[Note: This country is in the European Union (EU). Visit the European Union section of this Global Digital Accessibility Laws Page for more information about the European Accessibility Act and other digital accessibility Directives impacting EU countries.]
Article 47 in Law n°2005-102 for equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of disabled people – Last modification: March 11, 2023
- Loi n° 2005-102 du 11 février 2005 pour l’égalité des droits et des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personnes handicapées, article 47, modified by Law n°2023-771 of March 9, 2023- art. 16, Version in effect as of March 11, 2023. [English title – Article 47 in Law n°2005-102 for equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of disabled people.] This last modification is due to the Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services.
- The last decree, n°2019-768 of July 24, 2019 added a lot of details to the law itself and made the 2018 version of the law effective. As of April 1, 2023 the decree is awaited for the 2023 version but the Law n°2023-171 of March 9, 2023 – art. 16 added a lot of details on what the decree should contain.
- The order of September 20, 2019 “portant référentiel général d’amélioration de l’accessibilité” define the accessibility reference document to implement accessibility requirements: the RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité). It complies with WCAG 2.1.
Article 47 is divided into 4 major points:
- The online public communication services of a large number of organizations (in particular public organizations, organizations delegated with a public service mission, private organizations with revenues exceeding 250 million euros) must be accessible to disabled people.From 2025 or 2030, more organizations will be concerned (a priori, private companies with revenues exceeding 2 million euros and employing more than 10 people – a decree will specify this).
- The accessibility obligation applies to all type of digital media.
- Obligation to publish an accessibility statement, to draw up a multi-year plan (3 years maximum) for making services accessible and an action plan for the current year.
- Obligation to display the level of compliance with accessibility rules on the home page, to provide easy access to the documents mentioned in the previous point, and to make it possible to report accessibility problems. Failure to comply with this obligation and failure to bring a service into compliance is punishable up to €20,000 per site and per year (amount fixed in the decree 2019-768).
The law contains exceptions (such as the disproportionate cost for certain contents and functionalities) that the decree n°2019-768 defines.
Article L5213-6 in the Labor Code, sub-section 1: Rights and guarantees for disabled workers – Last modification: August 8, 2019
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Code du travail, Sous-section 1 : Droits et garanties des travailleurs handicapés, Article L5213-6, modified by Law n°2016-1088 of August 8, 2016 – art. 56 (V), Version in effect as of August 8, 2019 [English title – Rights and guarantees for disabled workers]
- LOI n° 2023-171 du 9 mars 2023 portant diverses dispositions d’adaptation au droit de l’Union européenne dans les domaines de l’économie, de la santé, du travail, des transports et de l’agriculture
- This law is the transposition in French Law of the Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services. It has modified a lot of other laws in the fields of economy, health, labor, transport and agriculture.
- Jean-Pierre Villain (Access42) has written two articles in French about these new developments:
- «Transposition de la Directive européenne (UE) 2019/882 relative aux exigences en matière d’accessibilité applicables aux produits et services” (March 14, 2023) [Transposition of European Directive (EU) 2019/882 on accessibility requirements for products and services]
- «Impact sur l’accessibilité numérique de la Directive européenne (UE) 2019/882 relative à l’accessibilité des biens et services» (March 22, 2023) [Impact on digital accessibility of the European Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility of goods and services]
The employer shall ensure that software installed on the workstation of disabled people and necessary for their professional practice is accessible. The employer shall also ensure that the workstation of disabled people is accessible for remote working.
But there is an exception if there is a disproportionate cost in spite of the planned aid for employers…
Law n°86-1067 relating to the freedom of communication (Léotard Law) – Last modification: December 24, 2020 (upcoming changes in 2021) (about television)
Loi n° 86-1067 du 30 septembre 1986 relative à la liberté de communication (Loi Léotard)
The audiovisual council (Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel, CSA) shall ensure the accessibility of television and on-demand audiovisual media services programs to disabled people and make an annual report.
A convention must define the proportion of programs to be made accessible to deaf or hard of hearing people and blind or visually impaired people. If the average annual audience exceeds 2.5% of the total audience for television services, the obligation applies.
Public channels, with some exceptions, adapt all television programmes for deaf or hard of hearing people.
Services for the deaf or hard of hearing people and blind or visually impaired people associated with the programmes of television services are provided free of charge.