Subject matter, scope and definitions

1. In order to improve the functioning of the internal market, this Directive aims to approximate the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the accessibility requirements of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, thereby enabling those websites and mobile applications to be more accessible to users, in particular to persons with disabilities.

2. This Directive lays down the rules requiring Member States to ensure that websites, independently of the device used for access thereto, and mobile applications of public sector bodies meet the accessibility requirements set out in Article 4.

3. This Directive does not apply to the following websites and mobile applications:

• (a) websites and mobile applications of public service broadcasters and their subsidiaries, and of other bodies or their subsidiaries fulfilling a public service broadcasting remit;

• (b) websites and mobile applications of NGOs that do not provide services that are essential to the public, or services that specifically address the needs of, or are meant for, persons with disabilities.

4. This Directive does not apply to the following content of websites and mobile applications:

• (a) office file formats published before 23 September 2018, unless such content is needed for active administrative processes relating to the tasks performed by the public sector body concerned;

• (b) pre-recorded time-based media published before 23 September 2020;

• (c) live time-based media;

• (d) online maps and mapping services, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use;

• (e) third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body concerned;

• (g) content of extranets and intranets, that is to say, websites that are only available for a closed group of people and not to the general public as such, published before 23 September 2019, until such websites undergo a substantial revision;

• (h) content of websites and mobile applications qualifying as archives, meaning that they only contain content that is neither needed for active administrative processes nor updated or edited after 23 September 2019.

5. Member States may exclude from the application of this Directive websites and mobile applications of schools, kindergartens or nurseries, except for the content thereof relating to essential online administrative functions.

• (1) ‘public sector body’ means the State, regional or local authorities, bodies governed by public law, as defined in point (4) of Article 2(1) of Directive 2014/24/EU, or associations formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such bodies governed by public law, if those associations are established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;

• (2) ‘mobile application’ means application software designed and developed, by or on behalf of public sector bodies, for use by the general public on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. It does not include the software that controls those devices (mobile operating systems) or hardware;

• (3) ‘standard’ means a standard as defined in point (1) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

• (4) ‘European standard’ means a European standard as defined in point (1)(b) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

• (5) ‘harmonised standard’ means a harmonised standard as defined in point (1)(c) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;

• (6) ‘time-based media’ means media of the following types: audio-only, video-only, audio-video, audio and/or video combined with interaction;

• (7) ‘items in heritage collections’ means privately or publicly owned goods presenting an historical, artistic, archaeological, aesthetic, scientific or technical interest and that are part of collections preserved by cultural institutions such as libraries, archives and museums;

• (8) ‘measurement data’ means the quantified results of the monitoring activity carried out in order to verify the compliance of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies with the accessibility requirements set out in Article 4. It covers both quantitative information about the sample of websites and mobile applications tested (number of websites and applications with, potentially, the number of visitors or users, etc.) and quantitative information about the level of accessibility.