Independent schools and preschools
The DOS Act for independent schools and preschools – what applies to you?
Independent schools and preschools are private providers within the Swedish school system and are covered by the DOS Act, the Swedish Act on accessibility to digital public services (SFS 2018:1937). The act exempts much of the digital service in the teaching itself, but essential administrative functions such as applications, admissions and absence reporting must be accessible, and you must have an accessibility statement. Digg supervises and is focusing on schools in 2026.
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The law
What does the DOS Act cover in an independent school?
The DOS Act counts private providers within the school system as public actors when the business is publicly funded in any part. At the same time, it exempts digital service within school activities, except where it concerns essential administrative functions.
- 1
Who is covered
Private providers of preschools, compulsory schools, upper secondary schools and other school forms within the school system, and providers of international schools. It applies whether you run one school or many.
- 2
What must be accessible
Essential administrative functions, such as applications and admissions, queues and absence reporting, and 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 independent schools and preschools
See where you stand today
Start with the administrative functions: applications, queues, admissions, absence and sick reporting, 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 terms, news and documents bring new pages and 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 independent schools and preschools
- Are independent schools and preschools covered by the DOS Act?
- Yes. The DOS Act counts private actors that professionally run a business as a private provider within the school system as public actors, when the business is publicly funded in any part. Preschool is part of the school system, so this includes independent preschools.
- Does the whole school website have to be accessible?
- Not all of it. The DOS Act exempts digital service within school activities, except where it concerns essential administrative functions, such as applications and admissions, absence and disciplinary measures. Those parts must be accessible and described in the accessibility statement.
- Does the act also cover learning platforms and apps from suppliers?
- It can. The third-party exemption only applies to services the school has neither funded, developed nor controls. If the school has bought a platform for, say, absence reporting, that function is covered by the requirements.
- 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.
- Does Digg review independent schools?
- Yes. Every year Digg reviews a selection of public websites, and in 2026 the focus is on schools and regions. Anyone can also report issues to Digg. Digg first tries to get them fixed and can then issue an order with 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 school.