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The requirements of the Digital Services Act

Requirements of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services

The Act on the Provision of Digital Services obliges the public sector and some private and third sector organisations to comply with accessibility requirements in their digital services. This section provides information on the requirements of the Act and the kind of actors that are obliged under the Act. In addition, you can find information on other legislation that provides guidance in accessibility matters.

Scope: does the Act apply to us?

The Act on the Provision of Digital Services mainly obliges organisations acting as authorities to make their online services, i.e. websites and mobile applications, compliant with accessibility requirements. In addition to the authorities, the accessibility requirements apply to institutions governed by public law  and some organisations . Accessibility requirements may also apply to online services of some organisations on the basis of a special grant . In addition, some of the private sector belongs to the scope of the accessibility requirements.

What services and contents are covered by the Act?

The legal requirements apply very extensively to the content and functionalities of websites and mobile applications. The law covers a wide range of websites and applications, including those primarily targeted at experts.

Amendments to the Digital Services Act

Amendments have been made to the Act on the Provision of Digital Services (the Digital Services Act), bringing new services and actors within the scope of the accessibility requirements of the Act. Some service-specific additional requirements have also been added to the Act concerning the services within the scope of the Act.

Information about WCAG guidelines (in Finnish)

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guideline) is guideline developed and maintained by international World Wide Web -consortium (W3C). It is used as a basis for accessibility requirements in many countries.

WCAG 2.1: legal requirements

The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is an international guideline on the accessibility of online content.

Tasks of the supervisory authority

The task of the accessibility monitoring unit is to improve everyone's possibilities of using digital services equally. Our aim is to raise awareness and promote the realisation of accessibility in Finland.

Transition period (in Finnish)

Since Digital Services Act entered into force in 2019 the provisions of the Digital Services Act are already largely applied to the digital services within the scope of the law.

Information about the accessibility statement

Each organisation subject to the accessibility requirements of the Act must prepare an accessibility statement for its websites and mobile applications and publish the statement on its website.