EU Web Accessibility Directive Guidelines and WCAG 2.1 Comparison
- Rebekah Kati
Introduction
The 2024 Hyrax accessibility audit evaluates Hyrax 5.x against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1. This is the standard by which the majority of institutions using Hyrax need to meet, according to a survey of the community conducted in January 2024.
Several institutions using Hyrax in Europe have indicated that they need to meet the EU Web Accessibility Directive Guidelines instead of WCAG 2.1. The EU Web Accessibility Guidelines are a part of the European Accessibility Act (EAA). This page will document the overlap between EU Web Accessibility Directive Guidelines and WCAG 2.1 and make recommendations for further work.
What is the extent of the overlap between the EU Guidelines and WCAG 2.1?
Per SiteImprove, WCAG 2.1 makes up “the core of the Web Accessibility Directive”, and the EU guidelines refer to WCAG 2.1 standards. This assessment is also shared by David Gibson at Accessibility.Works, who says that “the very same Web Accessibility Compliance Standards (WCAG) commonly used in the US and internationally are also used as the gauge for EAA compliance.” The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights points to WCAG AA in its discussion of legal accessibility standards.
SiteImprove recommends that sites meet WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA standards and have a public, updated web accessibility statement which explains “accessible content standards and they must provide users with a link to provide feedback.”
What does Samvera need to do to make Hyrax compliant with the EU Guidelines?
The 2024 Hyrax 5.x accessibility audit compares Hyrax to WCAG A and AA. To ensure compliance with EU standards, all of the tickets tagged accessibility-concern or accessibility-blocker that are associated with this audit must be completed and included in a release.
The EU guidelines also require a public, updated web accessibility statement and feedback link. Hyrax does not currently have an accessibility statement and we should consider creating one so that our demo sites can be compliant. It is possible that this is a need across Samvera products, and therefore we recommend that the Samvera Web Accessibility Interest Group take the lead on the creation and regular review of a statement, once the group is formally chartered.
Works Consulted
Are there legal accessibility standards in place for websites providing public information?
European Accessibility Act Compliance Requirements: The Next GDPR