01 November 2006 Prime Minister's Office

Making the Information and Services Society Accessible

As the Internet assumes an ever-increasing role in everyday life, Web use by Icelanders has become so common that it may be said to benefit the great majority of them in regard to communication and acquiring information and services. However, closer examination reveals that a large group of users have varying types of special needs regarding Web use. Some kind of disability is thought to impair 10% of European residents, and of these a substantial portion may be expected to require special aids or accessories to make good advantage of the Internet. In addition, senior citizens are steadily increasing in numbers, with a constantly rising proportion of them depending on the Web for communication, getting information, shopping and entertainment. Whereas the percentage of inhabitants over sixty was around 18% in 1990, it is expected to climb to 30% by 2030. Finally, the number of immigrants to Iceland keeps growing, so that their needs also call for attention.

Despite a focus on the needs of special groups in the present discussion of accessibility, experience demonstrates that most of what is considered to ease access to the Internet for the disabled is of no less benefit to other general users. When websites meet the demands of accessibility, greater conformity has been achieved in presenting the components that determine site appearance so that site pages gain clarity, making their structure easier to comprehend. Captions, clearly arranged tables, and tables of contents accompanying PDF documents are further aspects favourable to any user of a website. Plain, simple language which is also appropriate for the particular website is more likely to communicate to users who for some reason experience difficulty in understanding complicated texts. Those relying on sign language can more easily and quickly comprehend a text if it is clear and to the point. Finally, explicit rules about inserting content are a means of improving and simplifying the working practices of employees.

Accessibility issues are on the agenda

Iceland is no exception regarding the increased attention given in recent times by the international community, and especially the Western world, to the necessity of guaranteeing Internet accessibility for every social group. Numerous bodies have conducted strategic planning on these matters, with most nations opting to formulate guidelines on the accessibility of public websites, assuming that private companies will follow suit by developing their own websites according to such rules. These rules have normally been based on the international guidelines of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) on accessibility. For instance, the European Union has agreed that its member states should refer to these guidelines, and now Iceland has concurred.

Icelandic public policy and its implementation

The 2004 Government policy on the information society, Resources to Serve Everyone, includes the objective that the e-services of public bodies show consideration for the needs of varying groups of the disabled. The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Social Affairs are responsible for implementing projects related to this objective. Several initiatives will be discussed below that come under the objective just mentioned.

Accessibility audit of national and local government websites

In the spring of 2005, an extensive audit was carried out of every national and local government website in Iceland. Prepared by the Prime Minister's Office and the National Association of Local Authorities, this audit was conducted by the company SJA Ltd, which examined 246 websites, assessing them with reference to e-services, content, usefulness and accessibility. Found in the report How Good Are Iceland's Public Websites?, audit conclusions point out the scope for substantially improving accessibility for the disabled in national and local government websites.

Public website guidelines

The Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Social Affairs have compiled the report Internet Accessibility for Everyone, which presents proposals for measures so that the disabled and other groups in the information society who need special attention will be able to utilise services on the Web. In January 2006, the Prime Minister submitted this report to the Icelandic cabinet. The decision has been made to follow the proposals presented in the report, aiming for all of the country's public websites to fulfil certain minimum requirements on accessibility.

Some points in the proposals are as follows:

As soon as new W3C accessibility guidelines take effect, they shall be translated into Icelandic and published on the Central Government Website.
Public bodies shall be encouraged to define their particular accessibility policies by the end of 2006.
The goal shall be for public bodies to fulfil minimum W3C requirements on website accessibility by the end of 2007.
Criteria and instructions shall be displayed on a special accessibility page.
Companies shall be encouraged to follow the criteria of government bodies and to define an accessibility policy.
Public bodies shall be encouraged to gain knowledge of accessibility or to utilise the services of businesses and of experts on accessibility, for instance as regards advice about and audits of their websites.
Care shall be taken during studies of the quality and distribution of e-services that these studies also cover aspects relating to accessibility.
Software vendors who deal with public bodies shall be requested to describe how their product meets the W3C requirements for software.

Accessibility policy for the Central Government Website

In order to increase accessibility to the websites of Government ministries, the Government Offices of Iceland have now issued the following accessibility policy for their websites and have published this policy on the Internet:

The Government Offices of Iceland have resolved to make the Central Government Website accessible to the disabled and have the aim of all Website content conforming at least to the guidelines of WCAG 1.0, Level A, by 1 July 2007.* In order to fulfil even more completely the requirements for making the Website accessible to everyone, the Government Offices will review their policy annually. Individual ministries may adopt the objective of achieving certain accessibility levels sooner than stipulated by the common accessibility policy of the Government Offices, and may refer to this objective on the relevant ministry's website. The role of ensuring that the Central Government Website always fulfils adopted accessibility objectives shall be in the hands of the Website management of the Government Offices.
Central Government Website pages which fulfil the accessibility policy shall be specially identified through a W3C icon at the bottom of the left-hand panel, linked to a page telling what the icon represents.
While the Central Government Website will in some instances point to the websites of institutions, social organisations or businesses, the accessibility policy of the Central Government Website shall apply solely to it, not to the websites that are being referred to.
Content from third parties which appears on ministry websites shall meet requirements on accessibility for everyone. In addition, software vendors with whom the ministries deal shall be requested to describe how their product shows consideration for accessibility, while ministerial staff shall also have guaranteed access to the software necessary for making content accessible.
Measures shall be taken for staff to receive the training needed for their particular jobs and roles, with retraining being offered as accessibility requirements change or new technologies emerge. In part, this will be carried out by establishing a special information page on accessibility issues within the information technology website, at ut.is/adgengi.
*Some older content (from before 2005), for example various PDF and DOC files, may prove difficult to render entirely accessible. While the WCAG 1.0 guidelines stem from 1999, work has proceeded lately on reviewing these guidelines under the working name of WCAG 2.0. The aim is for them to enter into effect at the end of 2006 or the start of 2007, upon which they shall become the guidelines for the Central Government Website.

Learning about accessibility

It is important that webmasters and others involved in website concerns are able to obtain clear information on the means of improving website access. Thus the Prime Minister's Office has organised a special page at the URL ut.is/adgengi in order to assemble such information; an example of this is the instructions available there on producing accessible PDF documents.

Special courses on accessibility have been held by the company SJA Ltd for webmasters at the ministries and others involved in ministry websites, and now the plan is to offer such courses on the general market.

Reports and other materials referred to above may be found on the information technology website, at http://ut.is/adgengi.