Integrating Accessibility from the ground up

Digital accessibility is often seen as an additional cost when the first contact with this discipline occurs on an existing project for which accessibility had not previously been taken into account. Similar to the construction industry, it is often said that it is much more expensive to add a lift to an existing building than to include it in the project from the outset.

In the field of digital accessibility, the situation is very similar. The earlier accessibility concerns are integrated into a project's planning, the better they are implemented and the lower the associated costs: this is what the "shift left" methodology recommends, among others.

Many public authorities do not develop their websites and mobile applications in-house, but use the services of external service providers. In this case, it is very common to use a specification to define the requirements and the expected result.

Digital accessibility is a legal requirement, so it must be included in all specifications for a public website or mobile application. However, simply stating "The website must be accessible" is not very effective. Given that the law on digital accessibility is relatively new (2020), the expected standards are not yet widely known.

To help you draw up your specifications, we offer you a set of clauses relating to digital accessibility. These clauses are only an example, and should of course be adapted to the context of your project.

Example of clauses to include in your specifications

These sample clauses are published under licence CC0. They are derived from a document produced by Access42.

Download in Word format

Accessibility

Digital accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the services and content made available on the web or via mobile applications.

It is a legal obligation for public sector bodies defined by the law of 28 May 2019.

Digital accessibility is a major objective of this project.

Legal compliance

It should be noted that the legal level of compliance for Websites is level AA of the Web Accessibility Assessment Framework (RAWeb) in its latest version and level AA of the Mobile Application Accessibility Assessment Framework (RAAM) in its latest version. These frameworks are published on the website accessibilite.public.lu.

If the CONTRACT HOLDER cannot refer to the RAWeb or the RAAM, then compliance must be assessed in relation to the European standard EN 301 549 version 3.2.1, in particular the criteria listed in tables A.1 (Websites) and/or A.2 (Mobile Applications) of appendix A.

The CONTRACT HOLDER must undertake to do everything necessary to achieve this level of legal compliance.

Minimum requirements

Taking into account the characteristics of the project as defined in this contract, the CONTRACT HOLDER must ensure that the developments, content and features present a level of compliance at least equal to 80%.

This minimum requirement does not replace the requirement linked to the legal level (i.e. a compliance rate of 100%), but constitutes the threshold below which a failure on the part of the service provider could be observed.

This minimum requirement concerns all the functions and content developed by the CONTRACT HOLDER, as well as the capacity of any content editing functions to produce compliant content.

This minimum level of requirement does not apply to content produced by the ORGANISATION's own teams or to content that may be subject to exemptions as defined by law.

For any non-compliant functionality or content for which compliance may represent a disproportionate burden for the CONTRACT HOLDER, any derogation for disproportionate burden must be validated by the ORGANISATION.

Verification

It should be noted that the ORGANISATION reserves the right to have compliance with these minimum requirements verified during all phases of the project and deliveries (mock-ups, templates, developments, etc.) by means of audits or acceptance tests carried out by a service provider with expertise in digital accessibility.

In the event that the minimum level required is not achieved due to a failure on the part of the CONTRACT HOLDER, the latter must take all necessary corrective action.

These corrective actions will be at the CONTRACT HOLDER's expense.

Expert support for the ORGANISATION

It should be noted that the ORGANISATION reserves the right to call on an external service provider, with expertise in digital accessibility, to support it throughout all phases of the project.

In this case, the service provider will be the technical contact with the CONTRACT HOLDER's teams for all matters relating to accessibility and compliance with the RAWeb or RAAM for the entire project.

Response elements

Candidates must provide all the necessary information within the framework of this contract, precisely indicating the methodology, processes and resources put in place to meet these requirements.

Particular attention will be paid to the methodology and processes put in place to guarantee the conformity of the developments, content and features presented for delivery; this may include, for example (non-exhaustive list):

The control phases (design, development, acceptance before delivery, etc.);
The means of control (internal audit, audit by an external third party);
The materialization of the controls (audit statement, audit report, certificate of compliance);
The tools used for the controls (automatic tools, assistive technologies);
If compliance certificates are proposed, a sample certificate should be provided.

Key Considerations for Technologies

Some of the requirements defined in this document that are essential to the project may require the use of specific technologies that may be difficult to make fully accessible.

If this is the case, it is up to the applicant to give a precise description of

The points of complexity or blockage inherent in the use of these technologies.
The alternatives, where possible, that could be proposed to ensure that the user has access to the information.

Candidates are free to provide any other details, documents or examples of deliverables that they consider relevant.

Commentary on the clauses

In this document you will find the various sections which are commented on below:

Accessibility: this clause sets out the general principle of the accessibility requirement and the legal framework.
Compliance and legal level: compliance is measured against frameworks. There is one for the web and another for mobile applications. Depending on the scope of your project, you may adapt this section. If for any reason these frameworks cannot be used (for example, the service provider does not speak the language used in the framework), compliance can be assessed against the European standard, which is available in English.
Minimum requirements: this section defines a minimum level of compliance below which the service provider may be found to have failed. It also contains various derogations relating to the responsibility of the parties involved or provided for by law.
Verification: the organisation may independently verify the provider's work. We recommend in all cases having such an audit conducted independently of the provider. This ensures an unbiased evaluation and prevents reliance solely on the provider's assertions. An accessibility audit is also a prerequisite for the accessibility statement, which is compulsory for public sector websites and mobile applications in Luxembourg.
Expert support for the organisation: the organisation may call on the services of an expert at any stage of the project. Collaboration is expected between the contract holder and this expert.
Response elements: Accessibility must be taken into account at all stages of the project. The idea here is to know what resources the service provider has implemented to ensure a good level of compliance.
Caution points about technologies: Applicants are asked to anticipate and describe the complexities involved in ensuring compliance with certain technologies. These points of attention may subsequently be used to prioritise compliance activities or to manage derogations for disproportionate burden, which must be referenced in the accessibility statement.

In general, references to the CONTRACT HOLDER and the ORGANISATION must have been defined in advance in your specifications.

Any comments, questions or feedback on this document? Please do not hesitate to contact us.