CyprusLaw 57(I)/2024 on the Accessibility of Products and Services, accessibility requirements for products, duties of manufacturers and authorised representatives
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you manufacture and place on the market general-purpose consumer computer hardware systems and their operating systems, payment terminals, automated teller machines, ticketing machines, check-in machines or interactive self-service information terminals (other than terminals installed as integral parts of vehicles, aircraft, ships or rolling stock), consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for accessing audiovisual media services, or e-readers, make the product meet Section I of Annex I and, except for self-service terminals, Section II of Annex I (Arts. 4(1) and 5(2); Directive Art. 4(2)).
- Section I of Annex I: provide accessible information on the product's operation and accessibility features, make the instructions available through more than one sensory channel, and give the product and its user interface features, elements and functions that let persons with disabilities access, perceive, operate, understand and control it, including alternatives to speech, colour, audio signals and biometric identification, flexible magnification, brightness and contrast, and interoperability with assistive technologies (Annex I, Section I, points 1 and 2).
- For self-service terminals, provide text-to-speech technology, allow the use of personal headsets, alert the user through more than one sensory channel where a response time applies, allow the time limit to be extended, do not require an accessibility feature to be switched on to use the terminal, give keys and controls sufficient contrast and tactile discernibility, and, where the terminal uses sound or audio signals, make it compatible with the assistive devices and technologies available at Union level, including hearing aids, telecoils, cochlear implants and assistive listening devices (Annex I, Section I, point 2(ιε)(i)).
- For e-readers, provide text-to-speech technology. For consumer terminal equipment used for electronic communications services, handle real-time text where the product has text capabilities in addition to voice, support high-fidelity audio, handle total conversation (synchronised voice, real-time text and video at a resolution that allows sign language communication) where it has video capabilities, couple effectively with wireless hearing technologies and avoid interference with assistive devices. For consumer terminal equipment used to access audiovisual media services, make available to persons with disabilities the accessibility components that the audiovisual media service provider supplies, for user access, selection, control, personalisation and transfer to assistive devices (Annex I, Section I, point 2(ιε)(ii) to (iv)).
- Where you have support services (help desks, call centres, technical support, relay and training services), have them give information on the product's accessibility and its compatibility with assistive technologies in accessible formats of communication (Annex I, Section I, point 3).
- Section II of Annex I: make the packaging and instructions of the product accessible, other than for self-service terminals (Annex I, Section II).
- Design and manufacture the product in accordance with the applicable accessibility requirements, draw up the technical file under Annex II, carry out the conformity assessment procedure or have it carried out, and where conformity is shown draw up the EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking (Art. 8(α) and (β); Arts. 17 and 19).
- Draw up the EU declaration of conformity on the model in Annex III to Decision 768/2008/EC with the elements Annex II of the Law lists, keep it continuously updated, have it translated into the languages the competent authority sets by Notification in the Official Gazette, draw up a single declaration where several Union acts require one, and affix the CE marking visibly, legibly and indelibly to the product or its data plate before the product is placed on the market (Arts. 17(2) and (3) and 19(1) and (2)).
- Keep the technical file and the EU declaration of conformity for five years from the date the product was placed on the market, and keep procedures so that series production stays in conformity, taking account of changes in the design or characteristics of the product and in the harmonised standards or technical specifications (Art. 8(γ) and (δ)).
- Mark each product with a type, batch or serial number, put your name, registered trade name or trademark and a contact address that gives a single point of contact on the product, its packaging or an accompanying document, with the contact details in a language easily understood by end users and by the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities (Art. 8(ε) and (στ)).
- Supply the product with instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end users, as the competent authority determines by Notification in the Official Gazette, and make them clear, understandable and intelligible (Art. 8(ζ)).
- If you consider or have reason to believe that a product you placed on the market does not comply, take the corrective measures needed or withdraw it, inform the competent authority at once with details of the non-conformity and the measures taken, and keep a register of non-conforming products and related complaints (Art. 8(η)).
- On a reasoned request give the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities the information and documentation needed to show conformity, in a language easily understood by them, and cooperate with them in remedying non-conformity (Art. 8(θ)).
- You may appoint an authorised representative by written mandate; the mandate must give the representative at least the task of keeping the EU declaration of conformity and the technical file at the authorities' disposal for five years, providing information and documentation on request, and cooperating on remedial action, and the representative does not take over your Article 8(α) duties or the drawing up of the technical file (Art. 9).
- Identify to the competent authority every operator that supplied you with a product or to which you supplied one, for five years from the date of supply (Art. 13).
- Assess whether compliance would require a significant change that fundamentally alters the basic nature of the product or would impose a disproportionate burden by the criteria in Annex IV, document the assessment, keep the results for five years from the last time the product was made available, and give the authorities a copy on request; a microenterprise dealing with products need not document its assessment but must give the authorities the facts relevant to it on request (Art. 15(1) to (4)).
- Inform the competent authority when you rely on the fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden defence for a particular product, unless you are a microenterprise, and, if you receive funding from sources other than your own resources, public or private, provided for the purpose of improving accessibility, do not rely on the disproportionate burden defence (Art. 15(6) and (7)).
