Directory of European and national rules on Web Applications (updated version, 21 May 2008)
edited by the Research Staff of the Italian Senate Library

IRELAND

Legislation

Disability Act 2005
No 14 of 2005
[Contains a specific accessibility requirement for public sector organisations.
Section 26 obliges public organisations to make sure that their services are accessible for people with disabilities.
Section 28 states: “Where a public body communicates in electronic form with one or more persons, the head of the body shall ensure, that as far as practicable, the contents of the communication are accessible to persons with a visual impairment to whom adaptive technology is available”]
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2005/a1405.pdf

Disability Bill 2004
An Bille um Míchumas 2004
No 39 of 2004
Sponsored by Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform
Source: Government
Method: Presented
Status: Enacted
[Bill entitled and act to enable provision to be made for the assessment of health and education needs occasioned to persons with disabilities by their disabilities, to enable Ministers of the Government to make provision, consistent with the resources available to them and their obligations in relation to their allocation, for services to meet those needs, to provide for the preparation of plans by the appropriate Ministers of the Government in relation to the provision of certain of those, and certain other services, to provide for appeals by those persons in relation to the non-provision of those services, to make further and better provision in respect of the use by those persons of public buildings and their employment in the public service and thereby to facilitate generally access by such persons to certain such services and employment and to promote equality and social inclusion and to provide for related matters]
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/bills28/
bills/2004/3904/document1.htm

Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform
Disability Bill 2001
An Bille Um Mi´Chumas, 2001No 68 of 2001
Presented: 19.12.2001
[Bill entitled and act to make further and better provision for persons with disabilities in respect of – among other matters – accessibility to public services]
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2001/6801/b6801d.pdf
http://www.gov.ie/bills28/bills/2001/6801/default.htm

Related document:
Explanatory memorandum:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2001/6801/m6801.pdf
http://www.gov.ie/bills28/bills/2001/6801/m6801.pdf

Equality Act 2004
No24 of2004
19.07.2004
[Promotes equal treatment against discriminations]
http://www.equality.ie/index.asp?locID=60&docID=206

Equal Status Act
No 8 of 2000
26.04.20
[It came into force on the 25.10.2000; amended by the Equality Act 2004 on the 19.07.2004. They are known together as the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004. The Acts relate to discrimination based on the following 9 grounds: Gender, Marital Status, Family Status, Age, Race, Religion, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Membership of the Traveller community]
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2000/a800.pdf
http://www.gov.ie/bills28/acts/2000/a800.pdf

Related documents:
Explanatory booklet:
The Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004
www.equality.ie/getFile.asp?FC_ID=162&docID=226

Consolidated text of the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2004
Information document
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/EqualStatusActsConsldtd_00
_04.pdf/Files/EqualStatusActsConsldtd_00_04.pdf

Recommendations, Guidelines, Reports

[Irish legislation and public policy about accessibility:
http://www.accessit.nda.ie/managing-accessibility/legislation-and-public-policy ]

Richard Hearne – Red Cardinal ltd.
eGovernment Accessibility Report
A study into the accessibility and coding standards of key Irish Government & Political websites
December 2006
http://www.redcardinal.ie/reports/egovernment-accessibility-report.pdf

National Disability Authority
Code of Practice on Accessibility of Public Services and Information Provided by Public Bodies
ISBN 1 870499 16 6
21.07.2006
http://www.nda.ie/cntmgmtnew.nsf/0/3DB134DF72E1846
A8025710F0040BF3D/$File/COPPLain.pdf

IQ Content
Benchmarking eGovernment Websites in the U.K. and Ireland: Who's Getting it Right? (And Why?)
2005
[This report provides the first definitive user experience league table benchmarking Irish and UK eGovernment websites, and provides best practice examples and concrete recommendations for enhancing eGovernment performance]
http://www.iqcontent.com/publications/reports/article_43  

National Disability Authority
First Steps in Producing Accessible Publications
http://www.universaldesign.ie [section: home > Accessibility > Accessibily Publications]

National Disability Authority
IT Accessibility Guidelines
June 2002
[“The National Disability Authority (NDA) developed the AccessIT guidelines to provide comprehensive direction on making electronically delivered services accessible to people with disabilities.
This initiative arises from the Irish Government's commitment in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (Page 100, Para 19) to making public services accessible to people with disabilities and also from the obligations on public bodies in the Disability Act 2005 Section 28 (2) regarding electronic communications.
The NDA commissioned Frontend Usability Engineering Ltd to develop the first set of guidelines in 2001”]
http://www.accessit.nda.ie/about-these-guidelines
http://www.nda.ie/cntmgmtnew.nsf/0/2DD4A702FF2E0D6
980256C830060FF41?OpenDocument

Related document:
Programme for Prosperity and Fairness
[Agreement to the negotiations over five Operational Frameworks between Government and employers, trade unions, farmers and the community and voluntary sector, launched on 09.11.1999]
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/
ProgrammeForProsperityAndFairness.pdf

Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Information Society Policy Unit
New Connections. A strategy to realise the potential of the Information Society
Government Action Plan
March 2002
[The Government restates its commitment to accessibility online]
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/
NewConnectionsMarch2002.pdf

Department of Health, Midwestern Health Board
Recommended Guidelines for Public Sector Organisations
Report of the Interdepartmental Group
October 1999
ISBN 0-7076-6275-3
http://www.mwhb.ie/documentation/pandp/pandp/
corporateservices/customerservices/
WebpublicationsrecommendedGuidelines/govguide.pdf

Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Progress Implementing the Information Society
Second Report of the Inter-Departmental Implementation Group
July 1999
[Emphasises user-centred website design and consists of a number of recommendations with explanations. Recommendation 1.1 states the guiding principle that "websites should be designed and operated in accordance with the needs of users". Section 7 deals with accessibility: The key principle underlining accessibility is that websites should be easy for everyone to use, including people with a disability"]
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/
Pdf%20files/InfoSocietyProgressReport2.pdf

Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Implementing the Information Society in Ireland: an Action Plan
(PN 6727)
January 1999
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/Pdf%20files/
InfoSocietyActionPlanJan99.pdf

Information Society Commission - ISC Reports

[Programme for Prosperity and Fairness]

Information Society Commission (ISC), Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
eGovernment Working Group
eGovernment. More than an automation of government services
October 2003
http://www.isc.ie/downloads/egovernment.pdf

eInclusion: expanding the Information Society in Ireland
Report to the Information Society Commission
September 2003-October 2003
http://www.isc.ie/downloads/einclusion.pdf

Information Society Commission (ISC), Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
Building the Knowledge Society
Report to Government
December 2002
[Section 6.3.2. recommends that:
- websites should comply with WCAG Double-A by the end of 2001;
- accessibility should be included as a requirement in all tenders for government website design with immediate effect;
- all public service tenders should specify compliance with universal design principles for IT projects with immediate effect]
http://www.isc.ie/downloads/know.pdf

Sources

Iris oifigiúil / Official gazette, 1923 [?]- . Dublin: Stationery Office, 1923-

Irish Statute Book, 1922-2001. Dublin: Stationery Office

Irish current law statutes annotated, 1984- . London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1984-.

Achtanna an Oireachtais mar a Fógraíodh iad / Acts of the Oireachtas as promulgated, 1980- . Dublin: Stationery Office, 1982-

Statutory instruments / Eire. Ionstraim i reachtula, 1922- . Dublin: Stationery Office, 1922-

Web Sources

Áras an Uachtaráin (President of Ireland)
http://www.president.ie/

Parliament
http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/home.asp  

Government of Ireland
http://www.irlgov.ie/
http://www.gov.ie/

Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister)
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/

Information Society Commission, Department of the Taoiseach
http://www.isc.ie/index.html

Department of Justice, Equality & Law Reform
http://www.justice.ie/

Department of Health-Midwestern Health Board
http://www.mwhb.ie/

Office of the Attorney General
[Legal adviser to the Government, chief law officer of the State. Provides professional legal services to Government, Departments and Offices]
http://www.attorneygeneral.ie/index_en.html

British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII). Access to Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
http://www.bailii.org/

Irish Legal Information Initiative, run by UCC (University College Cork) Law Faculty in contribution to BAILII
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irlii/index.php

National Disability Authority
http://www.nda.ie/

In particular:
Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD)
http://www.universaldesign.ie

IT Accessibility Guidelines
http://www.accessit.nda.ie/

The Equality Authority
www.equality.ie

IQ Content
[Irish company, based in Dublin, working for clients from across Europe, about helping to create better websites]
http://www.iqcontent.com/about/

Red Cardinal
[Private blog dedicated to Search Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), website Findability, website Usability and general Internet Online Marketing Strategy in Ireland]
http://www.redcardinal.ie/#

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