344/12
17344/12 ADDs 1-2
COM (2012) 721 Final
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM ON EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of public sector bodies' websites.
ADD1: COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Impact Assessment accompanying the above document.
ADD2: COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment accompanying the above documents.
Submitted by Cabinet Office on 30 January 2013
Subject Matter
1This proposal seeks to improve the accessibility of public sector websites by 31 December 2015. The Directive is based on an approximation of the laws, regulations, and administrative provisions of Member States on the accessibility of public sector bodies websites. The purpose of the Directive is to help Member States achieve national commitments on website accessibility and meet their obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding websites of public sector bodies.
2The Commission is keen to harmonise the approaches taken by Member States because of the significant differences in approaches being taken across the EU. With significant growth in public sector bodies websites, a non-harmonised approach has the potential to create barriers in the Internal Market thereby limiting competition and economic growth.
3Harmonisation would help businesses, especially SMEs, because it helps to remove uncertainties over the selection of web accessibility specifications and standards. The Directive is aimed at public sector bodies because they provide essential information and services to citizens. Also by making public sector bodies comply with the Directive it will create a secure and sizeable market for web developers; who will achieve economy of scale by ‘spilling over’ into other sectors.
4In developing the Directive, the Commission has noted existing standards on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). European Standardisation Organisations CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI are developing a standard based on Conformance Level AA of WCAG 2.0; which also conforms with the international standard ISO/IEC 40500:2012.
Policy Background
5Web accessibility relates to many areas of policy at the European level - of particular importance are the eGovernment Action Plan 2011-15; the Digital Agenda for Europe; and the EU 2020 initiative for economic growth.
6The proposed Directive has also been designed to conform with international conventions - in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which obliges Member States and the EU to take appropriate measures to ensure equal access for persons with disabilities.
7The proposed Directive also takes into account work currently underway in the EU on the proposed European Accessibility Act, which is now due in 2013.
Directive Articles
8There are 13 Articles (7 substantive) and 1 Annex in the Directive, which together define what is meant by accessibility of websites, identifies the types of public sector websites to be covered, defines the standards, and approximates the Directive to existing laws, regulations, or administrative procedures in Members States.
9All the substantive articles are briefly defined in paragraphs 10 to 20 below; and more detailed descriptions are provided, as appropriate, under Recommendations on Specific Key Actions (paragraphs 25 to 31 below).
10Article 1 - Subject Matter and Scope; aligns the Directive to approximate laws, regulations, and administrative provisions already in existence in Member States on the accessibility of websites. They lay down the rules by which Member States are required to make certain websites accessible. These are known as ‘concerned websites’ and they cover 12 core services or interactions between citizens or businesses and Governments - the full list is reproduced at Annex A. Although focussed on these 12 core services, Member States are asked to consider extending the application of the Directive to other types of public websites.
11Article 2 - Definitions; provides definitions of various terms used within the Directive; including cross referencing to definitions taken from other EU Regulations or Directives.
12Article 3 - Requirements for Web Accessibility; defines the necessary measures that Member States have to take; the required date of compliance; and the legal authority of the EU to make the Directive.
13Article 4 - Presumption of Conformity with Harmonised Standards; defines what websites are presumed to be conforming to the Directive by reference to existing regulation (Regulation (EU) 1025/2012) as published by the Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union.
14Article 5 - Presumption of Conformity with European or International Standards; notes the absence of either a European Standard or legislation and therefore accepts conformity of concerned websites that meet accepted international standards as set out in ISO/IEC 40500:2012 thereby setting Success Criteria and Conformance Requirements at Level AA of WCAG 2.0.
15Article 6 - Additional Measures; the Directive requests additional measures to help with awareness-raising to establish co-operation arrangements and promote market growth. Member States are also required to facilitate the extension of web accessibility beyond the list of concerned websites thereby promoting greater accessibility for EU citizens.
16Article 7 - Monitoring and Reporting; requires continuous monitoring of concerned websites, especially in light of updates to web content, and requires annual reports on the outcomes of monitoring. Annual reports will also cover actions taken by Member states under Article 6 (Additional Measures). Member states are free to arrange suitable mechanisms for verification against the proposed standard and for assigning responsibility to a relevant authority. However, there is a requirement for annual publication of reports in the Official Journal of the European Union.
