For the 2016 accessibility study, we tested one hundred websites of the federal government, federal-related companies, cantons, the ten largest cities, universities, news portals and online stores as well as 15 mobile apps of news portals for their accessibility.

Twelve years after the Disability Discrimination Act came into force, the picture remains disillusioning: Web offerings for people with disabilities are still shockingly inaccessible.

It is true that the tested websites of the federal authorities and the selected federal-related companies have been able to maintain their good accessibility since 2011 in most cases. In contrast, the accessibility of the web offerings of the cantons and the ten largest Swiss cities give little cause for optimism.

The situation is alarming for the fifteen news portals (daily newspapers) and twelve online stores tested. In particular, the Swiss news portals are simply not accessible to many people in Switzerland. News portals in particular, but also other private offerings, are becoming increasingly important in today’s information society, also and especially for people with disabilities. An inclusive society is unthinkable without accessibility of private offers. Inaccessible offerings make equal participation in social life impossible for large parts of the population.

Downloads

The 2016 Swiss accessibility study is available for free download as an accessible PDF (152 pages) in German and French.