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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2021

Tuesday, 15 June 2021

Questions (442, 443)

Holly Cairns

Question:

442. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which his Department and agencies under his remit are meeting the requirement to have a statement on the compliance of their websites and mobile applications with the regulations under the directive 2016/2102 (EU), as articulated in SI No. 358/2020 - European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31288/21]

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Holly Cairns

Question:

443. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which his Department and agencies under his remit are meeting the requirement to subject to Regulation 6, public sector bodies shall, in accordance with Regulation 3, take necessary measures to make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust under the directive 2016/2102 (EU), as articulated in SI No. 358/2020 - European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31306/21]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 442 and 443 together.

I wish to advise the Deputy that the compliant accessibility statement for Gov.ie, the website that currently hosts 15 of the 19 Government Departments, is available at the following link - www.gov.ie/en/help/accessibility. All remaining Government Departments will be moved to gov.ie by the end of August 2021.

Gov.ie is the main Government website and recorded over 122 million page views in 2020. Gov.ie partially complies with the double-A Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 standards and the 4 principles of accessibility in that it is perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. This is similar to most other government sites across the EU. Accessibility to gov.ie is being enhanced by improving the level of Plain English used for services on the site. This allows users of all levels to be able to find and understand information as quickly as possible. In addition, the gov.ie team have continuously performed multiple accessibility reviews since the website went live. The gov.ie team has engaged with and continues to engage with an accessibility expert to outline all accessibility requirements. Following the last accessibility audit, 65 issues were identified and action taken to rectify and resolve these issues. In addition, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) has since released updates to the core code of the gov.ie website to improve accessibility.

All other sites managed by OGCIO are currently being moved to a new Content Management System which has been built with WCAG compatibility in mind. This project is ongoing with satisfactory progress being made this year.

The position in relation to the bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out below.

Office of Public Works (OPW)

The OPW is committed to improving accessibility on its websites and mobile platforms. It is currently undertaking a review process to identify what work needs to be done to meet the relevant accessibility standards. An internal working group has been established and will oversee the implementation of any recommendations arising from the review.

National Shared Services Office (NSSO)

Compliance with directive 2016/2102 (EU) is stipulated in all NSSO procurements done in co-operation with the Office of Government Procurement. The procurement of all new NSSO web applications and apps must conform to the current regulations in force. For legacy applications, every effort is made to retrofit functionality to ensure compliance with the regulations. Due to the age of some of the NSSO legacy systems, this is not always possible.

Public Appointments Service (PAS)

The PAS website accessibility statement can be found at: www.publicjobs.ie/en/accessibility. The PAS undertook a web accessibility audit in August 2020 working with an expert in this field to identify areas for potential improvement in accessibility across its website platforms. The remediation of those issues began immediately with a significant improvement in compliance with the web accessibility directive implemented throughout 2020 and 2021 to date. Some areas are still in progress for improvement, namely branding and legacy systems, which are road mapped to be addressed throughout 2021 and through the wider organisational digital transformation goals.

Office of the Ombudsman

All of the Office of the Ombudsman websites contain Website Accessibility Statements. The Office of the Ombudsman aims to ensure that the site meets the following technical standards:

- Accessibility - the Office aims to maintain every page of our site at WAI AA compliance level;

- Code - The site is produced using W3C XHTML 1.0 for code clarity; and

- Formatting - In line with W3C recommendations, all formatting is in a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file. Users may choose to disable this file and see a "plain text" version of the site if they prefer.

State Laboratory

The State Laboratory is currently not in compliance with the directive 2016/2102 (EU). A review plan is being currently being drafted and work to identify non-compliance in the website will start thereafter. Following this, remediation work to be scheduled and follow up periodic reviews of the website will be undertaken to ensure compliance with the directive.

Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL)

Having considered S.I. 358/2020 (the “Regulations”), Directive 2016/2102, and official (National Disability Authority) and non-official commentary, the view of the ORNL is that the Regulations do not apply to the ORNL. For completeness, the ORNL highlight that its website has features to assist users who are vision impaired. The Office’s Custom Service Charter sets out its commitment to ensuring the accessibility of the Office and its work to people with disabilities, and the ORNL follow the National Disability Authority’s plain English guidance in Annual Reports and other documents.

Question No. 443 answered with Question No. 442.
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