FEDERAL LEGISLATION FOR THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA
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Year 2019 |
Issued July 22, 2019 |
part One |
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59th Federal Law: |
Web Accessibility Act – WZG |
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(NR: GP XXVI RV 574 AB 655 p. 86.BR: AB 10199 p. 896.) |
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[CELEX No .: 32016L2102] |
59. Federal law that enacts the federal law on barrier-free access to federal websites and mobile applications (Web Accessibility Act – WZG)
The National Council decided:
Federal Act on Barrier-Free Access to Federal Websites and Mobile Applications (Web Accessibility Act – WZG)
Object and objectives of the law
§ 1.
 (1) This Federal Act defines the requirements for accessibility for the websites and mobile applications of the Federal Government so that they are more accessible to users, in particular to people with disabilities.
(2) This Federal Act implements Directive (EU) 2016/2102, OJ No. L 327 of 02.12.2016 p. 1 (hereinafter: Web Accessibility Directive).
scope of application
§ 2.
 (1) websites and mobile applications
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of the federal government and of |
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Facilities that |
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were founded for the special purpose of performing tasks in the general interest that are not of a commercial nature, |
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are at least partially legally competent and |
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are predominantly financed by the federal government or other institutions within the meaning of this section or which are subject to supervision by them with regard to their management or whose administrative, management or supervisory body consists mainly of members who have been appointed by the federal government or other institutions within the meaning of this section |
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have to meet the requirements for accessibility according to § 3. This does not apply to websites and mobile applications of public broadcasters and their branches or other bodies and their branches that serve to carry out a public broadcasting assignment. |
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(2) Mobile applications are application software that has been designed and developed by the legal entities named in Paragraph 1 Nos. 1 and 2 or on their behalf for use by the general public on mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. This does not include the software to control these devices or the hardware.
(3) Paragraph 1 does not apply to the following content on websites and mobile applications:
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Office application format files that were published before September 23, 2018 and the content of which is not required for ongoing administrative procedures of the respective legal entity; |
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prerecorded time-based media, such as video and audio media released before September 23, 2020; |
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live broadcast time-based media; |
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Online maps and map services, provided that essential information for maps for navigation purposes is provided digitally in a barrier-free manner; |
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Third party content that is neither financed nor developed by the respective legal entity and which is also not subject to its control; |
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Reproductions of items from cultural heritage collections when due |
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the incompatibility of the accessibility requirements with the preservation of the object in question or the authenticity of the reproduction or |
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the unavailability of automated and cost-effective solutions that could easily extract text from manuscripts or other pieces of cultural heritage and convert it into content compatible with accessibility requirements, |
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cannot be made fully accessible; |
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Content that is only available to a closed group of people and not to the general public (extranets and intranets) and that was published before September 23, 2019, pending a major overhaul of these websites; |
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School, kindergarten or crèche websites and mobile applications, with the exception of content related to essential online administrative functions; |
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Content that is considered an archive and therefore only contains content that is neither required for ongoing administrative procedures nor updated or revised after September 23, 2019; |
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Content for which compliance with the accessibility requirements according to § 3 would lead to a disproportionate burden on the respective legal entity When examining the disproportionality of the burden, in particular the size, the economic capacity and the type of legal entity, the estimated costs and benefits for the respective legal entity in relation to the estimated benefits for people with disabilities as well as the frequency and duration of use of the website in question or mobile application to be considered. |
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Website and mobile application accessibility requirements
§ 3.
 (1) The legal entities named in Section 2 (1) 1 and 2 must make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making them perceptible, usable, understandable and robust.
(2) For the content of websites and mobile applications, the harmonized standards or parts of such standards, their references in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 1025/2012 on European standardization, amending directives 89/686 / EEC and 93/15 / EEC of the council as well as the directives 94/9 / EG, 94/25 / EG, 95/16 / EG, 97/23 / EG, 98/34 / EG, 2004/22 / EG, 2007/23 / EG, 2009 / 23 / EC and 2009/105 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Decision 87/95 / EEC of the Council and Decision No. 1673/2006 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ No. L 316 of 14.11.2012 p. 12, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, it is assumed that they meet the accessibility requirements according to Paragraph 1 in the areas covered by the respective standards or parts of standards.
(3) The body responsible for the fulfillment of the tasks according to § 5 must publish the references of the standards announced by the European Commission on its website.
Declaration on accessibility
§ 4.
