Property
The DOS Act for property companies – does it apply to you?
Municipal housing companies usually count as bodies governed by public law and are then covered by the DOS Act, the Swedish Act on accessibility to digital public services (SFS 2018:1937). The website, the tenant portal and the app must be accessible and have an accessibility statement. Digg supervises. Private property companies are usually not covered.
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The law
Is your housing company covered by the DOS Act?
The DOS Act applies to public actors, and these include bodies governed by public law: companies owned or controlled by the public sector that meet needs in the general interest. Courts have found that municipal public housing companies are such bodies under the Public Procurement Act, and the DOS Act uses the same term.
- 1
Who is covered
Usually municipal housing companies and other property companies owned or controlled by a municipality, a region or the state. The company makes the assessment itself. Private property companies are normally not covered.
- 2
What is required
That websites, apps and documents can be perceived, operated and understood, also with assistive technology, and that you publish an accessibility statement. The requirements are measured against EN 301 549, the standard built on WCAG 2.1 level AA.
- 3
What happens otherwise
Anyone can report issues to Digg. Digg first tries to get you to fix them, and can then order you to fix the issues, with a fine if needed.
How Selma helps
How Selma helps housing and property companies
See where you stand today
Start with the pages tenants and home seekers use most: available flats, the housing queue, fault reports and contact. Selma Scanning tests one page at a time against WCAG 2.1 AA and shows what to fix first.
Read about Selma Scanning
Write an accessibility statement that is accurate
The statement has to say which parts fall short. Selma Services carries out a manual review and helps you describe the issues and how you will fix them.
Read about Selma Services
Keep your domain accessible over time
New flats, news and documents bring new issues. Selma Bevakning reviews your whole domain every week against WCAG 2.2 AA, and whoever runs your website gets a code fix for every issue.
Read about Selma Bevakning
Common questions about the DOS Act for property companies
- Are municipal housing companies covered by the DOS Act?
- Yes, usually. Courts have found municipal public housing companies to be bodies governed by public law under the Public Procurement Act, and the DOS Act uses the same term. The act then applies to the company's website, apps and documents. The company makes the assessment itself.
- Does the DOS Act apply to private property companies?
- Usually not. The DOS Act applies to public actors, and a property company that is not owned or controlled by the public sector is normally not one. The Discrimination Act's ban on inadequate accessibility does not apply to housing either. A website that works for everyone still lets more tenants find information and report faults themselves.
- Does the DOS Act also cover the tenant portal and the app?
- Yes. The act applies to the digital service the company provides, including tenant portals, apps and documents such as forms. There are exemptions, among others for third-party services the company has neither funded, developed nor controls.
- Do we need an accessibility statement?
- Yes. The DOS Act requires an accessibility statement for your digital service. Among other things, it has to say whether the website fully, partly or does not meet the requirements, which parts are not accessible and how visitors can report issues.
- What happens if our housing company does not comply with the DOS Act?
- Digg supervises, and anyone can report issues to Digg. Digg first tries to get you to fix them. If that fails, Digg can order you to fix them, and a new order can come with a fine. Digg has already ordered a municipal housing company to fix issues under a fine.
- Can an accessibility widget help us?
- Yes, it can make things much easier for visitors. Selma Widget lets them adjust text, contrast and motion to their needs, and automatically fixes some issues right in the visitor's browser: it improves focus and keyboard navigation, adds information that screen readers need and gives images without alternative text a description. It does not necessarily take you all the way. Issues in the source code and in documents such as PDFs have to be fixed where they are, and the widget does not replace the accessibility statement.
See how your domain holds up
Test your domain for free and get a report straight to your inbox. Or book a meeting and we will go through what the DOS Act means for your company.