Accessibility Laws in Finland

What are the main digital accessibility laws in Finland?

Finland regulates digital accessibility through two connected pieces of legislation.

The Act on the Provision of Digital Services (306/2019) sets accessibility requirements for public sector websites and mobile applications. It has applied since 2019.

The second layer comes from Finland's transposition of the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882). This extended obligations to private-sector products and consumer services. E-commerce, banking, e-books and self-service terminals are all covered. The obligations started on 28 June 2025.

One shared technical baseline

Both laws point to the same standard: EN 301 549. That standard in turn references WCAG 2.1 at levels A and AA.

So a Finnish public authority and a private e-commerce site end up tested against largely the same 49 success criteria. They are bound by different acts and different timelines, but the technical target is the same.

The obligations, the covered organizations and the enforcement details still differ between the two laws. The sections below unpack each one separately.

What is the Act on the Provision of Digital Services?

The Act on the Provision of Digital Services (306/2019) is Finland's implementation of the EU's original web accessibility directive. It is the law that first made accessibility a legal requirement for Finnish public sector websites and apps.

It entered into force on 1 April 2019. A further chapter (3a) was added on 1 February 2023 to align it with the newer accessibility framework coming out of the EAA.

Three obligations for every service in scope

The service and its content have to meet the EN 301 549 technical requirements.

The organization has to evaluate and document the state of accessibility.

It has to publish an accessibility statement describing any known shortcomings, rather than claiming full compliance by default.

That last point matters in practice. The law doesn't expect a perfect score. It expects honesty about what still doesn't work. That is what the accessibility statement is actually for.

How does the European Accessibility Act apply in Finland?

The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive, not a Finnish law by itself. Finland had to write its own legislation to bring it into force domestically.

That happened through a set of government decrees issued in February 2023. The decrees amended five existing acts, including the Digital Services Act itself, the Electronic Communications Services Act and the Transport Services Act. Finland did not create one single new "accessibility act" from scratch.

What actually changed: scope

The 2019 Digital Services Act was built mainly around the public sector. The EAA-driven amendments pull in private consumer-facing services that were previously untouched.

• Online banking and financial services
• E-commerce
• E-books
• Telecom services
• Certain self-service terminals

These requirements became legally applicable on 28 June 2025. The transition period gave businesses roughly two years to prepare once the decrees were formally in force.

One distinction worth keeping straight: the 2019 law and the EAA amendments overlap in places — both eventually point to WCAG 2.1 AA — but they don't cover identical organizations.

Who must comply with accessibility requirements in Finland?

Six categories of organization are affected, under one law or the other.

Public authorities and public law institutions

Directly bound. There's no funding threshold or exemption to check — the obligation applies by default.

Organizations at least 50% publicly funded

Private and third-sector bodies are bound the same way as public ones for the specific digital service that funding supports, even though the organization itself is private.

Identification, payment and financial services

Banks, insurers and investment firms. These are exactly the consumer-facing services the directive was designed to reach.

Water, energy, transport and postal companies

Covered because these sectors deliver services the public depends on, regardless of who technically owns the company.

Private businesses with no public funding

Not covered by the Digital Services Act itself. Still bound by the EAA amendments if they sell qualifying products or services — e-commerce, e-books, self-service terminals — directly to consumers.

Micro-enterprises

Ten or fewer employees, and under roughly €2 million in turnover or balance sheet total. Exempt from some EAA-based service obligations. The exemption does not extend to public procurement — a micro-business bidding on a public contract meets the same requirements as any other bidder.

The pattern across all six categories is the same one that runs through most EU accessibility law. Coverage follows public money and consumer-facing function. It doesn't follow company size or sector label alone.

Which authority monitors accessibility compliance in Finland?

As of the start of 2025, Traficom — the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency — is the single supervisory authority for digital accessibility in Finland.

That's a change from the earlier setup. The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland used to supervise the Digital Services Act's websites and apps, while Traficom separately handled telecom and transport-related accessibility. The two roles were consolidated into Traficom, giving organizations and users one point of contact instead of two.

What Traficom's monitoring covers

• Annual comprehensive and simplified reviews of a sample of digital services, sized to Finland's population
• Processing complaints from users who encounter accessibility barriers
• Reporting monitoring results back to the European Commission, as part of Finland's obligations under the underlying EU directives

What happens if organizations do not meet accessibility requirements?

The process doesn't start with a fine. Organizations must clearly state their shortcomings in the accessibility statement. They have to explain which content is non-compliant and why. Claiming compliance that hasn't been achieved is not an option.

Complaint and enforcement process

The user first gives feedback to the organization. If there's no response within two weeks, they can turn to Traficom. Traficom can issue a correction order. If the order isn't followed, a conditional fine can be imposed.

Products: withdrawal from the market

For products rather than digital services, the EAA framework also allows market surveillance authorities to require a non-conforming product to be withdrawn from the market in serious cases. That's a heavier remedy than the fine mechanism, and it's reserved for products — not websites or apps.

How do Finland's accessibility laws protect persons with disabilities?

The legal foundation underneath both Finnish laws is the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It treats accessibility as a precondition for independent participation in society, not as a separate, optional accommodation.

Finland's digital accessibility legislation is the technical machinery that turns that principle into something enforceable against a specific website, app or service.

What doesn't the law guarantee?

The law doesn't guarantee a flawless experience for every user. Meeting the technical requirements doesn't mean the service is genuinely easy to use. Some content is also out of scope. The disproportionate burden exception can also allow some shortcomings.

What does the law provide?

The law sets a checkable technical baseline. It gives users a channel to report issues. Statement updates, monitoring and the complaint process keep the pressure alive. Accessibility stops being a one-time project as a result.