that they represented a major advance, with no alternative, where they later became mainstream objects, providing additional comfort and ease.

Clearly, many products are not always designed with the primary intention of making everyday life easier for people with disabilities. Such is the case with smartphones, which first conquered the general public before incorporating accessibility options. While Apple regularly highlights accessibility as one of the pillars of its developments, the fact remains that Siri, however advanced it may be, is not yet capable of responding to the diverse situations faced by people who have difficulty expressing themselves by voice.

Whether it is at the origin of an innovation or accompanies it, and far from being a brake on creativity, accessibility stimulates innovative approaches. Disabled people are the driving force behind the development of products which, often by changing or reappropriating their use, are also able to meet the needs of the general public.

It's high time for the private sector to get on board, too

2023-02-27T00:00:00.000Z

It's high time for the private sector to get on board, too

In 2025, a new law will come into force extending accessibility compliance obligations

While compliance with accessibility rules currently applies to public service websites and apps, in two years' time the rule will be extended to many areas of the private sector. From June 2025, it will apply to the whole of the European Union, and all e-commerce services as well as sites and apps dedicated to mobility will be concerned, under certain conditions.

The European Accessibility Act, which has been transposed into Luxembourg law, goes beyond the framework currently limited to websites and apps to cover areas as varied as computers or smartphones and their operating systems, televisions and audiovisual media access services, electronic books and e-readers, electronic communication services, electronic ticketing and even banking services, including certain self-service terminals such as automatic teller machines (ATM).

Photo: iStock / Getty Images / Motortion

On 28 June 2025, businesses will have to ensure that they comply with accessibility standards. In other words, the days are numbered. In the case of websites and mobile apps alone, it can take many months from the time a specification is drawn up to the time a new portal goes online. When it comes to future redesigns, accessibility is no longer an extra option. On the contrary, it must become an integral part of the design process from the earliest stages, thereby limiting any additional costs incurred by compliance. The Luxembourg law of 2019 considers a site to be compliant only when it achieves 100% compliance, which is no mean feat and which some sites have already achieved by 2022.

Products (hardware and software running on it):

consumer hardware such as computers, smartphones and tablets and their respective operating systems;
payment terminals, check-in kiosks, ticket or travelcard dispensers - excluding those located aboard any means of transport, subject to exceptions provided for by law;
intelligent televisions or equipment providing access to audiovisual services;
e-readers.

Services

electronic communication services;
audiovisual services (video on demand, replay, etc.);
pre-recorded time-based media (audio and/or video) available on the Internet or an app, which are not considered to be archives;
services related to the transport of passengers by air, bus, train and boat (their websites and mobile applications in particular), subject to exceptions provided for by law;
e-banking, online payment and e-money platforms;
digital books;
e-commerce;
the European emergency number 112.

According to the European Commission, making these services and devices accessible to everyone will make life easier for at least 87 million people, or one in four European adults.

The law transposing the European act also provides for the possibility of prohibiting a non-compliant product or service from being made available on the market, and lists administrative and criminal penalties, the latter of which can be up to €500,000 and €1 million in the event of a repeat offense. The fine is proportionate to the extent and seriousness of the non-compliance. To this end, a new body, the Office de la surveillance de l'accessibilité des produits et services (OSAPS), will be set up and will have, among other tasks, the role of accessibility watchdog. Anyone will be able to report non-compliant products to the OSAPS.

Certain public bodies covered by the first law on accessibility - that of 2019 - could also be affected by the new law, particularly in the area of mobility.

On the other hand, micro-businesses (fewer than ten employees, annual balance sheet not exceeding €2 million) would be exempt from the obligation to comply with accessibility requirements. Similarly, transitional measures provide for exemptions for self-service terminals, as well as for service providers who will be able to continue to supply these terminals using products considered non-compliant from 2025 onwards. Finally, it will also be possible to put forward the argument of a disproportionate burden in the face of the obligation to modify the product or service in depth. These transitional provisions are due to expire in 2030.