17Article 8 - Exercise of Delegation; outlines the delegated legal authority under which the Directive and its regulations are empowered.
18Article 9 - Committee; notes that the Commission will be assisted by a committee, as described by Regulation (EU) No 182/2011, on all matters relating to procedure, advisory, or examination under all the Articles in the Directive.
19Article 10 - Transposition; the Directive sets out the date of entry into force of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 30 June 2014 at the latest.
20Article 11 - Review; determines that the Directive will be reviewed within three years of its entry into force.
21There are no budgetary implications for the EU, therefore no budget is set for the Directive.
Policy Implications
22HMG has always tried to make its websites fully accessible and agrees that having an accepted standard across the EU will help website owners to ensure that they are meeting minimum levels of accessibility. The development of the digital by default approach - including new digital services delivered via the single GOV.UK website - will help HMG to deliver accessible web services. The approach being taken in the development of GOV.UK - where all content is rigorously user tested before going live - exceeds the standards set out by the Directive.
23However, due to devolved ownership of website and web content in the UK, there will still be relevant content on websites other than the GOV.UK after 31 December 2015. Also the devolved ownership of public sector website content means that there is no single authority whereby HMG can monitor and report on compliance to the Directive.
24HMG has published various guidance on the accessibility of websites going back to May 2002 (when the Office of the E-Envoy (OEE) published guidance based on WCAG 1.0[1]). Updated guidance was published by OEE, along with a methodology for achieving compliance with WCAG 2.0[2] and the guidance was last updated by the Central Office of Information (COI) in June 2008[3]. Public sector websites in the UK should therefore be fully compliant with the WCAG 2.0 standard. The OEE closed in September 2004 and COI closed in March 2010; therefore, HMG will have to decide how to monitor and report compliance.
Recommendations on Specific Key Actions
25HMG cannot assure compliance under Article 1 (Subject Matter and Scope) because of the devolved nature of public service administration and ownership of content on concerned websites. HMG is managing the migration of content to the GOV.UK website through regular meetings of Departmental Digital Leaders; these meetings provide a ready made mechanism for discussing issues relating to monitoring and compliance with the Directive by Government Departments. Decisions taken by Digital Leaders can be shared with the National Health Service, Local Government, and the Devolved Administrations to help with compliance assurance and reporting.
26HMG can reasonable expect that either all public sector websites are fully compliant with the required standard or any non-compliance, detected by self-audit, will be corrected by 31 December 2015. However, website owners must ensure compliance with the two EU Directive defined dimensions for web-accessibility defined in Article 3 - these measure are:
aConsistent and adequate users’ perception, operation, and understanding, including adaptability of content presentation and interaction, when necessary, providing an accessible electronic alternative;
bFacilitates interoperability with a variety of user agents and assistive technologies at Union and international level.
27HMG notes that Article 4 (Harmonised Standards & Presumption of Conformity) and Article 5 (European & International Standards) deal with compliance of the Directive with EU regulations and existing International Standards. These articles provide the legal framework for the Directive and assures conformity with existing legislation. The purpose of the Directive is to remove existing gaps in legislation and EU standards. HMG, agrees there are gaps in legislation and standards, and welcomes the move to harmonise.
28HMG notes that there are two separate elements to Article 6; the first facilitates awareness raising and cooperation to help develop market growth, which is welcomed by HMG. The second is aimed at extending the scope of the Directive beyond concerned website to all public sector websites. HMG notes that the EU is drafting the European Accessibility Act and this legislation will cover the accessibility of all goods and services. When the European Accessibility Act comes into force; HMG would expect that all UK public sector websites will need to comply with the legislation and - since in the UK public sector websites should be compliant with WCAG 2.0 - it may be possible to extend the Directive to ensure compliance by all public sector websites by 31 December 2015.
