Navigating Digital Accessibility in Italy: Achieving Stanca Act Compliance with Enterpristore
For businesses operating in or targeting the Italian market, digital accessibility is a legal imperative governed by the Stanca Act. Ensuring your online presence, especially your e-commerce platform, is accessible to all users, regardless of disability, is not only a matter of ethical responsibility but also crucial for legal compliance and market access.
Understanding the nuances of the Stanca Act and implementing the necessary technical requirements can be challenging. The Enterpristore Ecommerce Platform is designed to provide a robust foundation and comprehensive solutions to help you meet and exceed Stanca Act compliance standards, ensuring your business is inclusive and legally compliant in Italy.
What is the Stanca Act?
The Stanca Act (Law No. 4 of January 9, 2004) is the foundational law promoting digital accessibility in Italy. Its core principle is to protect the right of every individual to access information sources and services, regardless of disability, aligning with the principles of equality established by the Italian Constitution. The Act aims to ensure that digital services provided by covered entities are usable by people with various disabilities.
Who does the Stanca Law apply to?
The scope of the Stanca Act extends beyond just government bodies. It applies to a range of organizations:
- Public sector organizations and agencies at all levels (federal, state, regional, and municipal administrations).
- Private business organizations where public bodies hold a majority stake.
- Service providers acting on behalf of any public body.
- Companies with an average annual turnover exceeding 500 million euros.
If your business falls into one of these categories and operates a website or mobile application, compliance with the Stanca Act is mandatory.
What’s required to meet the Italian Stanca Act?
The Stanca Act has evolved over time, significantly impacted by European Union directives. In 2018, the Legislative Decree No. 106 was enacted, incorporating the EU Directive 2016/2102 (the Public Sector Websites and Mobile Applications Accessibility Directive) into Italian legislation. While the EU directive primarily focused on the public sector, its technical standards have become the benchmark for compliance under the Stanca Act for applicable entities.
As a result, organizations and businesses subject to Stanca Act compliance must:
1. Ensure their websites and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements and the technical standards for accessibility outlined in EN 301 549. EN 301 549 is a harmonized European standard for ICT accessibility, which itself incorporates and references WCAG 2.1 AA. Meeting these standards means ensuring your digital content is Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust for users of assistive technologies.
2. Annually publish an Accessibility Statement which provides public disclosure of the accessibility status for each website and app. This statement informs users about the level of accessibility, any non-accessible content, and provides a feedback mechanism for reporting accessibility issues.
Enterpristore: Your Partner in Stanca Act Compliance
Meeting the technical requirements of WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549 as mandated by the Stanca Act requires a deep understanding of accessibility principles and implementation. The Enterpristore Ecommerce Platform is developed with accessibility as a core consideration, providing a powerful and reliable solution to help your business meet and exceed these standards. We provide an end-to-end approach to help you meet high accessibility standards, with a focus on source code level compliance.
Source Code Level Compliance: The Enterpristore Advantage
True digital accessibility is best achieved when built into the very foundation of a platform. Relying solely on accessibility overlays or plugins that attempt to fix issues after development can be unreliable and may not fully address the requirements of standards like WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549. These overlays can sometimes interfere with assistive technologies or fail to provide a truly seamless and compliant experience.
Enterpristore’s approach prioritizes source code level compliance. This means that the underlying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript of the platform are structured correctly from the outset to be inherently accessible. Our commitment includes:
- Utilizing semantic HTML markup to define content structure and roles clearly, making it easily navigable and understandable by screen readers and other assistive technologies.
- Ensuring full keyboard navigability for all interactive elements, allowing users who cannot use a mouse to access all features.
- Implementing appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes to enhance the usability of dynamic content and complex widgets for users of assistive devices.
- Designing platform templates and components with built-in considerations for essential accessibility features such as sufficient color contrast, clear focus indicators, and responsive design that maintains accessibility across various devices and screen sizes.
This foundational approach provides a stable, reliable, and sustainable path to meeting the stringent technical requirements derived from the Stanca Act (WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549), offering a higher level of compliance compared to relying solely on external, surface-level solutions.
Comprehensive Accessibility Support with Enterpristore:
Beyond the platform’s inherently accessible architecture, we offer services to support your comprehensive Stanca Act compliance efforts:
- Expert Guidance and Audits: Our team can provide expert guidance on configuring your Enterpristore site for optimal accessibility and conduct in-depth audits to identify any remaining accessibility gaps in your custom content or configurations based on WCAG 2.1 AA and EN 301 549 standards.
- Support for Accessible Content: While the platform provides the accessible structure, ensuring your content (product descriptions, images, videos, documents) is accessible is also key. We can offer services or guidance on making your content compliant, including file remediation for documents hosted on your site.
- Ongoing Support: Maintaining compliance is an ongoing process, especially with evolving digital standards. We provide continuous support to help you address any new accessibility challenges that may arise as you update your site or add new content, and to help ensure you have the necessary information regarding the platform’s accessibility status to support your annual Accessibility Statement.
Take the Next Step To Stanca Act Compliance
We understand the complexities of the Stanca Act and the challenges businesses face in achieving compliance. Our solutions are tailored to your specific requirements, considering your unique business needs, target audience, and industry regulations within the Italian market context.
Ensuring your e-commerce platform complies with the Stanca Act is not just a legal obligation; it’s an opportunity to reach a wider audience, enhance your brand reputation, and demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity.
The Enterpristore Ecommerce Platform offers a powerful solution built with accessibility at its core, providing the source code level compliance and expert support you need to meet and exceed Stanca Act requirements and WCAG 2.1 AA / EN 301 549 standards.
Contact us today to learn more about Enterpristore’s accessibility features and how we can help you navigate the path to Stanca Act compliance.
Ready to Make Your eCommerce Site Truly Accessible and Inclusive?
Learn how our ecommerce solution ensures accessibility and meets industry standards
Request a demo to see how Equally AI enhances accessibility and user experience
Contact us today for a comprehensive quotation to make your ecommerce or WordPress site WCAG 2.1 compliant