- Where you rely on the fundamental alteration or disproportionate burden defence, name the accessibility requirements it covers in the EU declaration of conformity (Art. 17(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Article 38 makes it an offence to make available on the market a product or service that does not comply with the Law, to disregard a withdrawal, recall or destruction notice served under Article 34, to issue or use a certificate or other document without approval or without following the proper procedure, or to give false, misleading or inaccurate details or documents to the authorities. A first conviction carries imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, and a second or later conviction imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both.
Penalty structure
Article 38 sets the highest fine in the Law: on a second or later conviction, imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to EUR 30,000 or both, and on a first conviction imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to EUR 20,000 or both, whether or not an administrative fine is imposed. Article 36(1) lets the competent authority impose an administrative fine of up to EUR 10,000 on a person who commits any of the infringements listed in Article 35, and of up to EUR 20,000 for a later infringement. Article 36(2) lets it impose a fine of up to EUR 500 for each day a fined infringement continues, according to its gravity, and the text states no total for the daily fines. Article 37(1) sets the amount by the nature, gravity and duration of the infringement.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 30,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare (Υφυπουργός Κοινωνικής Πρόνοιας), the competent authority under Article 3(1), which imposes the administrative fines, with the departments and services of the public service that the Council of Ministers designates under Article 3(3) as accessibility surveillance authorities
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a manufacturer, being a natural or legal person that manufactures a product or has its design or manufacture carried out and markets it under its own name or trademark, of a product listed in Article 4(1) of the Law that is placed on the market from
- an importer or distributor that places a listed product on the market under its own name or trademark, or modifies a product already on the market in a way that may affect conformity, and so is treated as a manufacturer under Article 12
What this law does
Article 4(1) applies the Law to general-purpose consumer computer hardware systems and their operating systems, payment terminals, the listed self-service terminals, consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability used for electronic communications services or for accessing audiovisual media services, and e-readers, when they are placed on the market from .
A product is a substance, preparation or good produced through a manufacturing process, and the term excludes food, feed, living plants and animals, products of human origin and plant and animal products directly related to their future reproduction.
Article 5(2) requires all products to meet Section I of Annex I and, except self-service terminals, Section II of Annex I. Section I of Annex I requires products to be designed and produced to maximise their foreseeable use by persons with disabilities and, where possible, to come with accessible information on their operation and accessibility features.
Section I of Annex I requires the product and its user interface to contain features, elements and functions that let persons with disabilities access, perceive, operate, understand and control the product. Section I of Annex I requires self-service terminals to provide text-to-speech technology and to allow the use of personal headsets, among other specific requirements.
Section I of Annex I also requires e-readers to provide text-to-speech technology, consumer terminal equipment used for electronic communications services to handle real-time text and total conversation where it has text or video capabilities, and consumer terminal equipment used to access audiovisual media services to make available the accessibility components that the audiovisual media service provider supplies.
Article 8 requires a manufacturer to ensure that products it places on the market are designed and manufactured in accordance with the applicable accessibility requirements. Article 8 requires a manufacturer to draw up the technical file under Annex II, carry out or commission the conformity assessment procedure, and, where conformity is shown, draw up the EU declaration of conformity and affix the CE marking.
Article 8 requires a manufacturer to keep the technical file and the EU declaration of conformity for five years from the date the product was placed on the market. Article 8 requires a manufacturer to ensure that the product comes with instructions and safety information in a language easily understood by consumers and other end users, as the competent authority determines by Notification in the Official Gazette.
Article 8 requires a manufacturer that considers a product it placed on the market non-conforming to take corrective measures or withdraw it, inform the competent authority, and keep a register of non-conforming products and related complaints. Article 8 requires a manufacturer to give the competent authority and the accessibility surveillance authorities, on a reasoned request, the information and documentation needed to show conformity, and to cooperate with them.
Article 9 lets a manufacturer appoint an authorised representative by written mandate. Article 9(4) requires the mandate to give the representative at least the task of keeping the EU declaration of conformity and the technical file at the disposal of the authorities for five years.
Article 12 treats an importer or distributor as a manufacturer, with the manufacturer's obligations, when it places a product on the market under its own name or trademark or modifies a product already on the market in a way that may affect conformity. Article 13 requires the operators named in Articles 8 to 11 to identify to the competent authority any operator that supplied them with a product or to which they supplied one, for five years.
Article 15(1) applies the accessibility requirements only to the extent that compliance does not require a significant change resulting in a fundamental alteration of the basic nature of the product or service and does not impose a disproportionate burden on the economic operators. Article 15(4) exempts microenterprises dealing with products from the requirement to document their assessment.
Article 16(1) presumes that products and services that conform to harmonised standards, or parts of them, whose references the Official Journal of the European Union publishes meet the accessibility requirements to the extent the standards cover them. Article 16(2) gives the same presumption to conformity with technical specifications that the European Commission adopts under Article 15 of the Directive.
Article 17 provides that the EU declaration of conformity shows that the applicable accessibility requirements are met and, where Article 15 is invoked, names the requirements covered by that exception. Article 17(2) requires the EU declaration of conformity to follow the model in Annex III to Decision 768/2008/EC, to contain the elements in Annex II of the Law, to be kept updated and to be translated into the languages that the competent authority sets by Notification in the Official Gazette.
Article 19 requires the CE marking to be affixed visibly, legibly and indelibly to the product or its data plate, unless the nature of the product does not allow it.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app distributes a software product.
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