ItalyLaw 4/2004 (Legge Stanca), accessibility of websites and mobile applications of private providers above the turnover threshold of Article 3(1-bis), accessibility declaration, contracts and AgID sanctions
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
What it requires
- If you are a legal person outside Article 3(1) of Law 4/2004 that offers services to the public through websites or mobile applications and meet the turnover test of Article 3(1-bis), make your websites and mobile applications perceivable, usable, understandable and robust (Article 3-bis(1)).
- The accessibility duties do not apply to content found only on mobile devices or mobile user programs developed for closed groups of users or for specific use and not available to or used by large segments of users, nor to extranet or intranet content published before until it is substantially revised (Article 3(2)).
- Offer services built on computer systems, including websites and mobile applications, that give access to the content of the service and make the information usable through ease and simplicity of use, efficiency (including separating content, presentation and interface operation and making the information available through different sensory channels), effectiveness independent of the access device, and satisfaction in use (Article 3-bis(2)).
- Apply the accessibility requirements on the basis of the guidelines of the Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale under Article 11, unless for websites and mobile applications that imposes a disproportionate burden, which you assess on the basis of those guidelines (Article 3-ter(1) and (3)).
- Supply and periodically update a detailed accessibility declaration on the conformity of your websites and mobile applications, in the model set by the guidelines, stating the content left without accessibility because of a disproportionate burden with the reasons and any alternatives, the feedback mechanism and its link, and the link to the procedure of Article 3-quinquies; publish it in an accessible format on your website (Article 3-quater).
- Answer a notice or request made through your feedback mechanism; a user who gets no satisfactory answer within thirty days can turn to the procedure of Article 3-quinquies, in which the Digital Civic Defender decides and orders corrective measures (Articles 3-quater(2)(c) and 3-quinquies).
- Do not conclude, on pain of nullity, a contract for building or changing a website or mobile application that does not require it to meet the accessibility requirements of the Article 11 guidelines, save the disproportionate-burden case of Article 3-ter (Article 4(2)).
- Bring a contract that was in force when the Article 11 guidelines were published into line with the accessibility requirements, on pain of nullity, when you renew, modify or novate it (Article 4(2)).
- Bring the websites and mobile applications you built into line with the accessibility requirements by (Article 4(2-bis)).
- Acquiring goods or computer services that do not meet the accessibility requirements of the Article 11 guidelines, or disregarding those requirements, is allowed only in the cases of Article 3(2) or for a disproportionate burden, and must be adequately reasoned (Article 4(1), second and third sentences).
- Remove the infringements within the time limit the Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale fixes after its investigation; if you do not obey the notice, it applies a fine of up to 5 per cent of turnover (Article 9(1-bis)).
- From Articles 3-bis(3), 3-ter, 3-quater, 3-quinquies and 4(2) and (2-bis) do not apply to you if you provide services that Legislative Decree 82/2022 governs, and the fine of Article 9(1-bis) applies to you in every case for a breach of Article 24(1) of that decree (Legislative Decree 82/2022, Articles 24(1) and 25(3)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Article 9(1-bis) has the Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale fix a time limit to remove the infringements and, if the notice is not obeyed, apply an administrative fine of up to 5 per cent of turnover, a cap rather than a fixed amount; the text states the base only as turnover ("fatturato"), naming no year and no group. Chapter I, Sections I and II, of Law 689/1981 apply so far as compatible.
- Rule
- Turnover pct only
- As of
- Turnover percentage cap
- 5
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale (AgID), which ascertains and sanctions non-observance under Article 9(1-bis) of the Law
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a legal person other than those in Article 3(1) of Law 4/2004 that offers services to the public through websites or mobile applications, with an average turnover over the last three years of activity above EUR 500 million ("superiore a cinquecento milioni di euro")
What this law does
Law 4/2004 applies also to legal persons other than the bodies in Article 3(1) that offer services to the public through websites or mobile applications, where the turnover test of Article 3(1-bis) is met. Article 29 of Decree-Law 76/2020, in force from , inserted Article 3(1-bis) and Article 9(1-bis).
Article 3(2) excludes from the accessibility duties content found only on mobile devices or mobile user programs developed for closed groups of users or for specific use and not available to or used by large segments of users, and content of extranets or intranets published before until it is substantially revised. Article 3-bis(1) makes the websites and mobile applications of those providers accessible if they are perceivable, usable, understandable and robust.
Article 3-bis(3) leaves the technical rules for those principles to the guidelines adopted under Article 11. Article 3-ter(1) requires the providers to apply the accessibility requirements on the basis of the Article 11 guidelines unless, for websites and mobile applications, that imposes a disproportionate burden.
Article 3-quater(1) and (2) require the providers to supply and periodically update a detailed accessibility declaration that states the content left without accessibility because of a disproportionate burden, describes the feedback mechanism, and links the procedure of Article 3-quinquies.
Under Article 3-quinquies the Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale verifies the declaration, and the Digital Civic Defender decides disputes over it and complaints by users who receive no satisfactory answer within thirty days, and orders corrective measures. Article 4(2) bars those providers from concluding, on pain of nullity, contracts for building or changing websites and mobile applications unless the contracts require compliance with the accessibility requirements of the Article 11 guidelines.
Article 4(2) also requires contracts in force when the Article 11 guidelines were published to be brought into line, on pain of nullity, when they are renewed, modified or novated. Article 4(1) extends to the purchases of those providers the rule that acquiring goods or computer services without the accessibility requirements is allowed only in the cases of Article 3(2) or for a disproportionate burden, with adequate reasons.
Article 4(2-bis) requires the websites and mobile applications of those providers to be brought into line with the accessibility requirements by . Article 9(1-bis) has the Agenzia per l'Italia Digitale ascertain and sanction non-observance by those providers, fix a time limit to remove the infringements, and apply an administrative fine measured on turnover if the notice is not obeyed.
Article 9(1-bis) preserves the right of the person discriminated against to bring an action under Law 67/2006 on judicial protection of persons with disabilities who are victims of discrimination. Article 25(3) of Legislative Decree 82/2022 disapplies Articles 3-bis(3), 3-ter, 3-quater, 3-quinquies and 4(2) and (2-bis) of Law 4/2004 from to the persons who provide the services that decree governs.
The Agency's guidelines for the providers of Article 3(1-bis) state that conformity with level AA of WCAG 2.1 is equivalent to conformity with the points of the harmonised standard that they list. Those guidelines refer to the European technical standard EN 301 549 version 3.2.1 (2021-03).
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface or ships a mobile app.
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