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Good practice Imported

Liechtenstein's Disability Equality Act Amendment — Staggered WCAG 2.1 AA Mandate for Public Digital Services

Liechtenstein · Vaduz · See the Liechtenstein profile · See the Vaduz profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 61% 68/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Amendments to Liechtenstein's Disability Equality Act, in force since April 2024, require public-body websites and apps to meet WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549, with staggered deadlines running through October 2026 for mobile apps.

Details

Promoter
Government of Liechtenstein / Office for Social Services (Amt für Soziale Dienste)
Period
2024–2026
Region (NUTS)
LI0
Keywords
public sector, digital accessibility, disability rights, e-government

Context

Amendments to Liechtenstein's Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (Disability Equality Act), transposing EU Directive 2016/2102, entered into force on 1 April 2024, requiring the websites and mobile apps of public bodies — the state, municipalities, and public-law corporations and foundations — to be benchmarked against EN 301 549 V3.2.1 / WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

Objectives

The law extends the EU accessibility standard to Liechtenstein's public digital services in a staggered rollout rather than a single compliance date.

Activities

Deadlines are staggered by publication date: websites published before 1 April 2024 have until 1 April 2026 to comply; websites and apps published from 1 April 2024 onward must comply by 1 April 2025; mobile apps must comply by 1 October 2026 regardless of publication date. Enforcement runs through the Office for Social Services (Amt für Soziale Dienste), which has delegated day-to-day equality-office functions to the Liechtenstein Disabled Persons' Association (LBV).

Results

Independent commentary published during the transition period found urgent need for action: as of 2024–2025, many public bodies were still working toward compliance rather than having achieved it, and no post-transition compliance audit has yet been published.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — No published budget figures; band reflects compliance costs for public bodies retrofitting sites and apps to WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Staggered compliance deadlines run from April 2024 to October 2026.
Staffing & skills
Enforced by the Office for Social Services (Amt für Soziale Dienste), Day-to-day equality-office functions delegated to the Liechtenstein Disabled Persons' Association (LBV)

Conditions for success

  • Compliance deadlines are staggered by publication date rather than a single cut-off, easing the transition for existing sites

Common failure modes

  • Independent commentary found many public bodies still working toward compliance rather than having achieved it during the 2024–2025 transition
  • No post-transition compliance audit has yet been published

Where it fits

Governance type
national government mandate transposing an EU directive
Scale
national

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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