Accessibility statement, um.fi and finlandabroad.fi

The accessibility Statement applies to the um.fi and finlandabroad.fi websites.  

Fulfilment of requirements

The um.fi and finlandabroad.fi websites partially complies with the provisions laid down in  the Act on the Provision of Digital Services 306/2019(Link to another website.)

Non-accessible content

Users may experience some accessibility issues on the site. The following is a list of problems that we are aware of.  

Top menu structure, um.fi 

The Government and ministries text is programmatically defined as a link even if it should be a button (it opens and closes subsections). WCAG 2.4.3

Top menu order of focus 

The top menu’s order of focus on the keyboard is inconsistent and does not follow the visual order and content logic.  WCAG 2.4.3

Language selections 

Language selections do not currently have their own language attribute, i.e. they are read by the screen reader with the pronunciation of the language currently in use. The selected language is not active visually or programmatically. In addition, the language selection element has not been named, which means that in practice these are three links in an unnamed list. Language abbreviation links on content pages do not have an accessible name or language attribute. WCAG 2.4.4, 2.4.6, 3.1.2

Making text larger 

Enlarging the text disrupts several views in the service so that they become difficult to understand or challenging to use.  WCAG 1.4.4

Use of headings and hierarchy 

The order of the page heading levels may be incorrect for some of the online service’s pages. WCAG 1.3.1

Alternative texts for images 

The pages have images that contain text or stock images for which no text alternatives have been specified. In some images, the alternative text is exactly the same as the caption assigned to it. The site includes images that contain text, such as infographics with no alternative texts. WCAG 1.1.1

Corona News page, um.fi 

The Coronavirus News page looks visually fragmented. The order of the page header levels is incorrect.  The Skip to content link takes you directly to h4 articles and not to the main page heading. The screen reader reads the data box last on the entire page, although it is under the h1 heading. WCAG 1.3.1

Site pages element 

Some pages use the Site Pages element, which fills the view with redundant data. 

Purpose and naming of links

Some pages on the site may use the same link text for links that direct the user to different destinations. The names of some links are too general in nature and do not work out of context. WCAG 2.4.4

The site may also contain image links that lack a text alternative indicating the purpose of the link. WCAG 1.1.1

Table accessibility

The structures of tables found on some pages contain formatting and shortcomings that hinder the use of the screen reader software. These include table structures used for content layout and missing table headings. WCAG 1.3.1, 1.3.2

The table format also does not work in the best possible way on a narrow screen. 

Embedded map on the Crisis management page 

The Crisis management page contains an embedded map that is extremely difficult to read with a screen reader and requires multiple keystrokes with a screen reader and keyboard to override when no skip link is available. WCAG 4.1.2

Accessibility of the search function 

The search function has numerous accessibility issues WCAG 1.3.1, 2.4.6, 3.2.1: 

  • When a keyboard or screen reader user uses the search element in the main menu to perform a search and presses the "Go to content" skip link on the downloading search page, the focus moves to the search field and the search results disappear at the same time.
  • For a screen reader user, listening to search results may be unclear because the link names are cut off in the middle although there is no clear need for this. 

Embedded videos, links and subtitles

There are embedded videos on the site in which the following accessibility issues were observed 1.2.2, 2.4.1, 3.2.4, 4.1.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.5:

  • The video embedding frame has not been named. The screen reader user cannot currently know what an embedded element contains.
  • The site contains uncaptioned videos. 

Languages 

The different language versions present some accessibility challenges WCAG 1.1.1, 3.1.2:

  • Facebook, Twitter and blog content does not have a language definition, so they are read by the screen reader in Swedish or English even when they are in Finnish.
  • The ThisIsFinland highlighted content is always in English regardless of the language version in use, and the Kauppapolitiikka highlighted content is always in Finland in the Swedish language version, but these do not have separate language attributes.
  • Alternative texts for images are often not translated in accordance with the language version in use
  • The links on the Arctic Cooperation section’s pages may be such that a Finnish language link leads to a Swedish article (in the Finnish language version) without the article having Swedish set as the programmatic language.

Attachments 

There are a large number of links on the site with no description of their destination or purpose. The link should indicate that the destination is a file (and its type) and whether the link opens the file or directly downloads it to your device. PDF file links should be implemented cohesively throughout the site. The site contains attachments (PDF, Word), which have also not been created to be accessible. In particular, some PDF (e.g. Circular Notes) are scanned and do not contain any text in a non-visual format. WCAG 1.4.5, 3.2.4

HTML code quality

There are some problems with the quality of the HTML code and the following criteria should be met more effectively WCAG 4.1.1:

  • The start and end tags for elements are marked correctly
  • Elements are nested correctly
  • ID tags are unique

Social media channels

The websites contains links to social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube) managed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. These sites contain posts with images that are missing text alternatives. WCAG 1.1.1

Content on our websites that is not covered by accessibility legislation:

  • video recordings published before 23 September 2020 
  • files published before 23 September 2018
  • archived content such as press releases, blog posts, as well as statistics and research data
  • live video broadcasts.

About this accessibility statement

This accessibility statement was prepared on 23 September 2020. The accessibility statement was updated on 1.2.2023.

It was compiled based on an expert analysis carried out in spring 2020. The identified shortcomings and issues have been fixed or will be fixed without delay as described above.

We are constantly working to improve the accessibility of our services

We are committed to improving the accessibility of online services and we will update this statement as we resolve the accessibility gaps.

Feedback and contact information

Have you noticed any accessibility concerns? Let us know and we will try to fix the problem as soon as possible!

Get in touch by email. Please indicate in your feedback which site your feedback concerns.

  • By email: kirjaamo.um@gov.fi

Implementation procedure

If you notice any accessibility issues on the websites, first send feedback to the site administrator. Please note that it may take up to 14 days to reply. If you are not satisfied with the reply, or if you do not receive any response within two weeks, please give feedback to the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland. See the Agency’s website saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi (available in Finnish and Swedish) for a description of how the complaint can be filed and how the matter will be handled.

Contact details of the supervisory authority

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland, Saavutettavuuden valvonnan yksikkö (supervisory unit for accessibility)