(1) The legal entities named in Section 2 (1) 1 and 2 must publish a detailed, comprehensive and clear declaration on the accessibility of their websites and mobile applications in an accessible format and keep it up to date. Optional content that goes beyond the mandatory content requirements stipulated by the European Commission can also be included in the declaration.
(2) The declaration must be published on the relevant website and must in any case be accessible via the homepage of this website. In the case of mobile applications, the accessibility statement must be available on the website of the legal entity that developed or commissioned the development of the mobile application in question, or together with other information when the application is downloaded.
(3) The legal entities named in Section 2 (1) 1 and 2 must check every notification from users of their website or mobile application about deficiencies in compliance with the accessibility requirements, if necessary take measures to remedy these deficiencies and provide the respective user with the result to announce this review and the measures taken or intended within two months. Inquiries about the content of websites and mobile applications that are exempt from the obligation to meet the accessibility requirements according to Section 2 (3) a to j and are not accessible must be answered within two months.
Tasks related to web accessibility
§ 5.
 (1) To fulfill the tasks related to web accessibility
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The extent to which websites and mobile applications of the legal entities named in Section 2 Paragraph 1 Z 1 and 2 meet the requirements for barrier-free access according to Section 3 must be regularly monitored and a report must be prepared every third year and this including the respective reports of the Countries to be submitted to the European Commission. The legal entities concerned have to participate in the monitoring. |
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Complaints must be received and examined which refer to violations of the provisions of this federal law, in particular deficiencies in compliance with the accessibility requirements, by one of the legal entities named in Section 2 (1) 1 and 2. The legal entities concerned have to cooperate in examining the complaint. If the complaint is justified, recommendations for action are to be made and measures to be proposed to remedy the present deficiencies. If there is also a violation of regulations in other federal laws that concern the principle of equal treatment, the complaint can be forwarded to the body responsible for complaints from affected persons according to these regulations. Complaints from affected persons can only be made via one of the responsible bodies (para. |
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persons are to be supported in the pursuit of their rights due to alleged violation of this law, in particular by providing information and advice on the legal protection options available under this or other federal laws. |
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Training programs for relevant stakeholders and the staff of institutions in accordance with Paragraph 1 Z 1 and 2 as well as awareness-raising measures on the subject of barrier-free access to websites and mobile applications must be coordinated. |
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the applicable content requirements for the declaration of accessibility (§ 4) as well as the applicable monitoring methodology and reporting modalities (Z 1) must be published on the Internet. |
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(2) The Federal Minister for Digitization and Business Location can, by ordinance, specify a body that is to perform the tasks pursuant to Paragraph 1. If this body falls within the sphere of activity of another federal minister, the ordinance must be issued by the federal minister for digitization and business location in agreement with the latter. In periods in which such an ordinance does not exist, the Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft mbH (FFG) is responsible for carrying out the tasks according to Paragraph 1.
(3) In connection with the tasks according to Paragraph 1, coordination with the federal states must take place. In particular, the responsible body is obliged to forward the specifications for the report pursuant to Paragraph 1 No. 1 to the federal states and to coordinate the tests. The Federal Minister for Digitization and Business Location will make his existing communication platforms available to the responsible body and support them in the coordination.
(4) The competent authority shall charge the highest federal organs for the costs incurred for the fulfillment of the tasks according to this provision in accordance with the number of websites and mobile applications to be monitored.
privacy
§ 6.
 (1) The fully or partially automated as well as non-automated processing of personal data by the responsible body (Section 5 (2)) is permitted if it is necessary to fulfill the tasks that have been assigned.
(2) The responsible body is obliged to maintain data secrecy in the course of data processing and to oblige all employees and contractors to maintain this data secrecy in accordance with § 6 DSG before starting their work.
(3) The organs, employees and contractors of the competent body are obliged to maintain secrecy about facts that they become aware of in the course of their activities.
Personal designations
§ 7.
 All personal designations used in this federal law apply equally to persons of both female and male sex.
References
§ 8th.
 References in this federal act to other federal acts are to be understood as references to the respectively applicable version.
Completion
§ 9.
 The following are entrusted with the implementation of this federal law:
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with regard to Section 5 (2), the Federal Minister for Digitization and Business Location or the Federal Minister for Digitization and Business Location in agreement with the respective Federal Minister responsible, |
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with regard to the other provisions, each Federal Minister within the scope of his sphere of activity. |
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Come into effect
§ 10.
 This federal law comes into force at the end of the day of publication and is applicable
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Websites that have not yet been published at this time, as of September 23, 2019, |
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Websites that have already been published at this time, as of September 23, 2020, |
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mobile applications from June 23, 2021. |
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