Created on September 17, 2020
Last checked on February 6, 2023
This statement applies to the environment.fi website maintained jointly by the environmental administration and to all its subsites and services whose domain name ymparisto.fi is a part of.
The Finnish Act on the Provision of Digital Services (finlex.fi, in finnish) apply to this website.
Availability status at the moment
The Environment.fi website contains approximately 8,600 documents and tens of thousands of attached files. The content of the website is produced by a group of hundreds of administrators from 18 organisations. The website also directs the user to several background systems and map service products.
A project to redesign the ymparisto.fi website is under way. The new website will be launched after mid-March in 2023. The updated website will take accessibility requirements into account.
The Finnish Environment Institute has assessed the accessibility of the site together with the system supplier from the perspective of the accessibility requirements at WCAG 2.1 A and AA levels. The website meets some of the requirements. We have made the following improvements:
- The Go to Content link has been added. Those using screen readers are able to jump through all the parts that repeat on the pages directly to the beginning of the content section.
- Navigation without a mouse has been improved.
- Form input fields and header texts have been combined.
- Action buttons have had text matches added.
- The links and files that open in the new window are marked with an arrow icon and the text equivalent that tells the reading devices Opens in a new window.
- Instructions have been prepared for content providers to improve accessibility.
Accessibility requirements that are not being met
Some of the functions and contents of the current Environment.fi website will not able to meet the requirements without significant changes and costs. Updating the Environment.fi website and simultaneously improving the accessibility of the current website with limited resources put an unreasonable burden on the Finland's Environmental Administration. Until the launch of the new website, the ‘disproportionate burden’ exception under Article 5 of the Web Accessibility Directive shall be applied to the following matters:
- The contrasts and sizes of the orange and green background colour and texts of the user interface are too small. The contrast between the green text and the background colours is too small. The focus is not sufficiently distinguishable.
- The contents of text matches in pictures, icons and graphs, contrasts between colours and elements, and text sizes do not meet the accessibility requirements in all respects.
- There are some flaws in the tagging of headers, such as empty header tags.
- Apart from individual files, the PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files released after 23 September 2018 are not accessible.
- File types are not always mentioned as part of the link.
- Graphs are missing header texts, captions and summaries.
- Data saved on maps is not accessible.
- Links leading to other websites do not include a warning about leaving the Environment.fi website.
- Link texts are not sufficiently descriptive in all respects.
The following functions are not accessible, as accessibility legislation does not apply to them:
- PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files released before 23 September 2018
- audio and video attachments released before 23 September 2020.
- live audio and video broadcasts
- online maps and map services
- third party content that is not funded, developed or controlled by the environmental management.
In future, we will pay more attention to the above-mentioned deficiencies. When updating pages or adding new content to the website, we will aim to make it accessible.
Websites with the domain name ymparisto.fi
In addition to the ymparisto.fi (environment.fi) website, there are websites whose domain name ymparisto.fi is a part of. They are not compliant with the accessibility requirements or are partly compliant with them. Examples of such sites include water situation and forecast maps.
Contact information and how to give feedback on the accessibility of the Environment.fi website
If you would like information or services available on the website in a non-accessible form in an alternative form, please email us at saavutettavuus@syke.fi.
Finnish Environment Institute (Syke)
Latokartanonkaari 11
00790 Helsinki FINLAND
Tel. + 358 295 252 001
In the Finnish Environment Institute, accessibility issues and feedback are mainly handled by administrative and communications services. You have the right to give us feedback on the accessibility of our site. We are very grateful for all comments, questions and suggestions for improvement, because we want to make our services as accessible as possible. On matters related to accessibility, you can contact us by email at saavutettavuus@syke.fi.
You have also the right to submit a request for clarification of the accessibility of our website or a complaint to the supervisory authority if you receive an unsatisfactory response from us to your contact. For more information and instructions, visit the website maintained by the supervisory authority at saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi (in finnish).