Procurement

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility Requirements

This page is to share some of the work that Shared Services Canada (SSC) has done for the piloting of the EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021-03) Harmonised European Standard Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services. This is not a full copy / paste / translation of either the EN 301 549 (2021) or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Requirements Generator (Prototype) for the EN 301 549 (2021)

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Accessibility Requirements Generator (also known as the wizard) can be used to generate EN 301 549 requirements relevant to your project.

This tool does not provide a total copy / paste / translation of either the EN 301 549 (2021) or WCAG 2.1, just the relevant portions required to define the ICT accessibility requirements.

ICT Accessibility Requirements Generator (prototype) for EN 301 549 (2018) - obsolete

Mapping between Revised Section 508 and EN 301 549 (2014, 2018, 2019 and 2021)

As the EN 301 549 standards continue to evolve and release updates, this document shows the progression of the EN 301 549 standard from 2014 through the proceeding updates of 2018, 2019 and 2021. This information is important as the Government of Canada (GC) is moving towards adopting the EN 301 549 (2021) as its accessibility standard for ICT. The GC, as part of the solicitation process, may ask suppliers to provide accessibility conformance reports based on the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT®). Each VPAT® is based on a specific technical standard – Revised Section 508, EN 301 549, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Suppliers, technical authorities and contracting authorities need to understand the differences between these standards to ensure that the accessibility requirements are properly addressed.

Technical Summary of the EN 301 549 v3.2.1 (2021)

This technical summary provides the reader a simplified summary of the technical requirements from the EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021-03) Harmonised European Standard Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services. Each clause or group of related clauses have been re-worded in plain language and examples have been added to help readers understand the requirements at a high-level. This document is especially useful for those who would like an understanding of the EN 301 549’s requirements without having to read through the full standard.