About Our Site

Accessibility Statement

21st February 2024

The statement was last reviewed on 4 November 2024.

  1. Statement of commitment
  2. Compliance status
  3. Non-Accessible content
  4. Measures to support Accessibility
  5. How we are going to improve accessibility on dataprotection.ie
  6. Preparation of this Accessibility Statement
  7. Feedback and contact information
  8. Escalation of complaint

 

Statement of commitment

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) is committed to making dataprotection.ie accessible in accordance with European Union (Accessibility of Website and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020.

This accessibility statement applies to content published on dataprotection.ie.

 

Compliance status

Dataprotection.ie is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level AA, due to non-compliance and exemptions listed below.

 

Non-accessible content

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons:

1. Non-compliance with the European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020).

Images: Not all images on dataprotection.ie have photo (or meta-) descriptions. If images do not have the correct descriptions then a user using assistive technologies will not learn the information conveyed in the image ( WCAG guidelines 1.1.1 ).

PDFs: A small number of documents published as PDFs are less accessible than HTML pages for people using assistive technologies. Some of the issues with PDFs include:

  • The fact that they are not bookmarked ( WCAG guideline 2.4.5 )
  • Tables in PDFs are not defined ( WCAG guideline 1.3.1 )

Articles: Some articles do not respect the header hierarchy

This content is not an exhaustive list of non-accessible content.

2. Disproportionate burden

We believe that fixing the accessibility problems with some content in PDFs would be disproportionate because the relevant content is currently being updated.

3. The content is not within the scope of the applicable legislation.

PDF documents that were published before 23 September 2018 are exempt from these guidelines except where it is related to a service that a member of the public has to use.

Videos or audio published before 23 September 2020 are exempt from these guidelines.

 

Measures to support accessibility

The DPC has taken the following measures to improve accessibility on dataprotection.ie:

  • Updating of internal policies such as the DPC branding and style guide to include accessibility.
  • Creation of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section, which contains answers to some of the most common questions the DPC receives.
  • Improvements to the website’s search bar making it easier for visitors to find information.

 

How we are going to improve accessibility on dataprotection.ie

  • We are going to make photo-descriptions mandatory on dataprotection.ie.
  • Replacing PDF documents (where possible) with fully accessible HTML pages.
  • Review and rewrite content in plain English for the most popular sections.
  • Review recent articles published to make sure they follow the header hierarchy.

 

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 19 February 2024.

The statement was prepared by using the WCAG level AA guidelines to test how accessible dataprotection.ie is. We used the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) approach to assess the site. We will continue to do regular accessibility audits and updates of this accessibility statement.

 

Feedback and contact information

The role of our Accessibility Officer is to support our customers who require assistance when engaging with the services provided by the Data Protection Commission (DPC).

If you require assistance to access our services, then you can contact our Accessibility Officer (in accordance with Section 26(2) of the Disability Act 2005).

Accessibility Officer contact details:

Accessibility Officer
Data Protection Commission
21 Fitzwilliam Square
Dublin 2
D02 RD28
Ireland
Email: DPCAccessibilityOfficer@dataprotection.ie

 

Escalation of complaint

If you wish to make a complaint about access to our services and the DPC’s compliance with the terms of the Disability Act 2005, you should send the complaint to:

Head of Strategy, Governance, Finance and Risk
Data Protection Commission
21 Fitzwilliam Square
Dublin 2
D02 RD28
Ireland

If you are not happy with the DPC’s response then you can make a complaint to the Ombudsman under the Disability Act.