This statement applies to the official Ministry and Departments’ websites and was last updated on 21st September 2019.
COMPLIANCE STATUS
The Ministry is committed to making its online services accessible to all. We are dedicated to continuously improving accessibility of our services. We do this by adopting best practices as communicated by stakeholders, such as FITA and users.
COMPLIANCE PROCESS
Our websites are designed to work with the latest web browsers such as Edge, Safari, Firefox and Chrome browsers.
As part of this effort, we adhere to accessibility standard EN310549 and WCAG2.1 guidelines. Our online resources and forms are evaluated both manually and programmatically for conformance to WCAG 2.1 Level AA guidelines. Our websites are designed to work well and be accessible when being accessed with suitably updated hardware and software products.
Further recognizing that adherence to standards and guidelines, cannot on its own ensure that a product is accessible, we also carry out usability evaluations in collaboration with users, so as to gather necessary feedback. We also strive to implement accessibility for information channels that are provided via other platforms wherever possible, such as social media.
ACCESSIBILITY MEASURES
Our websites do not rely on font, magnification and colour modification widgets. This is because such functionalities are already integrated in most web browsers or are available via different add-ons and plugins which different users are free to customise to their needs. As a result, these arbitrary user customisations are available for most websites, not only that of our Ministry. In order to allow for this level of customisation, we seek to maximise compatibility with these user modifications.
As part of and in addition to the above-mentioned guidelines, our websites implement the following accessibility features:
- Maintain a consistent HTML Heading hierarchy and information layout across different web pages.
- Information content is organised into HTML lists wherever applicable.
- Mouse Pointer change icon when a link if hovered through Browser’s functionality.
- Add image title, alt tag and caption wherever this information is relevant and useful.
- Maximise colour contrast for text where applicable.
- Actual link text is descriptive enough to inform users where the link points to.
- Implement all external links so that they open into new browser tabs.
INACCESSIBLE CONTENT
We are not aware of specific inaccessible content or accessibility issues on our websites. If you identify such content, kindly let us know via the contact details provided below. Should such an instance arise our aim is to investigate the issue with a view to identify the accessibility issue and bring the affected area into compliance.
FEEDBACK AND CONTACT DETAILS
Inevitably, we won’t always get it right, the more services and resources we place online, the more likely it may be to miss some problems, but we remain committed to addressing any access issues promptly. And that is where we would like your help. If you experience any difficulties in accessing our websites, or have trouble using any aspect of the website, we would like you to let us know.
You may contact us here:
ENFORCEMENT PROCEDURE
The Malta Communications Authority (MCA) is the entity responsible for implementing Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. In case your ICT accessibility related query is not addressed or you wish to lodge a formal complaint, you can do so by contacting the MCA by filling the online complaint form.
IMPORTANT LINKS