Italian accessibility law - Complete english text

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Roberto Castaldo
-----------------------------------
Coordinatore www.Webaccessibile.Org
IWA/HWG Member
rcastaldo@webaccessibile.org
r.castaldo@iol.it
Cell 348 3700161
Icq 178709294
----------------------------------- 



Law n. 4, January 9, 2004
The published text was translated in English by the Information Systems
Accessibility Office at CNIPA (National Organism for ICT in the Public
Administration) with the sole aim of facilitating a better comprehension of
it.
The translation does not have official status, therefore the only official
text is the one published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic,
in Italian, n. 13, January 17th 2004.

Published on the Official Gazette n. 13 on January 17, 2004

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic approved;

THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
Promulgates

the following law:

Provisions to support the access to information technologies for the
disabled

Art. 1
(Aim and objectives)

1. The Republic acknowledges and protects everyone's right to access to all
the sources of information and to their pertinent services, including those
which make use of information technology and data transmission instruments.

2. The right for the disabled, to access Public Administration services
which make use of computer and data transmission and to services in the
public interest, is in particular guaranteed by and in compliance with the
principles of equality enshrined in Article 3 of the Constitution.

Art. 2
(Definitions)

1. For the purpose of the present law the following definitions apply:

a) <accessibility>: the capability of computer systems, in accordance with
the attained technological knowledge and its limits, to supply services and
to provide information which can be availed of, without discrimination, also
by those who need supporting technologies or special configurations because
of some disability;
b) <supporting technologies>: the tools and the technical hardware and
software solutions that enable disabled users to overcome or reduce the
initial disadvantages in accessing the information and the services supplied
by computer systems.

Art. 3
(Suppliers)

1. The present law is applicable to public administrations, as referred to
in paragraph 2 of article 1 of the legislative decree n. 165, dated March
30, 2001, and in its subsequent modifications, to economic public agencies,
to private firms which are licensees of public services, to regional
municipal companies, to public assistance and rehabilitation agencies, to
transport and telecommunication companies in which the State has a prevalent
shareholding and to ICT services contractors.

2. The provisions of the present law, with regard to accessibility
obligations, do not apply to computer systems that are used by user groups
which disabled persons may not be part of by provision of the law.

Art. 4
(Accessibility obligations)

1. The subjects mentioned in article 3, when carrying out procedures to buy
goods and to deliver services, are obliged, in the event that they are
adjudicating bidders which all have submitted similar offers, to give
preference to the bidder which offers the best compliance with the
accessibility requirements provided for by the decree mentioned in article
11.
Not taking in consideration the accessibility requirements or the purchase
of goods or supplied services that are not accessible has to be adequately
justified.

2. The subjects mentioned in article 3, subsection 1, cannot draw up
contracts for the implementation and modification of INTERNET websites, if
they fail to respect the accessibility requirements provided for in the
Decree article 11; any stipulated contract failing to respect such
requirements will be considered null and void. All existing contracts signed
before the Decree article 11 comes into effect must adhere to the provisions
relating to accessibility requirements of the same law, in the event of the
contract's extension, modification or renewal; any extended, modified or
renewed contract which fails to respect such requirements will be declared
null and void, while upgrading to meet such requirements should be carried
out no later than twelve months from the date the Decree comes into force.

3. The provision of public funds to private subjects for the purchase of
computer goods and services to be used by disabled workers or by other
users, also in the event of the installation of telework equipment, is only
legitimate if goods and services conform to the accessibility requirements
provided for by the Decree article 11.

4. Public and private employers must provide disabled employees with
hardware equipment, software tools and assistive technologies which are
suitable for their needs and enable them to carry out their duties; this
also applies in the event of teleworking.
The private employers are subject to the provision as referred to in article
13, subsection 1, letter c) of the law n. 68 dated March 12, 1999.

5. Public employers must adhere to subsection 4, in the case that such funds
are available in the budget.

Art. 5
(Accessibility of educational and instructive instruments)

1.The provisions of the present law also apply to the educational and
didactic materials used in all schools and at every level.

2. The agreements drawn up between the Ministry of Education, Universities
and Research Institutes and by the publishers' associations concerning the
supply of books to school libraries always provide for the supply of digital
copies of the essential didactic material which should be accessible to
disabled students and to assistant teachers, in the case that funds are
available in the budget.

Art. 6
(Accessibility evaluation upon request)

1. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department for Innovation and
Technologies, evaluates upon request the accessibility of INTERNET websites
or of computer material produced by subjects not included among those
specified in article 3.

2. The regulations mentioned in article 10 define:

a) the ways in which such evaluation can be applied for;
b) the criteria to determine a possible contribution from the applicant to
the evaluation costs;
c) the quality seal or logo with which awards accessibility requirement
compliance;
d) the ways to ensure and check that the requirements are complied with on
an ongoing basis.

