Sweden

  1. Is there existing legislation in your country to encourage or ensure that websites, in particular government, public service or other sites providing widespread services of general use (such as hiring services, travel, telephony, energy, education, employment, leisure...) are accessible to visually impaired people? Please be sure to specify in your answer to which categories of site the regulation(s) apply.

    No, there are certain requirements on agencies, but these are so vague and broad in the wordings so they can hardly be considered or construed as legal requirements.

  2. What are the standards that are used in your country to measure website accessibility?

    Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) are the guidelines that public services and administrations are recommended to use and follow.

  3. Is there an authority in place to establish, measure and control website accessibility?

    No authority has the direct responsibility mentioned. The Swedish Government has appointed an e-Advisory Board that will function more as a support to government and public administration by developing a strategy for the authorities' work on e-government.

  4. Is there a legal obligation to regularly review the accessibility of websites?

    No obligation exists.

    If yes, at what intervals?

  5. Is there an established timeframe for

    1. new websites to be made accessible?
      if yes what is it ?
      There are no time limits
    2. existing websites to be made accessible?
      if yes what is it ?
      There are no time limits

  6. What sanctions are imposed by the law for websites which fail to comply with accessibility regulations?

    There are no sanctions that can be used for inaccessible sites.

  7. Is there a legal obligation to include awareness of accessibility issues in training provided to webmasters and related professions?

    No legal obligations, but some elements of the education is about accessibility and
    usability of websites.

  8. Is there a legal obligation on educational authorities to provide specific training on Web accessibility issues in related areas (such as engineering and computer sciences, telecommunications and networks courses, etc)?

    No legal obligations, but some information and individual courses about web accessibility.

  9. Are there official guidelines in place to assist webmasters and technical staff in making their websites accessible?

    Yes, you can probably say that e-Advisory Board work with the new guidance by the ”24-hour Web” will act as a support to staff to create accessible websites.

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