Despite these safeguards, this European Act is preparing for a paradigm shift throughout the European Union, with the ambition of seeing products and services on the market that are genuinely usable by everyone.

This article was updated on 29 March 2023.

Users still looking for solutions

2023-02-24T00:00:00.000Z

Users still looking for solutions

Complaints about accessibility are rarely resolved

Some users with disabilities take the opportunity to alert the SIP or the Ombusdman about the digital accessibility problems they experience on a daily basis. They are rarely offered an appropriate solution in the short term.

In 2022, the SIP (Information and Press Service) received nine complaints from users who were prevented from browsing or consulting websites or mobile apps.

Photo: iStock / Getty Images / inside-studio

These complaints included:

Four related to apps
Three related to websites
One concerning access to a PDF file
One concerning access to a CAPTCHA module

Three of the services in question are in the transport sector, one in health and one in education. Four others are not listed.

Only two short-term solutions were offered to these citizens - although, in one of the two cases, the request did not fall within the framework of the law: it concerned a PDF that was not accessible, but published before September 2018. Of the seven complaints that were not resolved in the short term, one responsible body never replied and another claimed that the burden was disproportionate.

Over the period 2020-2021, the SIP handled 18 complaints. Six short-term solutions were proposed. Two organisations had never responded, and four had argued that the burden was disproportionate. Two proposed solutions were not accessible either. Finally, one request was not acted upon because it did not fall within the legal framework.

Description of graph 7

This bar chart shows the total number of complaints received by the Information and Press Service related to digital accessibility issues, i.e. 18 in 2020 - 2021 and nine in 2022. Six and then two short-term solutions have been proposed respectively.

A better integration of user's needs for 2023 is an objective which is… accessible

Any citizen can contact the SIP to make a complaint about the accessibility of a public sector website or mobile application. To do so, simply fill in the form on the SIP website or send an email to accessibilite@sip.public.lu. Before making a complaint, it is advisable to contact the organisation concerned directly. The contact details can be found in the accessibility statement for each site or mobile application.

There are more than 700 websites and apps in Luxembourg belonging to public sector bodies. At present, 180 have an accessibility statement, which has been notified to the SIP. As a result, three quarters of public sector sites do not display this statement, despite the fact that it is compulsory. This figure can be put into perspective somewhat, as the SIP may not be aware of the existence of certain statements.

However, this accessibility statement is anything but anecdotal. It is precisely this statement that details the complaints procedure. Whether you are blind, partially sighted, physically disabled, etc., it also helps you to understand how compliant the site is, what content is not accessible and what burdens are considered to be disproportionate.

The accessibility statement gives the person responsible for the site or app the option of excluding from the scope a certain number of elements whose correction, redesign or rewriting is deemed too costly in relation to the estimated benefit for users(more information on the disproportionate burden). Examples include the subtitling of videos, or older editorial content that is deemed too time-consuming to rework given the resources available.

At the top of the list are PDF and Office documents, followed by navigation elements and, to complete the podium, authentication procedures. It is common for several elements to appear in the same statement.

Description of graph 8

This bar chart shows, in percentage terms, the main reasons for disproportionate burden given in accessibility statements. PDF or Office documents are the most cited element in this case.

The trend from 2020-2021 to 2022 also shows that proportionately less use is made of the disproportionate burden argument. At the end of 2021, 79 out of 118 claims, or two out of three, contained at least one mention of disproportionate burden. At the end of 2022, these figures were 86 out of 180, or less than half. In concrete terms, last year, out of 62 new statements, only seven mentioned a disproportionate burden. Several factors may explain this encouraging figure: a less complex nature of mobile sites and apps, an update of previous statements from which the "disproportionate burden" aspect had been removed, and finally mobile sites and apps whose design incorporates the objective of full compliance from the outset.

2022: the year of awareness

2023-02-20T00:00:00.000Z

2022: the year of awareness

Digital accessibility under the microscope: what analyses of mobile apps and public websites have taught us

"Progress, but room for improvement": that's what the report cards of the 110 websites and mobile apps that have undergone a full or simplified audit might read. Of the sample selected for 2022, just over half have achieved partial compliance.

