AustriaORF Act, accessibility of the programmes and online offering of the Austrian public broadcaster, with the daily plain-language news, the rising share of accessible content and the accessibility action plan
ORF-Gesetz (ORF-G), § 5 Abs. 2 und 2a, BGBl. Nr. 379/1984 in der Fassung BGBl. I Nr. 150/2020
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you are the Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), design at least your television information programmes, as far as technical development and economic viability allow, so that people with visual or hearing impairments and people with intellectual impairments who depend on plain language can follow them more easily (ORF-G, s. 5(2)).
- Offer at least one news broadcast in plain language every day between 9:00 and 22:00 in one of your programmes (ORF-G, s. 5(2)).
- Raise continuously and step by step, above the level of , the share of audiovisual content made accessible to people with visual or hearing impairments and to people with intellectual impairments who depend on plain language, by at least 2.5 percent a year in the categories of information, art and culture, and education and at least 4 percent in entertainment, measured against the end of the previous calendar year; you may provide justified exceptions for live content (ORF-G, s. 5(2)).
- Each year, after hearing the Publikumsrat and the representative organisations, draw up an action plan with a concrete three-year timetable for raising the share of accessible programmes other than live broadcasts and of your online offering, by the categories of information, entertainment, education, art and culture, and sport; publish it so that it is easily, directly and permanently accessible and inform the regulatory authority of the publication (ORF-G, s. 5(2)).
- Report each year by 31 March on the implementation of the action plan and the rise in the share; if the measures or the rate of increase were not met, give the reasons and the steps planned to make up the shortfall by the end of the following calendar year, and publish the report in the same way as the plan (ORF-G, s. 5(2)).
- In the annual report, state how the share of content made accessible by measures suited to each group (in particular subtitles, sign language interpretation, two-channel sound and audio description) has risen in your online offering and your programmes, and aim to make all your programmes with spoken content accessible by 2030 (ORF-G, s. 5(2a)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The regulatory authority (Regulierungsbehörde) under the KommAustria-Gesetz, which presents the state and development of the Österreichischer Rundfunk's duty under section 5(2) in its activity report under section 19 KOG
What this law does
Section 5(2) of the ORF-G requires the television information programmes of the Österreichischer Rundfunk to be designed, as far as technical development and economic viability allow, so that people with visual or hearing impairments, and people with intellectual impairments who depend on plain language, can follow them more easily. Section 5(2) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to offer at least one news broadcast in plain language every day between 9:00 and 22:00 in one of its programmes.
Section 5(2) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to see that the share of audiovisual content made accessible to those groups rises continuously and step by step above the level of . Section 5(2) lets the Österreichischer Rundfunk provide justified exceptions for live content.
Section 5(2) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to draw up each year an action plan with a concrete three-year timetable for raising the share of accessible programmes and its online offering, split by the categories of information, entertainment, education, art and culture, and sport, after hearing the Publikumsrat and the representative organisations.
Section 5(2) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to publish the action plan so that it is easily, directly and permanently accessible and to inform the regulatory authority of the publication. Section 5(2) sets the minimum annual rise in the share of accessible content at 2.5 percent in the categories of information, art and culture, and education. Section 5(2) sets the minimum annual rise in the category of entertainment at 4 percent.
Section 5(2) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to report each year by 31 March on the implementation of the plan and the rise in the share. Section 5(2a) requires the Österreichischer Rundfunk to aim for accessibility of all its programmes with spoken content by 2030. Section 5(2) and (2a) apply from .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .