Accessibility statement

Like many other digital services of the University, the helsinki.fi website must comply with the accessibility requirements of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services. In our accessibility statement, we describe the accessibility of our services and provide instructions for giving feedback on accessibility. Read more about digital accessibility at the University of Helsinki.

The service has been audited by an external accessibility expert organisation. All the critical deficiencies identified in the audits have been fixed. Furthermore, the accessibility of the website is monitored independently using an automated assessment tool. For the time being, the Helsinki.fi website does not meet all relevant requirements obliged by the Finnish Act on the Provision of Digital Services (in Finnish and Swedish only).

Non-accessible content: www.helsinki.fi

1. (WCAG 1.1.1) The website contains graphs depicting the University’s placement in international rankings. The graphs have been implemented using an external service, and they may be inaccessible to users relying on a screen reader.
2. (WCAG 1.1.1) Certain images have no text alternatives. Certain images and charts included in attached documents have no text alternatives.
3. (WCAG 1.3.1) Heading levels can be inconsistent or absent.
4. (WCAG 1.3.1) Some attachments are associated with problems that hinder the use of screen readers, including missing structures.
5. (WCAG 1.4.11) The contrast value of the focus indicator is insufficient when the element’s focus state is presented only through colour change.
6. (WCAG 2.4.3) The focus order of the drop-down menu in the breadcrumb trail and the navigation menu of the mobile version is erroneous. The ‘Up’ link that returns the view to the beginning of the page scrolls the page only visually. The browser focus is not moved to the beginning of the page.
7. (WCAG 2.4.6) The website contains interactive elements, including links and buttons, that have been programmatically named unclearly or only in English, for example, in video embeds, image links to personal profiles and the language menu.
8. (WCAG 3.1.1) Since some content is currently being translated, the content of some pages differs from the language setting of the page.
9. (WCAG 3.1.2) The website can contain individual paragraphs of text, frames or links with an erroneous language setting. In this case, screen readers read out the text inarticulately.
10. (WCAG 3.2.4) Some of the links on the website open in a new tab, or the link opens, for example, a PDF file, without prior warning.
11. (WCAG 3.3.2) The service’s search features contain incomplete instructions.
12. (WCAG 4.1.2) The website contains interactive elements, including menu buttons or tabs, which are technically insufficiently described for assistive technology. The elements lack, for example, specifications that describe their status for assistive technology.

The Helsinki.fi web­site con­tains con­tent not covered by the le­gis­la­tion

• Maps not intended for navigation
• Office software files (e.g., docx, PDF) published before 23 September 2018
• Live video or audio streams not recorded for storage or reissue
• Video or audio recordings published before 23 September 2020
• Content generated by users on social media

Dis­pro­por­tion­ate bur­den

Each year, a very large number of videos are published by the University community on the helsinki.fi website, not all of which we are able, for the time being, to publish in accessible form. The grounds for this is disproportionate burden. We are continuously working to improve accessibility and fix this deficiency. As captioning systems are developed further, we are able to continuously increase the ratio of videos published with captions.

You can send accessibility feedback by sending an email to digiviestinta@helsinki.fi. Use ‘Accessibility feedback’ as the message subject and describe in the message the page and problem in question. It may take up to 14 days to receive an answer.

Communications and Community Relations/Digital Communications is responsible for the accessibility of the helsinki.fi website and for processing related feedback.

If you are not satisfied with the answer or do not receive an answer from us within two weeks, you may file a complaint with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland. The agency website has detailed instructions (in Finnish and Swedish only) on how to file a complaint and how the issue will be handled.

Con­tact infor­mation of the su­per­vis­ory au­thor­ity

Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland
Accessibility supervision unit
www.saavutettavuusvaatimukset.fi (in Finnish and Swedish only)
saavutettavuus@avi.fi
phone +358 29501 6000 (switchboard)