MCA Renews Collaboration with FITA for Web Accessibility Monitoring

 

Today, 12th March 2025, the Malta Communications Authority (MCA) renewed its collaboration with the Foundation for IT Accessibility (FITA) by signing a three-year Memorandum of Understanding. Under this agreement, FITA will continue assisting the MCA in monitoring public sector websites and apps in compliance with Directive (EU) 2016/2102—the Web Accessibility Directive. The aim of this directive is to improve the accessibility level of public sector websites and apps across all member states.

The directive requires all public sector entities in Malta to follow a common web accessibility standard based on the European EN 301 549 framework, "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services." This standard has been updated to align with and exceed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), ensuring digital accessibility for all users, regardless of disabilities.

The MCA is responsible for implementing and enforcing this directive, which was transposed into Maltese law in 2018. Since then, an ongoing regulatory process has been adopted to assess and track the accessibility level of public sector websites and applications.

The directive outlines two types of assessments: Simplified and In-Depth. Simplified assessments rely primarily on automated tools, while In-Depth assessments involve comprehensive manual testing by specialised users with diverse disabilities who utilise assistive technologies for thorough testing. Involving users with disabilities in these assessments ensures that testing effectively identifies issues that might be missed by automated tools.

The MCA has found FITA’s expertise and experience in the ICT disability sector essential for conducting comprehensive In-Depth evaluations. Each year, the MCA with the assistance of FITA carries out 21 In-Depth Assessments on public sector websites and mobile apps. MCA and FITA collaborate also on awareness-raising initiatives and are in continuous communication to explore possibilities of refining the monitoring process, making it as effective as possible.