The subject of digital accessibility is becoming more widespread and is beginning to be taken seriously, particularly in the light of the second audit campaign carried out last year on a sample of public sites. This shows a positive trend, even if the study period is not yet long enough to validate this trend.

Photo: iStock / Getty Images / carloscastilla

Seventeen public websites were audited in detail. The average score did not reach 50% compliance, the threshold for partial compliance in terms of digital accessibility. In the sample, nine sites currently exceed this mark. Nevertheless, at 48%, 2022 is four points higher than 2021 (44%). Between growing awareness and the deadlines imposed for redesigning a website, 2023 should show that good practice in this area has been integrated and that accessibility has become a key point in specifications.

However, this 2022 average masks major disparities. Forty points separate the most accessible site from the least accessible. Essential sites in the fields of mobility or education are not accessible to people with disabilities.

Description of graph 1

This bar chart shows 17 public sites targeted for full audits in 2022 in descending order of compliance with the RGAA criteria, from covid19.public.lu (66%) to Letzshop.lu (26%).

Below 50%, a site is not considered accessible. That's 8 out of 17 sites audited.

What could cause the score to drop? An audit consists of 106 criteria divided into thirteen themes, according to the RGAA 4.1 framework. Here, the most problematic areas are not the most visible: multimedia elements, such as videos, do not even account for 2% of non-compliances.

The problem lies first and foremost with the very basis of the site: "mandatory elements", presentation of information, structure and navigation. In other words, the majority of the non-compliances identified.

Description of graph 2

This bar chart shows the RGAA themes sorted from those with the most non-compliances to those with the fewest, among 17 public sites targeted for full audits in 2022.

Mandatory elements, presentation of information and structure: the very basis of the sites poses a problem

What are we talking about? Mandatory elements check the validity of the code, the presence and relevance of the document's language, its title, and the misuse of HTML tags for presentation purposes. Taken all together, these are obstacles to the clear reproduction of the page by screen readers, used in particular by blind people.

Similarly, a lack of attention to the presentation of information can lead to text that is enlarged but illegible due to a lack of flexible layout; to buttons or form input fields that lack clear visual cues when they are the target of input; to links whose nature is not obvious (lack of underlining, too little contrast with the surrounding text).

These two issues alone account for a third of the problems identified.

Closely related to these issues is the structuring of information, which looks at the relevance of headings, the coherence of the document structure and the correct use of lists. This trio - mandatory elements, presentation of information, structuring of information - which consequently comprises the key elements of a site's architecture, accounts for half (47%) of the non-compliances encountered.

If we add navigation - the relevant and recurring presence of a menu, a site map and a search engine - the bulk of the non-compliances can be summed up here.

This is followed by elements generally integrated into the body of the page: accessibility of forms, colour issues (insufficient contrast, information conveyed solely by colours inaccessible to colour-blind people, images conveying information, such as green ticks or red crosses, with no text alternative, and therefore indecipherable by screen readers), scripts - with a few lines of code, it's easy to (re)create menus, carousels or even tick boxes, but there's a big risk of forgetting users with disabilities by deviating from the canonical HTML tags - and, finally, links: by way of example, it is impossible for a screen reader to interpret a link consisting of an image without a text alternative.

To complete the picture, four themes are presented under the 5%, starting with consultation issues - here we note the control over animations, time limits, accessibility of office documents -, tables - often complex to understand for blind and partially-sighted people, even if they are accessible -, and finally multimedia elements - subtitling of videos, presence of audio description... - Frames round off the list.

Let's take these 106 criteria, separate them from their respective themes and look at those mentioned most frequently, in descending order:

Sometimes it's rewriting interactive elements, sometimes it's fine-tuning a style sheet: depending on the issues encountered, the time required to correct them can vary. Making sure that scripts are compliant is not always a trivial task for developers. Other points, which concern content producers or designers, may be simpler to resolve. This involves correctly titling the different parts of the HTML page to help people with disabilities navigate easily, using tags dedicated to structuring lists and ensuring that the contrast in the text is sufficiently marked.

