Other product legislation

Accessibility requirements

The primary aim of the accessibility requirements for products is to promote the equal opportunities of persons with disabilities to participate in society. The regulation also benefits others, such as older persons, as the accessibility and usability of products improved.

In the future, accessibility requirements will also be applied to central products used by consumers, such as smartphones and computer hardware systems. Uusien esteettömyysvaatimusten soveltaminen ja valvonta alkaa 28.6.2025. Tuotteiden osalta tämä tarkoittaa, että markkinoille voi saattaa tämän jälkeen vain esteettömyysvaatimukset täyttävän tuotteen.

Which operators does the directive cover?

The accessibility requirements apply to both public and private operators when they provide consumers with products or services that fall within the scope of accessibility legislation.

The requirements for products are also applied to so-called microenterprises. However, microenterprises are subject to a number of allowances in the regulation. A microenterprise is an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and which has an annual turnover not exceeding EUR 2 million or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 2 million.

Products within the scope of application

The following products placed on the market after 28 June 2025 

• Consumer general purpose computer hardware systems and operating systems for those hardware systems
  • e.g. personal computers, in particular desktops, notebooks, smartphones and tablets
• Self-service payment terminals
• Self-service automated teller machines, ticketing machines and check-in machines
• Certain interactive self-service terminals providing information in passenger transport that can be controlled by the passengers themselves
• Consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability, used for electronic communications services
  • e.g. smartphones, but also equipment such as routers or modems
• Consumer terminal equipment with interactive computing capability, used for accessing audiovisual media services
  • e.g. set-top boxes and smart televisions
• E-readers
• Products used for providing the services referred to in section 3, subsection 1, paragraph 4 and chapter 3a of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services 
  • E.g. if a service provider offers its digital service through a self-service terminal, the self-service terminal (product) must comply with the accessibility requirements.
  • In turn, the digital service itself must comply with the requirements of chapter 3a of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services. E.g. these requirements impose the obligation to explain how the service works with the product.

The relevant requirements for products within the scope of application

The accessibility requirements for products apply to product manufacturers, importers and distributors. The products must meet e.g. the following requirements: 

• products must be designed and produced in such a way as to maximise their use by persons with disabilities
• the information on the use of the product and on their accessibility features must be accessible 
• the product’s user interface must allow persons with disabilities to access, operate, understand and control it easily 
• the packaging of the product must be made accessible and the instructions for the packaging, use, installation, maintenance and disposal of the product must be easily accessible
• an EU declaration of conformity must be drawn up and the product must have the CE marking. 

If a product complies with a standard or the technical specifications of the European Commission, it must be considered compliant with the above requirements.

Products supervision

Traficom’s responsibility in the supervision of compliance of accessibility requirements for products is to:

• supervise that accessibility requirements are complied with
• supervise that an economic operator deviating from the accessibility requirements has drawn up a reasoned assessment as required by law 
• publish a list of products that do not meet the accessibility requirements
• evaluate the conformity of a product if it has grounds to assume that the product does not meet the accessibility requirements
• as necessary, call on an economic operator to correct the observed deficiencies in the conformity with accessibility requirements and in the assessment carried out when deviating from the accessibility requirements
• as necessary, issue an order or prohibition in accordance with the Act on the Market Surveillance of Certain Products (1137/2016) if it becomes apparent that a product does not comply with the necessary accessibility requirements
• as necessary, notify the European Commission and the other Member States of the European Union and the European Economic Area of a decision it has made under the Act on the Market Surveillance of Certain Products, when it considers that the non-conformity of the product is not restricted to the national territory of Finland.

Transition periods

The regulation includes transitional periods within which certain products or agreements on certain services must be brought into conformity with the accessibility requirements.

• According to the transitional provisions, the products used by a service provider to provide a service must be brought into conformity with the act by 28 June 2030.
• A transitional period for self-service equipment (e.g. payment terminals, automated teller machines and check-in machines) specifies that self-service terminals put into service prior to 28 June 2025 must be brought into conformity with the act within 20 years of their entry into use. A service provider may thus use the self-service terminals until the end of their economically useful life, but no longer than 20 years after their entry into use. Self-service terminals are terminal devices used e.g. for checking in or buying a travel ticket and for providing information with the help of interactive self-service terminals