Ranking of the municipalities of Andalusia in web accessibility and cookies

Both standards are relatively current and mark an unprecedented milestone in web browsing. On the one hand, they require that the pages be adapted to all types of users and, on the other, they protect personal data. The paradigm of the ‘virtual relationship’ between public institutions and citizens has experienced a 180-degree turn, at least in the legal field.

Do city councils comply with the obligations imposed by law? The truth is that there are important breaches that affect the user experience. To know them, we carried out an analysis of the websites of the eight main town councils in Andalusia.

Web accessibility ranking of Andalusian town councils:

RD 1112/2018 establishes that public institutions must have at least an AA level. How to achieve this level of conformity? It is necessary to remove the most exclusive accessibility barriers, include subtitles in live broadcasts… There are a total of 13 criteria that you can consult in the WCAG standards. In addition, they must include on the page a section called “accessibility” that contains the accessibility declaration.

We evaluate the level of web accessibility of the city councils of the eight Andalusian capitals.

Huelva City Council: it is the best positioned Town Hall in the community. It meets the AA level of adequacy, has an average score of 9.79 and a partially compliant compliance status. However, the web accessibility statement is not visible at a glance. It is on the right track, although it needs to make some improvements.

Cádiz City Council: obtains a AA level with a score of 9.31 and is partially compliant. On its website you can view the accessibility declaration with the legally established information. A good example for the rest of public institutions.

Córdoba City Council: it has the required level AA and an average score of 8.32. On the contrary, the situation is one of non-conformity. The accessibility statement is visible, but it is very outdated as it should be updated annually. The last one dates back to 2013. The general vision is positive, but there are still important aspects to improve.

Seville City Council: the level of adequacy is A and therefore does not reach the minimum required AA. Although its score is 8.41 and the situation is partially compliant, it is pending updating this year’s accessibility review. Likewise, you must make a greater effort to achieve an AA level and adapt to the law.

Almería City Council: it has an A level, below the required AA level, and an average score of 7.31. Furthermore, it does not comply with the European format of the accessibility declaration because it excludes basic information such as the revision date or contact information. There is still quite a lot of room for improvement.

Málaga City Council: it is one of the institutions that must completely change the accessibility of its website. With an invalid compliance level and a score of 8.47, the situation is partially compliant. The accessibility statement is erroneous because it does not include essential data and has not been updated since 2018.

Granada City Council: it is at the bottom of the web accessibility rankings. The level of adequacy is invalid and its score is 6.37. In addition to its non-conformity, the accessibility statement does not appear on the website, which is why it does not comply with the regulations.

Jaén City Council: in this case it has not been possible to carry out the analysis due to the instability that the website currently presents. Your score would be null due to the age of the portal, which is also not responsive. The accessibility statement contains errors in formatting and information. Everything to do.

Note: The scores and data have been obtained through the analysis tool of the Web Accessibility Observatory, dependent on the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

Note: Compliance status is based on the number of error-free pages. There may be a high score because the same errors are repeated on most of the website’s pages.

Cookie ranking of the Andalusian municipalities:

The cookie law is quite clear and conditions the use of user data on their own consent. That is, it is completely prohibited to install cookies on your computer without prior notice and authorization, except for those essential for the operation of the page. In addition, the user must be offered the possibility of deactivating unwanted cookies on their computer.

Considerations to take into account include cookie ownership, purpose, and expiration. How to comply with the cookie policy? The truth is that violations occur in practice, especially when it comes to consent. To verify this, we evaluated the websites of the city councils of the capitals of Andalusia.

Huelva City Council: contains important errors and does not comply with the cookie law. Once your website is accessed, Google Analytics is automatically activated without the user’s permission. Furthermore, there is no request on the home page to give authorization or reject it. It still has a very large room for improvement.

Cádiz City Council: the errors are practically the same as the previous case. Google Analytics is installed automatically without the possibility for the user to accept or reject. There is no highlight where the cookie policy appears and therefore the website is not adapted. Basic data such as ownership or expiration of cookies should be included.

Córdoba City Council: data collection cookies are installed by default. There is no option to activate or deactivate, so the website would not comply with the law in that regard. Similarly, essential information on ownership and expiration date is missing.

Seville City Council: as is the case with Huelva and Cádiz, Google Analytics is activated without the user’s permission. Not a request on the home page to give authorization or reject it. It still has a long way to go to comply with the regulations.

Almería City Council: cookie management is adequate. At the bottom of the portal you can see a space with information about cookies, but it does not comply with the notice, authorization, ownership and expiration requirements. The section on politics should be corrected.

Málaga City Council: does not meet the requirement for user authorization and has other notable defects. The cookie ownership and expiration do not appear. It does not comply with the requirements of the European directive.

Granada City Council: Google Analytics is activated without any permission and there is no button where you can give authorization or access information about cookies. It does not comply with the guidelines of the European directive and must correct the errors quickly.

Jaén City Council: repeats the same mistakes as Granada with the automatic installation of Google Analytics. There is also no button to allow or reject cookies and information on ownership and expiration is missing. They must act now to implement these improvements and adapt to the law.

In short, city councils are obliged to update their cookie policy. No website analyzed complies with all the requirements established by the European directive and may receive significant sanctions from the authorities.