Accessibility for Ireland

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Hello, I’m Atakan, co-founder of Binclusive. In this post, I will discuss the impact of Ireland's Accessibility Laws.

Accessibility ensures that everyone—including people with disabilities—can equally access the solutions we develop. Making our digital, physical, or content-based solutions accessible not only allows more people to benefit from them but also ensures compliance with accessibility regulations. With the introduction of the European Accessibility Act, one of the most significant focuses has become the accessibility of websites and mobile applications. In this post, we will discuss why digital accessibility laws are important in Ireland and whom they affect.

Before discussing digital accessibility laws, let’s take a look at the population of disabled individuals in Ireland.

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Disabled People in the Irish Population

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According to the Disability Federation of Ireland, one in five people has some form of disability. Approximately 1,109,557 people, making up 22% of the population, are unable to use websites or mobile apps if they aren't accessible.

Recognizing this, the Irish government has integrated the European Accessibility Act into its national laws. If your business has more than 10 employees or an annual turnover exceeding €2 million, you must make your websites and mobile applications accessible by 28 June 2025.

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What Does the Irish Accessibility Law Require for Websites?

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The European Accessibility Act mandates websites to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG Level AA). If you're curious about what these web accessibility guidelines entail, you can learn more here.

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When Will the EAA Take Effect in Ireland?

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The European Accessibility Act (EAA) required EU member states to adopt legislation aligning national laws with the EAA by June 2022 and to ensure compliant applications by 28 June 2025. This initial compliance will be followed by periodic reviews every five years starting in 2030.

Ireland missed the original 2022 deadline but has since officially incorporated the EAA into national law through the European Union (Accessibility Requirements for Products and Services) Regulations 2023.

While Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) oversees compliance for all products under the Act, a broader group of regulators will supervise various digital services.

For example:

- Electronic communication services will be regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg).

- Audiovisual media services accessibility will be regulated by Ireland’s main broadcasting regulator, Coimisiún na Meán.

- E-books, software, and e-commerce services will be regulated by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

Under Ireland’s EAA adoption legislation, the National Disability Authority has been appointed as the advisory body to assist compliance authorities in administering the EAA requirements.

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What Are the Penalties for Non-compliance with the EAA?

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The EAA itself doesn't prescribe penalties directly but instead relies on member states to enforce compliance and monitoring. In Ireland, designated compliance authorities have the power to instruct businesses to meet requirements and set up procedures allowing individuals to take legal action against organizations allegedly in breach of compliance.

Penalties for violating accessibility requirements may include:

- A fine of up to €5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 6 months upon summary conviction.

- A fine of up to €60,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 18 months on indictment.

Businesses can defend against charges by demonstrating due diligence. Irish companies thus benefit from proactively working on improving accessibility for their websites and other digital assets.

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How to Comply with Irish Accessibility Laws

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To complete the compliance process and begin reaching more users, here are key steps to follow:

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Evaluate Your Current Accessibility Level

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Your website or mobile app may already possess some level of accessibility. Begin by conducting an accessibility test to identify exactly where disabled users experience issues.

At Binclusive, we carry out these tests with automated user testing methods and our focus group consisting of disabled users, clearly identifying the current situation.

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Start Improvements to Fix Accessibility Issues

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Begin making improvements with your developer team to address the accessibility issues identified in your reports.

I understand that busy backlogs and ambitious goals can make this difficult at times. That's why we designed Binclusive to integrate fully with your products. Once you integrate our SDK, we can apply necessary code changes directly to your pages without additional technical effort from your side.

For example, we automatically generate alternative text for images, label unlabeled links, buttons, and form fields, and ensure all elements are interactable with screen readers.

If you wish to see how Binclusive can seamlessly integrate with your product processes, you can request a trial for your applications and explore how to complete your legal compliance easily.

If you schedule a demo session, my team will happily guide you through the required processes.

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Publish Your Accessibility Statement

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Clearly show your current accessibility status by creating and adding an accessibility statement to your site.

After integrating Binclusive, our team will provide you with the required accessibility statement.

I would be delighted to support you at every stage, ensuring legal compliance and helping you reach 1,109,557 potential disabled users.

Schedule time on my calendar so we can discuss how you can easily manage this process together.

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