Art. 7
(Administrative duties)

1. The Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department for Innovation and
Technology, also with the support of CNIPA (National Organism for ICT in the
Public Administration), constituted by article 4, subsection 1 of the
legislative decree n. 39 dated February 12, 1993 and subsequently replaced
by article 176 of the legislative decree n. 196 dated June 30, 2003:

a) monitors the application of the present law;
b) monitors all public administrations' compliance with the provisions of
the present law;
c) lists the public or private subjects which, have not only complied with
the technical requirements referred to in article 11, but have also
distinguished themselves for the dedication applied in pursuing the goals of
the present law;
d) promotes, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour, projects,
initiatives and programmes which aim to enhance and to spread assistive and
accessibility technologies;
e) promotes, in conjunction with the other interested administrations, after
having consulted the permanent Council which governs the relationship
between the State, the regions and the autonomous provinces of Trento and
Bolzano, the allocation of funds aimed at spreading the use of assistive
technologies and specially configured ICT tools among the disabled and
supporting research projects in the area of technological innovation which
promote the full independence and equal opportunities for the disabled.
f) fosters, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry for
Equal Opportunities, the exchange of experiences and proposals among
disabled associations, web designer associations who operate in the field of
accessibility, public administrations, economic operators and hardware and
software suppliers, also with the aim of promoting new initiatives;
g) promotes, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Universities and
Research Institutes and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, initiatives
aimed at supporting accessibility to multimedia products also through
specific research and experiment projects with the involvement of disabled
associations; on the basis of the results of these experiment projects the
Ministers concerned will issue a decree defining the technical rules for the
accessibility to multimedia products.
h) describes, in conjunction with the Department of Public Service of the
Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the accessibility objectives for the
development of IT systems in the public administration, and introduces the
issues relating to accessibility in personnel training programmes.

2. The regions, the autonomous provinces and municipalities are responsible
for overseeing the application of the provisions of the present law.

Art. 8
(Training)

1. The administrations listed in article 3, subsection 1, with reference to
activities mentioned in subsection 4 of article 7 of the legislative decree
n. 165 dated March 30 2001, and the training courses organized by the Public
Administration Superior School and with the reference to activities
regarding the teaching of ICT skills to public servants, as defined in
article 27, subsection 8, letter g) of the law n. 3 dated January 16 2003,
shall include the issues relating to accessibility and assistive
technologies to the main subjects of its academic programme.

2. The professional training mentioned in subsection 1 shall be carried out
using accessible technologies.

3. The administrations listed in article 3, subsection 1, shall organize
accessibility refresher courses based on the funds available in their
budgets.

Art. 9
(Responsibility)

1. Failure to comply with the provisions of the present law implies both
executive responsibility and disciplinary action pursuant to the articles 21
and 55 of the legislative decree n. 165 dated March 30 2001, as well as
possible criminal prosecution and civil liability provided for by the
current laws.

Art. 10
(Enforcement regulations)

1. The following topics will be defined within ninety days from the date
that the present law comes into force, in accordance with the regulations
issued in article 17, subsection 1 of the law n. 400 dated August 23, 1988:

a) the criteria and rules concerning the operational and organizational
issues related to accessibility;
b) the contents defined in article 6, subsection 2;
c) the controls that may be carried out on private operators who claim that
their sites and IT applications are accessible to disabled people;
d) the controls that may be carried out on the subjects mentioned in article
3, subsection 1.

2. The rules mentioned in subsection 1 shall be adopted subsequently to
consultations with disabled associations which represent a cross-section of
disabled people, associations of developers expert in the field of
accessibility and hardware and software suppliers, and after having taken
account of the recommendations of the competent parliamentary Committees
which have to declare their opinion within forty-five days of the request,
and in agreement with the Unified Council as referred to in article 8 of the
legislative decree n. 281, dated August 28, 1997.

Art. 11
(Technical Requirements)

1. Within one hundred twenty days from the date that the present law comes
into force the Minister for Innovation and Technologies, subsequently to
consultations with disabled associations which represent a cross-section of
disabled people, and in accordance with the criteria and rules listed in the
regulations of article 10, shall provide by decree:

a) the guidelines that shall describe the technical requirements and the
different levels of accessibility;
b) the technical methodologies to verify the accessibility of INTERNET
websites as well as the assisted evaluation programs which can be useful to
reaching that goal.

Art. 12
(International regulations)

1. The regulations mentioned in article 10 and the decree mentioned in
article 11 have been issued in compliance with the guidelines suggested in
the communications, recommendations and directives on accessibility of the
European Union as well as those suggested by internationally acknowledged
regulations, taking into account the recommendations put forward by public
and private organizations working in this sector.

2. The decree mentioned in article 11 shall be periodically updated with the
same procedure in order to comply with the modifications of the regulations
mentioned in subsection 1 and the technological innovations that have
occurred in the meantime.


The present law, which carries the seal of the Italian State, will be
included in the Official collection of statutory acts of the Italian
Republic. The present law is applicable to all subjects mentioned in article
3 and it is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that it is observed as
a law of the State.


Rome, January 9, 2004.


CIAMPI
Berlusconi, the President of the Council of Ministers
Stanca, the Minister for Innovation and Technologies


Endorsed by the Minister of Justice: Castelli

Received on Wednesday, 31 March 2004 09:35:41 UTC