Spanish Accessibility Requirements

This post is the last in a seven-part series that provides updates on the current status of accessibility in the European Union and across individual countries in the Union. We welcome any comments, thoughts and corrections on the posts with the goal of helping of ensure the best information possible to our partners and customers.

Preceding posts in this series are as follows:

• United Kingdom Accessibility Requirements
• French Accessibility Requirements
• German Accessibility Requirements
• Italian Accessibility Requirements
• Netherlands Accessibility Requirements

Spanish law 34 of 2002, passed on July 11, 2002, related to “De servicios de la sociedad de la información y de comercio electrónico (LSSICE),” or “services of the information society and electronic commerce.” Section five of the “Dispoiciones Adicionales” relates to accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly. This section directed that public sector websites be made accessible to individuals with disabilities by December 31, 2005 in line with the requirements of widely recognized accessibility standards.

The Spanish standards organization, AENOR, developed a Spanish web accessibility standard UNE 139803:2004. UNE 139803 is the official standard for web accessibility in Spain and defines the level of accessibility that public sector organizations must conform to based on Law 34 of 2002. UNE 139803 defines both the technical requirements for conformance and the method of certifying sites for accessibility. The requirements of UNE 139803 are broadly based on the requirements of WCAG 1.0 and divided into three priority levels.