BelgiumDecree of the French Community on audiovisual media services and video-sharing services, Article 8.3.2-3, accessibility of electronic programme guides and application programme interfaces
Décret du 4 février 2021 relatif aux services de médias audiovisuels et aux services de partage de vidéos articles 1.2-1, 8.3.2-3, 9.2.2-1 et 10.2-1 (Communauté française)
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you are a service distributor or network operator in the French Community, your electronic programme guides must be accessible to persons with a sensory impairment and give information on the availability of accessibility features, and the Government may determine the modes of use those guides must offer (Article 8.3.2-3, first paragraph).
- Your application programme interfaces must be able to process the applications and related data of audiovisual media services, including those that give persons with a sensory impairment access to the services (Article 8.3.2-3, second paragraph).
- Access features such as subtitling, audio description or sign language interpretation must be available at a quality suited to a clear display, synchronised with sound and video, and adjustable by the user (Article 8.3.2-3, third paragraph).
- Network operators that employ fewer than 10 persons and have an annual turnover of at most EUR 2 million, or an annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million, are not subject to the first two paragraphs of Article 8.3.2-3 (Article 8.3.2-3, last paragraph).
- Article 10.2-1 brings into force on an Article 8.2.3-6, which the consolidated decree does not contain, and lets electronic programme guides and interfaces made available to users before that date be operated in their original configuration until .
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Article 9.2.2-1(1), point 7, sets a fine of at least EUR 250 and at most 3% of annual turnover excluding tax, raised to 5% on a repeat within five years. Article 9.2.2-1(3) lets the College attach a periodic penalty payment of at most 1% of annual turnover excluding tax per month. The College may also issue a warning, order publication of a notice, suspend or withdraw the programme, suspend or withdraw the authorisation and suspend distribution (Article 9.2.2-1(1)).
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Minimum
- 250
- Currency
- EUR
- Turnover percentage cap
- 3
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Authorisation and Control College (Collège d'autorisation et de contrôle) of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA), which Article 9.2.2-1 empowers to sanction a breach of the audiovisual laws, decrees and regulations
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
The last paragraph of Article 8.3.2-3 releases those network operators from its first two paragraphs.
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- is not a network operator that employs fewer than 10 persons and has an annual turnover of at most EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total of at most EUR 2 million (Article 8.3.2-3, last paragraph)
What this law does
Article 1.2-1, paragraph 1, point 5, of the French Community decree states that the decree partly transposes Directive (EU) 2019/882. Article 4(1) of the Directive requires Member States to ensure that economic operators only provide services that comply with the accessibility requirements in its Annex I. Article 8.3.2-3 requires electronic programme guides to be accessible to persons with a sensory impairment and to give information on the availability of accessibility features.
Article 8.3.2-3 lets the Government determine the modes of use that those guides must offer to make them accessible. Article 8.3.2-3 requires application programme interfaces to be able to process the applications and related data of audiovisual media services, including those that give persons with a sensory impairment access to the services.
Article 8.3.2-3 requires access features such as subtitling, audio description or sign language interpretation to be available at a quality suited to a clear display, synchronised with sound and video, and adjustable by the user.
Article 10.2-1 brings into force on an Article 8.2.3-6, which the consolidated decree does not contain, and lets electronic programme guides and interfaces made available to users before that date be operated in their original configuration until . The electronic programme guides and application programme interfaces whose accessibility the decree governs are those of Article 8.3.2-3.
Article 10.4-1 provides that the decree enters into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Moniteur belge. Article 9.2.2-1 lets the Authorisation and Control College of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, on finding a breach of the audiovisual laws, decrees and regulations, impose one of the sanctions that it lists.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .