Norway Accessibility Legislation: Scope, Fines & Reporting

Norway regulates digital accessibility through the Act on Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination — Lov om likestilling og forbud mot diskriminering, known as the Equality and Discrimination Act (Act of 16 June 2017 No. 51). Accessibility obligations for ICT solutions have been enforceable in Norway since 2013, and the rules were last amended on 8 October 2022.

Supervision sits with the Norwegian Digitalisation Agency (Digdir), which can order remediation and impose compulsory fines when deadlines are missed.

Scope of application

The regulation requires a range of digital content and services to be accessible to people with disabilities. Specifically:

• It applies to ICT solutions that underpin the general functions of the business, and that are main solutions aimed at or made available to users.
• It is limited to online solutions, including digital teaching aids and vending machines.
• It applies across all areas of society, with the exception of family life and other matters of a personal nature.

Exceptions

The requirements do not extend to every solution a business operates. The regulation does not apply:

• To ICT solutions in businesses that employ workers and that are used in the performance of work, unless the regulation states otherwise.
• To ICT solutions that fall under the scope of the Broadcasting Act.
• Where the design of ICT solutions is regulated by other legislation.
• On Svalbard, on installations and vessels operating on the Norwegian continental shelf or in the economic zone, or on Norwegian ships and aircraft outside Norwegian territory.
• To Norwegian ships and aircraft, regardless of where they are located.

Fines and penalties

Digdir can impose compulsory fines (tvangsmulkt) under the Equality and Discrimination Act. The mechanism is deliberately corrective rather than punitive:

• Compulsory fines are imposed only once the deadline for complying with an order to implement measures has been exceeded.
• They are set as ongoing daily fines.
• The penalty begins to run if the new deadline for complying with the order is missed, and normally runs until the order is fulfilled.
• Fines can be reduced or waived where special reasons justify it.
• They are set only where necessary for the order to be fulfilled within a reasonable time, and at a size that encourages fulfilment.

In practice this means the cost of non-compliance scales with how long a barrier is left unfixed — which is why continuous monitoring matters more than a single audit.

Reporting and the accessibility declaration

Public enterprises must submit an accessibility declaration about compliance, using Digdir’s central solution for accessibility declarations. It must be detailed, exhaustive and clear, and updated regularly — at least annually.

The declaration must contain:

• An explanation of content that is not universally designed, a justification for why it cannot comply, and a description of universally designed alternatives where available.
• A description of, and link to, a feedback function where anyone can notify the business of insufficient compliance with the requirements in section 4b of the regulation.
• A link to the enforcement procedure and information on the right to appeal.

Where it must be published:

• Websites — the accessibility statement must be published on the company’s website.
• Mobile applications — the declaration must be published either on the company’s website or together with the download information for the app.

Anyone may also request information about content that is exempted, including content exempted after a proportionality assessment under the Equality and Discrimination Act. Businesses must respond to such inquiries within a reasonable time.

Complaints

Users who encounter accessibility barriers, or who wish to submit a complaint about non-compliance, can contact the competent authority — the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal (Diskrimineringsnemnda):

• Email: post@diskrimineringsnemnda.no
• Website: diskrimineringsnemnda.no

Getting compliant with QualiBooth

Meeting the Norwegian requirements takes two things: evidence that your solutions conform, and a published declaration that holds up to scrutiny.

QualiBooth scans continuously against WCAG success criteria, so a missed deadline never becomes a daily fine, and manual audits by people with disabilities cover what automation cannot. When it is time to publish, our accessibility statement generator produces a declaration with the exemptions, feedback route and appeal information the regulation requires.

For the latest and most accurate information on Norwegian digital accessibility requirements, refer to the official documentation published by the Norwegian government.