From Websites to Registers: Ukraine is Shaping a New Era of Online Service Accessibility

A draft law, №14278 “On Digital Accessibility in Ukraine,” has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament). This bill aims to create an effective mechanism to ensure barrier-free access to electronic information resources and online services for all citizens, especially people with disabilities and those with functional limitations.

 

The document defines digital accessibility as a set of conditions that ensure equal access to electronic resources, public registers, information and communication systems, and electronic services. The goal is to make the digital space equally convenient and understandable for a wide range of users.

 

The requirements for digital accessibility will become mandatory when: providing electronic services; publishing electronic documents; creating, modernising, and administering public electronic registers and information systems; operating electronic communication systems.

 

The requirements will apply to:

• Public registers and IT systems of state bodies, local self-government bodies, and legal entities of public law;
• Companies that provide services in the areas of transport, energy, postal services, finance, e-commerce, medicine, education, culture, digital services, and audiovisual media;
• All electronic documents and information published on digital resources;
• Payment applications, payment devices, and terminals commissioned after the law comes into force;
• Electronic services provided by state bodies, municipal institutions, and other legal entities that perform socially important functions.

 

Subjects covered by the law will be obliged to publish and regularly update a declaration of compliance with digital accessibility requirements. A link to this declaration must be placed on the main page of the relevant digital resource.

 

We draw attention to the fact that the requirements will not apply to micro-enterprises — with the exception of banking and financial services and services related to access to audiovisual media services.

 

It is anticipated that the monitoring of compliance with the requirements will be carried out by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine . The Cabinet of Ministers will determine the procedure for such oversight and the powers of the bodies responsible for ensuring control.