FORUM InTERAcTIng WITH PUBLIc POLIcY

EDITOR Jonathan Lazar [e-mail]

procurement. Ratified by Sweden in January 2009,
the law is the framework for future Swedish dis-
ability policies.
Many countries currently have different regu-
lations for interface accessibility. But there are
signs that harmonization is starting to occur.
For instance, the EC has been involved with
the Telecommunications and Electronic and
Information Technology Advisory Committee
(TEITAC), the group working on updating the
Section 508 accessibility guidelines in the U.S.
[ 1]. Individuals from the Web Accessibility
Initiative, another international organization,
were also involved in the TEITAC effort, while
they themselves were updating their Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines.
The relationship between the EC and TEITAC is
fitting in light of European Commission Mandate
376 to create a solution for common requirements
and conformance assessment related to accessibil-
ity [ 2]. The mandate is one of the EC policy mea-
sures to strengthen the responsibilities for acces-
sibility among the member states. The development
is ongoing, but it is coming closer and closer to
binding legislation. Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 will be one of the guiding
standards in the development of the legislation [ 3].
Again, harmonization.
public-administration websites are regularly evalu-
ated for accessibility using automated tools. A 2007
survey found that 90 percent of individuals respon-
sible for public-administration websites are familiar
with the guidelines [ 4].
Verva, the agency supervising the accessibility
efforts, was shut down in December 2008 as part of
a major change in the policy for e-Government. To
strengthen the development of e-Government and
create good opportunities for interagency coordina-
tion, a delegation for e-Government is being estab-
lished. This delegation is tasked with the respon-
sibility to revise the “Guidelines for Public Sector
Websites” in relation to WCAG 2.0.
Sweden’s oldest public authority, the Legal,
Financial, and Administrative Services Agency,
is responsible for public procurement and will be
involved in implementing EU mandate 376 [ 5]. The
EU mandate described here on how to procure
accessible could be one important tool to achieve
increased accessibility. A standard is not manda-
tory in an EC country. However, it is possible to
link EC legislation to existing standards. The most
common opinion is that the new standard from the
mandate has to be developed before requirements
for accessibility can be mandatory in Europe. Non-
mandatory guidelines have been a part of both the
e-Government and disability policies in Sweden,
in contrast to the approaches taken in many other
countries.

[ 1] Telecommunications
and Electronic and
Information Technology
Advisory Committee
( TEITAC); http://www.
access-board.gov/
sec508/refresh/about.
htm/
[ 2] European
Commission. “EC
Mandate 376 to
ESOs for Common
Requirements
and Conformance
Assessment.”
December 2005. http://
ec.europa.eu/informa-
tion_society/activities/
einclusion/archive/
deploy/pubproc/eso-
m376/ index_en.htm/
[ 3] European
Commission. “Towards
an Accessible
Information Society.”
December 2008. http://
ec.europa.eu/informa-
tion_society/activities/
einclusion/policy/
accessibility/com_2008/
index_en.htm/

activities in sweden
There are approximately 1,000 public-administra-
tion websites in Sweden, and they should be acces-
sible. Aside from the EC’s efforts described above,
Sweden has developed its own set of requirements
and guidelines related to interface accessibility.
One of the organizations behind this was Verva—
the Swedish Administrative Development Agency.
Verva created the “Swedish National Guidelines for
Public Sector Websites” [ 4]. Because those respon-
sible for public administration websites would be
involved in the implementation of the guidelines,
they were included throughout the development
process. The purpose of the guidelines was to sup-
port the procurement, development, and main-
tenance of a website by a public administration
so that it offers equal-opportunity usage for all
citizens. The first version of the guidelines was
published in 2002, and an updated version was
published in 2006. The former was based on WCAG
1.0, and the latter was based on circulating drafts
of the WCAG 2.0, before it was adopted. Swedish
how can we Evaluate accessibility?
The U.S. and Germany, for example, are very
law-abiding countries, and they aim for sanc-
tions for those who do not follow the guidelines.
From the Swedish perspective, the legal way to
achieve accessibility may seem far too complex
and cumbersome. What we probably need is
both legislation and a process that emphasizes
usability and accessibility as general quality
criteria. Particularly for the industry, the qual-
ity aspects must be introduced. We need to
follow up and measure to what extent the qual-
ity criteria have been met. The Swedish focus
has been on regular evaluation and transpar-
ency, rather than meeting legal requirements.
For example, in Sweden, an assessment of Web-
authoring tools was conducted by Verva. Due to
the fact that the authorities paid great attention to
these studies in their development and procure-
ment, the companies that developed the tools actu-

[ 4] Verva. “Swedish
National Guidelines for
Public Sector Websites.”
2006. http://verva.24-
timmarswebben.se/
upload/english/swed-
ish-guidelines-public-
sector-websites.pdf/
[ 5] The eGoverment
Delegation. “Summary
of SOU 2009: 86,”
Section 3. http://
en.edelegationen.
se/sites/default/
files/SOU2009_ 86_
Summary_0.pdf/
May + June 2010