Municipalities and agencies
The DOS Act for municipalities and agencies – what is required of you?
Municipalities, regions and government agencies are covered by the DOS Act, the Swedish Act on accessibility to digital public services (SFS 2018:1937), which has applied since 2019 and implements the EU Web Accessibility Directive. Websites, e-services, apps and documents must be accessible, and you must have an accessibility statement. Digg supervises and reviews public websites every year.
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The law
What does the DOS Act require of you?
The DOS Act applies to government and municipal authorities and to the decision-making assemblies of municipalities and regions. It covers the digital service you provide: websites, e-services, apps and documents.
- 1
Who is covered
Municipalities, regions and government agencies, with their committees and administrations. Municipal companies and private providers of education and care with public funding can be covered too.
- 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
Every year Digg reviews a selection of public websites and investigates reports. If Digg finds issues, it first tries to get you to fix them, and can then order you to fix them, with a fine if needed.
How Selma helps
How Selma helps municipalities and agencies
See where you stand today
Start with the pages residents use most: e-services, contact, job vacancies and information about schools and care. 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
News, decisions and documents are published every day and 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 municipalities and agencies
- Who is covered by the DOS Act?
- Government and municipal authorities and the decision-making assemblies of municipalities and regions. Also bodies governed by public law, such as most municipal companies, and private providers of education and care that are publicly funded in any part. The act has applied since 2019 and implements the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
- What is exempt from the DOS Act?
- Among other things, live broadcasts, maps not intended for navigation, third-party content you have neither funded, developed nor control, and some reproductions from heritage collections. Digital services in the school system are exempt, except where they concern essential administrative functions such as absence and admissions.
- When is an adaptation an unreasonable burden?
- It is decided for each individual measure, weighing the cost against the benefit for people with disabilities. Lack of time, skills or priority is not enough. According to Digg, the exemption can rarely be applied to all information and all requirements, and the assessment needs to be redone when circumstances change.
- What must the accessibility statement contain?
- Among other things, it has to say whether the website fully, partly or does not meet the requirements, which parts are not accessible and why, how visitors can report issues and how they can report you to Digg.
- How does Digg review municipalities and agencies?
- Every year Digg reviews a selection of public websites, both automatically and manually, and investigates reports from the public. In 2026 Digg is reviewing about 400 websites automatically, focusing on schools and regions. If Digg finds issues, it 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 organisation.