In order to open up a wider range of options, the Accessibility unit of the SIP (Information and Press Service) has itself tested 87 public sites, using a simplified method: three pages and 53 criteria, i.e. a limited selection of pages and criteria for each site. The methodology is therefore simplified, with the aim of raising awareness among a greater number of players by getting them to report existing problems on their sites, without aiming to be exhaustive.

Fewer criteria, fewer pages, a different sample of sites: this selection somewhat reshuffles the deck, by bringing navigation issues to the fore, but the quartet of mandatory elements, presentation and structuring of information, and navigation obtains similar scores, accounting for almost half of the problems encountered (48%), with the last theme predominating.

Forms and colours were also very common.

Description of graph 3

This bar chart shows the RGAA themes sorted according to the number of non-compliances, among 87 public sites targeted for simplified audits in 2022.

Here, the average of the 87 sites reaches partial compliance (54%). Using this simplified audit method, one site achieves a score of 100%(infocrise.public.lu) and the majority (46) reach or exceed the 50% mark.

The interest of a wider range of sites also makes it possible to identify at which administrative level there is significant room for improvement. For example, at local level (e.g. communes, syndicates or communal funds), the compliance levels achieved are still twenty points lower than at sites under State control. The State benefits from having a centralised service that enables better coordination of joint projects, including digital accessibility, an area in which the 'Web & UX' team at the Government IT Centre (CTIE) is aware of and trained, and for which quality assurance processes have been established.

Description of chart 4

This column chart shows the average levels of compliance with the RGAA criteria depending on whether the site belongs to the State domain (67%), the local level (communes, local authority associations, etc.: 47%) or another level (banking domain, transport sector, etc.: 46%), among 87 public sites targeted for simplified audits in 2022.

Centralised tools and a common methodology may explain the relatively high score achieved by government sites

In 2022, six apps benefited from a full audit - three times as many as in 2021. The small number of apps tested makes year-on-year comparisons tricky. The audit for mobile applications is based on the RAAM 1 framework (106 criteria divided into fifteen themes). An average of nine screens per app were tested.

Six apps, three for iOS, three for Android. At the finish line, the differences are less striking: less than twenty points separate the bottom of the pack from the top. The average score for the six apps is 49%, five points higher than in 2021 - but then again, the comparison may not be relevant, as only two apps were tested in the first campaign in 2020-2021.

Description of chart 5

This bar chart shows 6 public apps targeted for full audits in 2022 in descending order of compliance with RAAM criteria, from the MainOffall app on Android (59%) to the Luxtrust app, also on Android (40%).

One app in three partially compliant: we need to step up the pace towards greater accessibility

Nine out of the fifteen topics covered by the RAAM account for all the non-compliances identified. The following points are therefore not covered here:

Multimedia
Tables
Documentation and accessibility features
Editing tools
Help desk services
Real-time communication

Description of graph 6

This bar chart shows, for each year (2021, 2022), the RAAM themes sorted according to the number of non-compliances, among 6 public apps targeted by simplified audits.

One non-compliance in five relates to components that users with disabilities cannot reach

Under "interactive components" lie tests designed to check that buttons, links, input zones, menus, dialogue windows, tabs, etc. are compatible with assistive technologies and can be controlled, in particular, by a keyboard. The auditors also check whether the user is notified in advance of any major changes to the screen. This heading accounts for almost one out of every five non-compliances found.

This is followed by "Consultation", "Forms", "Colours " and "Information structure". The first five accounted for more than two-thirds of the non-compliances identified (71%). The last four areas each accounted for between five and ten per cent of the problems identified.

The trend observed since 2020-2021 leads us to conclude that these audits demonstrate a desire to do better, a desire that is generally clearly expressed at audit feedback meetings, and which could pave the way for a year 2023 with significantly higher scores. As the 2025 deadline approaches for certain private sector websites and apps, which will be subject to penalties if accessibility requirements are not met, the public sector must, more than ever, lead the way.