A 301 549 V3.2.1

EN 301 549 V3.2.1 is the European standard that sets digital accessibility requirements for information and communication technology products and services such as websites, mobile apps, documents, software and related support. The purpose of the standard is to ensure that digital solutions can be used by as many people as possible, including people with visual, hearing, movement and cognitive impairments. It describes both general functional principles for how digital solutions should be used by different user groups and specific technical requirements for, for example, readability, navigation, contrasts, subtitles, document structuring and compatibility with assistive devices such as screen readers.

For organisations, the standard provides a clear framework for how digital content should be developed and maintained in line with current European legislation and recognised accessibility practices. It thus supports not only legal compliance, but also a more inclusive and user-friendly digital presence, where more people can participate on equal terms.

Sources
ETSI, EN 301 549 V3.2.1 Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services (2021)
https://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_en/301500_301599/301549/03.02.01_60/en_301549v030201p.pdf

Digitalization Authority, Understanding the Technical Standard for Web Accessibility
https://digst.dk/tilsyn/webtilgaengelighed/forstaa-den-tekniske-standard/

European Commission, Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102)
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/web-accessibility

ETSI, Human Factors and Accessibility — EN 301 549 overview
https://www.etsi.org/human-factors-accessibility/en-301-549-v3-the-harmonized-european-standard-for-ict-accessibility

WCAG 2.1 Summary

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WCAG 2.1 is an internationally recommended set of guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which sets out technical and user-friendly requirements for web content to ensure that it becomes more accessible to people with disabilities — including visual, hearing, motor, learning and cognitive challenges. The standard rests on four overarching principles: that content must be experiential (perceivable), operable (operable), understandable (understandable) and sturdy (robust) — i.e. compatible with assistive devices and technologies. Building on top of WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 adds new success criteria that target, among other things, mobile devices, low vision, increased contrast and other modern accessibility needs. For website editors, this means that content and interactions should be designed and tested with a focus on alt-text, contrast, keyboard navigation, structured markup, mobile customization, and accessibility documentation.

ACT-Rules Summary

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The Accessibility Conformance Testing Rules (ACT-Rules) are a set of testing rules from the W3C that complement the WCAG by describing how Concretely, compliance with the accessibility guidelines can be tested and verified. Each ACT rule specifies, for a specific content element and situation, what conditions apply, which test is performed, and what the result should be (pass/fail). The aim is to create uniformity and transparency in manual, semi-automatic and automatic accessibility tests — so that different tools and auditors come to the same assessment. For a web editor, this means that you can implement a test workflow where you not only create content with WCAG as a framework, but also document and verify that the requirements are actually met.

Sources

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