In 2022, the Government of Spain launched the ‘Digital Kit’ initiative through the Ministry of Digital Transformation. An initiative that aims to support the digitalization of small and medium-sized businesses and the self-employed.
The Digital Kit is a public financial aid program that aims to implement digital solutions in businesses so that you can make them evolve thanks to technology.
One of the main advantages is that you are the one who chooses at all times. With this you will have access to a large catalog of digital solutions and digitizing agents in which you can choose the one that best suits your needs.
Companies with less than 50 workers and the self-employed will be able to request these digital bonuses of between 2,000 and 12,000 euros to hire technological solutions through digitalizing agents and optimize their businesses with them.
What aspects must be taken into account?
Among the different requirements of the websites developed with that grant is “Accessibility: the design must meet level AA conformity criteria of the WCAG-2.1 guidelines.” This is mentioned twice, in the ‘E-commerce’ category and in the ‘Website and Internet presence’ category.
This really remains in the background since there is a law on accessibility, which is the one that should be used as a reference for this topic: RD 1112/2019. This focuses on specifying the accessibility characteristics required for ICT services for the administration. In other words, although the Digital Kit does not indicate it, in terms of web and digital accessibility, what is indicated in this RD 1112/2018 must be respected in the same way that other laws must be respected such as the LSSI or the RGPD.
What does the UNE EN 301 549 standard tell us?
This standard is the reference regarding the accessibility requirements for ICT products and services in Spanish and European territory. It is the reference of the requirements that products and services must meet in order to contact the administration. It refers to both hardware and software and digital documents.
Therefore, its application is total on the Digital Kit and the services that can be contracted with this subsidy. In addition, Royal Decree 1112/2018 establishes that the accessibility criteria to be evaluated in web portals and applications must be governed by the accessibility standards of UNE EN 301 549:2022.
How to achieve WCAG 2.1 AA level?
This will depend a lot on the content, interaction patterns, code, design and much more. Therefore, it is necessary to take into account many different aspects to achieve a website and content that meets all the criteria to be taken into account.
The strict way is that each and every page meets the WCAG 2.1 Level A and Level AA criteria. A simple failure in one of the criteria for a level means that the site no longer meets that level or higher levels. Simultaneously, if any level A criteria fails, the page will not be able to achieve level AA.
How many criteria are there?
In total there are 78, distributed in this way:
Although it is only necessary to meet the criteria of levels A and AA, you should try to meet the AAA criteria as much as possible to achieve a website with fewer accessibility barriers and greater usability.
Can we help you?
If you are a Digitizing Agent, this interests you. As you know, your digital projects must comply with the accessibility standards and criteria.
Therefore, we have prepared a specific service for you, with which we will help you make your projects accessible and you can justify them correctly.
