S.L. 418.3 Art. 3Scope.

(1) These regulations lay down provisions relating to the accessibility requirements of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, thereby enabling those websites and mobile applications to be more accessible to users, in particular to persons with disabilities.

(2) These regulations shall not apply to the following websites and mobile applications:

(a) websites and mobile applications of public service broadcasters and their subsidiaries, and of other bodies or their subsidiaries fulfilling a public service broadcasting remit;

(b) websites and mobile applications of non-governmental organisations that:

(i) do not provide services that are essential to the public, such as services that are directly mandated by State, regional or local authorities, or

(ii) do not provide services that specifically address the needs of, or are meant for, persons with disabilities;

(c) websites and mobile applications of schools, kindergartens or nurseries, except for the content thereof relating to essential online administrative functions:

Provided that, where such essential content is provided in an accessible manner through another website, it shall not be required to be made accessible again on the website of the establishment concerned.

(3) These regulations shall not apply to the following content of websites and mobile applications:

(a) office file formats published before 23 September 2018, unless such content is needed for active administrative processes relating to the services performed by the public sector body concerned;

(b) pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020;

(c) live time-based media:

Provided that live time-based media that are kept online or republished after the live broadcast shall be considered as pre-recorded time-based media without undue delay from the date of the initial broadcast or republishing of the time-based media, not exceeding the time strictly necessary to make time-based media accessible with priority being given to essential information relating to the health, welfare and safety of the public, which period of time shall in principle not exceed fourteen (14) days:

Provided further that in justified cases, such as when it is impossible to procure the relevant services in due time, such period might exceptionally be extended to the shortest time necessary to make the content accessible;

(d) online maps and mapping services, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use;

(e) third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body concerned:

Provided that where the purpose of content of websites or mobile applications of public sector bodies is to hold consultations or to organise forum discussions, that content shall not be considered as third-party content and shall not therefore be excluded from the scope of these regulations, except in the case of user-contributed content which is not under the control of the public sector body concerned.

(f) reproductions of items in heritage collections that cannot be made fully accessible because of either:

(i) the incompatibility of accessibility requirements with either the preservation of the item concerned or the authenticity of the reproduction, such as contrast; or

(ii) the unavailability of automated and cost-efficient solutions that would easily extract the text of manuscripts or other items in heritage collections and transform it into content compatible with the accessibility requirements;

(g) content of extranets and intranets, meaning websites that are only available for a closed group of persons and not to the public in general, published before 23 September 2019, until such websites undergo a substantial revision;

(h) content of websites and mobile applications qualifying as archives, meaning that such websites and mobile applications only contain content that is neither needed for active administrative processes nor updated or edited after 23 September 2019.