BelgiumFlemish decree of 29 March 2024 on e-books and related software, accessibility requirements for e-books
Decreet van 29 maart 2024 over e-boeken en bijbehorende software (Vlaamse Gemeenschap)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide e-books, that is digital book files with the software, including mobile applications, needed to open, browse, read and use them, in the Flemish Community, e-books you place on the market from must meet Sections 1 and 2 of Annex 1 to the decree of (Articles 3, point 2, and 4(2)).
- Prepare the information Annex 2 requires, explain how the service meets the accessibility requirements, make it available to the public in writing and orally in a way accessible to persons with disabilities, and keep it as long as the service operates (Article 4(2)).
- Micro-enterprises that offer the services are exempt from the requirements and from every obligation relating to compliance with them (Article 4(2)).
- The requirements apply only where compliance requires no fundamental alteration of the e-book and imposes no disproportionate burden; assess this on the Annex 3 criteria, document the assessment, keep the results for five years, give the administration a copy on request, renew a burden assessment when the service changes, on request and at least every five years, and, unless you are a micro-enterprise, tell the administration when you rely on the exception (Article 4(3)).
- You cannot rely on the disproportionate burden exception if you receive public or private funding, other than your own resources, to improve accessibility (Article 4(4)).
- Until you may keep providing the service with products you lawfully used before that date, and service contracts concluded before may run unchanged until at the latest (Article 4(5)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 5(1) sets an exclusive administrative fine of at least EUR 5,000 and at most EUR 125,000 per established infringement, indexed every 1 January to the health index (base November 2023); the decree states no aggregate cap. The framework decree on Flemish enforcement of governs the procedure (Article 5(2)).
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Minimum
- 5,000
- Currency
- EUR
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 125,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The administration of the Flemish Government competent for language and the fine arts (Article 3, point 1), with the fining body and the remedy body that apply the framework decree on Flemish enforcement of (Article 5(2) and (3))
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
Article 4(2) exempts micro-enterprises that offer the services from the accessibility requirements and from every obligation relating to compliance with them.
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- provides e-books, as Article 3, point 2, defines them, in the Flemish Community
- is not a micro-enterprise, an enterprise with fewer than ten employees and an annual turnover or annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million (Article 4(1) and (2))
What this law does
Article 2 of the Flemish decree of on e-books and related software states that it partly transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882. Article 2(2)(e) of the Directive brings e-books and dedicated software within its scope as services provided to consumers.
Article 3, point 2, defines an e-book as a service that makes available digital files carrying an electronic version of a book, together with the software, including mobile device services and applications, needed to open, browse, read and use them, other than e-reader software. Article 4(2) requires e-books placed on the market from to meet the accessibility requirements of Sections 1 and 2 of Annex 1.
Article 4(2) requires e-book providers to prepare the information Annex 2 requires, explain how the services meet the requirements, make it available to the public in writing and orally in an accessible way, and keep it as long as the service operates. Article 4(2) exempts micro-enterprises that offer those services from the accessibility requirements and from every obligation relating to compliance with them.
Article 4(3) applies the requirements only where compliance requires no significant change resulting in a fundamental alteration of the e-book and imposes no disproportionate burden on the provider. Article 4(3) requires providers to document the assessment, keep its results for five years after the service was last provided and give the administration a copy on request.
Article 4(3) requires providers other than micro-enterprises that consider the requirements cannot be applied to a specific product or service to inform the administration. Article 4(4) bars a provider that receives public or private funding for accessibility from relying on the disproportionate burden defence.
Article 4(5) lets providers keep using, until , the products they lawfully used before that date, and lets service contracts concluded before run unchanged until at the latest. Article 5(1) punishes anyone who breaches the decree or its implementing decisions with an exclusive administrative fine of at least EUR 5,000 and at most EUR 125,000 per established infringement. Article 5(1) indexes those amounts every 1 January to the health index.
Article 5(2) applies the framework decree on Flemish enforcement of to the enforcement of the decree, and lets authorities or legal persons with a legitimate interest file an enforcement request on behalf of or in support of the persons concerned.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface, ships a mobile app or distributes a software product.
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