29HMG will need to clarify how it monitors and reports compliance with the Directive under Article 7. Member States are free to develop their own monitoring and reporting arrangements; although the Commission will establish the Methodology for Reporting the outcomes of Monitoring. Compliance with WCAG 2.0 is expected of public facing websites in the UK; so monitoring can be extended to all public sector websites under Article 6 (Additional Measures). However, under Article 3 (Requirements for Web Accessibility - see para 26 above), the methodology will also include:
aPeriodicity of the monitoring and the sampling of the websites concerned that shall be subject to monitoring
bDescription, at website level, of how compliance with the requirements of website accessibility (as defined in Article 3) is demonstrated, directly referencing the standards defined in Articles 4 and 5
Whatever, monitoring and reporting arrangements are introduced, they will need to include these two additional criteria.
30HMG notes that, at this time, it is not clear how the methodology for reporting the outcomes of monitoring will work in practice. The devolved nature of website ownership across in the UK means that there is no single authority that can monitor or report on compliance. HMG therefore needs to know more about the methodology and the burden of reporting being placed on website owners.
31HMG also notes that it is not clear how the proposed European Accessibility Act will impact on the need to report compliance. The introduction of new legislation, and with it legal redress if non-accessibility prevents citizens or businesses from interacting with Government, may prove to be more effective at ensuring compliance than monitoring and reporting. The Directive requires compliance by 31 December 2015, but it is not known when the proposed legislation comes into force.
Scrutiny History
32The proposal references a range of earlier initiatives including those referred to in paragraph 5 of this Explanatory Note.
Ministerial Responsibility
33Minister of the Cabinet Office (because of the website rationalisation project) but all Departments will have an interest because their departments manage public sector websites.
Interests of Devolved Administrations
34The Directive applies to all Member States and therefore applies to the Devolved Administrations, who would have seen it during the drafting process. All Government Departments and the Devolved Administrations have been consulted, via the Digital Leaders network, on the preparation of this Explanatory Memorandum, and further consultations will continue with those Digital Leaders. Further consultation is required with Local Government on the implementation of the Directive, including monitoring and reporting.
Legal and Procedural Issues
35The legal basis for the Directive is Article 114(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; subject to ordinary legislative procedures. There are also references to the proposed European Accessibility Act (this will have legal implications relating to the accessibility of goods and services including website accessibility) but there are no fundamental legal or rights issues within the Directive.
Subsidiarity
36The Directive highlights the inconsistent approach taken across the EU, the benefits to the Single Market of having a consistent approach, and outlines a proportionate approach to achieving consistency. EU adoption of the accepted international standard will help to make goods or services accessible to all across the Single Market, and supports the wider social inclusion agenda. The UK has adopted the international standard into website guidance for public sector websites, so HMG should welcome the proposed Directive.
Additional Measures
37 Included under Additional Measures is a request for Member States to facilitate the extension of website accessibility to other public sector websites not on the concerned websites lists. Given the nature of UK public sector websites, it may be easier to ensure that all public sector websites are compliant by 31 December 2015 rather than wait for the European Accessibility Act to come into force, which could require compliance by all public sector websites.
Consultation
38Since the Directive deals with administrative matters, specifically the need for public sector websites to be accessible, we do not see the need for public consultation.
Impact Assessment
39No impact assessment is necessary; it does not impose any additional burdens (if websites remain compliant with previous guidance), and is designed to support the Single Market.
Financial Implications
40There are no financial implications in implementing the Directive because UK websites should be compliant with the proposed standard.
Timetable
41Member States are required to Transpose the Directive into their laws, regulations, or administrative procedures by 30 June 2014 (the required standard are already good administrative practice in the UK). The concerned websites (and any others identified under Additional Measures) need to be fully compliant by 31 December 2015. However, the EU is not expected to further discuss or hold consultations with Member States on the Directive before October 2013.
ANNEX
Types of public sector bodies' websites
As referred to in Article 1
(1) Income taxes: declaration, notification of assessment
(2) Job search services by labour offices
(3) Social-security benefits: unemployment benefits, child allowances, medical costs (reimbursement or direct settlement), student grants
(4) Personal documents: passports or driving license
(5) Car registration
(6) Application for building permission
(7) Declaration to police, e.g. in case of theft
(8) Public libraries, e.g. catalogues and search tools
(9) Request and delivery of birth or marriage certificates
(10) Enrolment in higher education or university
(11) Notification of change of residence
(12) Health-related services: interactive advice on the availability of services, online services for patients, appointments
[1]
[2]
[3]