Search Legislation

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018

Status:

This is the original version (as it was originally made).

PART 1General

Citation and commencement

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 23rd September 2018.

Revocation

2.  The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018(1) are revoked.

Interpretation

3.  In these Regulations—

“accessibility requirement” means the requirement to make a website or mobile application accessible by making it perceivable, operable, understandable and robust;

“accessibility statement” means a detailed, comprehensive and clear statement produced by a public sector body on the compliance of its website or mobile application with these Regulations;

“bodies governed by public law” means bodies that have all of the following characteristics—

(a)

they are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

(b)

they have legal personality; and

(c)

they have any of the following characteristics—

(i)

they are financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law;

(ii)

they are subject to management supervision by those authorities or bodies;

(iii)

they have an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law;

“the Directive” means Directive 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies(2);

“European standard” has the meaning set out in Article 2(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European standardisation(3);

“harmonised standard” has the meaning set out in Article 2(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European standardisation(4);

“mobile application” means application software designed and developed by or on behalf of a public sector body for use by the general public on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, but does not include the software that controls those devices (mobile operating systems) or hardware;

“model accessibility statement” means an accessibility statement adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 7(2) of the Directive;

“Official Journal” means the Official Journal of the European Union;

“public sector body” means—

(a)

the State;

(b)

regional or local authorities;

(c)

bodies governed by public law; or

(d)

associations formed by one or more of the authorities in paragraph (b) or one or more of the bodies in paragraph (c), if those associations are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

“standard” has the meaning set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on European standardisation(5); and

“time-based media” means media of one or more of the following types: audio-only, video-only, audio-video, audio and/or video combined with interaction.

Application

4.—(1) These Regulations apply to a website or mobile application of a public sector body, except a website or mobile application of—

(a)public service broadcasters and their subsidiaries, and of other bodies or their subsidiaries fulfilling a public service broadcasting remit;

(b)non-governmental organisations, unless they provide services that—

(i)are essential to the public; or

(ii)specifically address the needs of, or are meant for, persons with disabilities; and

(c)schools or nurseries, except for the content of their websites or mobile applications relating to essential online administrative functions.

(2) These Regulations do not apply to the following content of a website or mobile application of a public sector body—

(a)office file formats published before 23rd September 2018, unless such content is needed for active administrative processes relating to the tasks performed by the public sector body;

(b)pre-recorded time-based media published before 23rd September 2020;

(c)live time-based media;

(d)online maps and mapping services, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use;

(e)third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body;

(f)reproductions of items in heritage collections that cannot be made fully accessible because of either—

(i)the incompatibility of the accessibility requirement with either the preservation of the item concerned or the authenticity of the reproduction; or

(ii)the unavailability of automated and cost-efficient solutions that would easily extract the text of manuscripts or other items in heritage collections and transform it into content compatible with the accessibility requirement;

(g)content of extranets and intranets published before 23rd September 2019, until such websites undergo a substantial revision; and

(h)content of websites and mobile applications qualifying as archives.

(3) In this regulation—

(a)“archives” means a website or mobile application which—

(i)only contains content that is not needed for active administrative processes; and

(ii)is not updated or edited after 23rd September 2019;

(b)“extranets and intranets” means a website that is only available for a closed group of people and not to the general public;

(c)“items in heritage collections” means privately or publicly owned goods presenting an historical, artistic, archaeological, aesthetic, scientific or technical interest and that are part of collections preserved by cultural institutions such as libraries, archives and museums; and

(d)“office file formats” means a document in a format that is not intended primarily for use on the web and that is included in web pages, such as Adobe Portable Document Format, Microsoft Office documents or their open-source equivalents.

(2)

OJ L 327, 2.12.2016, p.1.

(3)

OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p.19.

(4)

OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p.19.

(5)

OJ L 316, 14.11.2012, p.19.

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

Explanatory Memorandum

Explanatory Memorandum sets out a brief statement of the purpose of a Statutory Instrument and provides information about its policy objective and policy implications. They aim to make the Statutory Instrument accessible to readers who are not legally qualified and accompany any Statutory Instrument or Draft Statutory Instrument laid before Parliament from June 2004 onwards.

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as made version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources