EstoniaMedia Services Act, access of people with disabilities to audiovisual media services (section 23), accessibility action plans in license applications and notices, accessible emergency alerts (section 18(2)) and complaints
§§ 18, 23, 39, 47 ja 56^1, Meediateenuste seadus
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you provide an audiovisual media service (a television service or an on-demand audiovisual media service), make it progressively accessible to people with disabilities by proportionate measures, using subtitles, sign-language interpretation, audio description, separate audio channels, teletext and other additional services (s. 23(1); Directive 2010/13/EU, Art. 7).
- Meet the minimum volumes of subtitled, sign-interpreted and audio-described programs and the deadlines that the Culture Minister sets by regulation under section 23(1^1), which took effect on (s. 23(1^1); see the row for Culture Minister Regulation No. 4).
- Draw up an accessibility action plan covering the current calendar year and the three years after it, describing the activities planned to improve access for people with disabilities and when they will be carried out, and plan the resources for them (s. 23(2)).
- Submit the plan, and data on its implementation in the previous calendar year, to TTJA each year by 15 February; the holder of a temporary television license need not (s. 23(3) and (5)).
- If you apply for a television license, attach your accessibility action plan to the application; an applicant for a temporary television license need not (s. 39(6) point 1^1 and (6^1)).
- If you provide an on-demand audiovisual media service, attach your accessibility action plan to the notice of economic activity you file for the service (s. 47(2^1)).
- If you are a television service provider, transmit emergency alerts in a way that is accessible to people with disabilities (s. 18(2)).
- Questions and complaints on the accessibility of your service go to TTJA, which is the single online contact point (s. 23(4); Directive 2010/13/EU, Art. 7(4)).
- TTJA resolves a complaint about a breach of the Act within 30 days of receiving it and may extend that period by up to 60 days to clarify the facts (s. 56^1(1) and (2)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Section 56 of the Media Services Act sets the ceiling of the penalty payment (sunniraha) that enforces a precept at EUR 15,000 and, where a precept is repeatedly not complied with, at EUR 30,000. The Act's fines are in sections 57 and 58, for the rules on the protection of minors in sections 19 and 19^1 and the rules on commercial communications in section 26(2) and sections 28 to 31^1.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 30,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA), the authority that supervises compliance with the Media Services Act and the legal acts made under it, under section 54(1)
What this law does
Section 23(1) requires an audiovisual media service provider to make its service progressively accessible to people with disabilities by proportionate measures, using subtitles, sign-language interpretation, audio description, separate audio channels, teletext and other additional services.
Section 23(1^1) has the minister responsible set by regulation more detailed accessibility requirements for audiovisual media services and the deadlines for meeting them, including the minimum volume of Estonian-language programs with subtitles, sign-language interpretation, audio description and audio subtitles in a program or program catalog and requirements on selectable subtitles and audio subtitles.
Section 23(2) requires an audiovisual media service provider to draw up an accessibility action plan describing the activities planned for the current calendar year and the following three years to improve access to its service for people with disabilities, and to plan the resources for them. Section 23(3) requires the provider to submit the plan, and data on its implementation in the previous calendar year, to TTJA each year by 15 February.
Section 23(4) makes TTJA the single online contact point for information and complaints on these accessibility questions within the meaning of Article 7(4) of Directive 2010/13/EU. Section 23(5) provides that the duties in section 23(2) and (3) do not apply to the holder of a temporary television license. Section 39(6) point 1^1 requires an application for a television license to be accompanied by the accessibility action plan referred to in section 23(2).
Section 39(6^1) provides that this does not apply to an applicant for a temporary television license. Section 47(2^1) requires an on-demand audiovisual media service provider to attach the accessibility action plan referred to in section 23(2) to its notice of economic activity. Section 18(2) requires a television service provider to transmit emergency alerts in a way that is accessible to people with disabilities.
Section 2(4) applies the Media Services Act to Eesti Rahvusringhääling, the public broadcaster, as far as the Eesti Rahvusringhäälingu seadus does not provide otherwise. Section 65^2 required each audiovisual media service provider to submit data on meeting section 23(1) to TTJA by , and applies the annual plan reporting duty in section 23(3) from 2024.
Section 54(1) makes TTJA the authority that supervises compliance with the Media Services Act and the legal acts made under it, apart from sections 15 and 19^2. Section 56 sets the ceiling of the penalty payment for a precept that is not complied with at EUR 15,000 and, where a precept is repeatedly not complied with, at EUR 30,000.
Section 56^1 requires TTJA to resolve a complaint about a breach of the Act within 30 days of receiving it, and lets it extend that period by up to 60 days where it needs to clarify the facts. Section 57 sets the fine for breaching the rules on the protection of minors in sections 19 and 19^1 at up to 300 fine units for a natural person and up to EUR 32,000 for a legal person.
Section 58 sets the fine for breaching the rules on commercial communications in section 26(2) and sections 28 to 31^1 at up to 300 fine units for a natural person and up to EUR 32,000 for a legal person. Section 25 of the Accessibility of Products and Services Act provides that point 45 of section 1 of the Act amending the Media Services Act takes effect on .
The consolidated text notes that section 23(1^1) takes effect on and that its entry into force was changed by the Act published as RT I, 15.06.2022, 1. Section 47(1) of the Penal Code sets the fine unit at EUR 8.
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