Environment.fi accessibility statement
The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) aims to ensure the accessibility of its website in accordance with the Act on the provision of digital services (306/2019).
This accessibility statement applies to the ymparisto.fi website.
Accessibility status of our website
Our website partially meets the requirements of levels A and AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).
Non-compliances and exceptions to the requirements are listed below.
Non-accessible content on our site
The environment.fi (ymparisto.fi) website has been subject to an accessibility assessment carried out by an external party (Eficode Oy) at our request in March 2023. During May-June 2023, accessibility corrections have been made to the website.
The accessibility of the website has been assessed as part of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland's monitoring programme for 2023 from 31.7.2023 to 21.8.2023. The report on the shortcomings was received in October. The deficiencies have since been corrected between October 2023 and April 2025. Some shortcomings remain to be addressed.
The non-accessible content is divided into three different categories:
- Accessibility issues that fall under the Digital Services Act 306/2019.
- Disproportionate burden related accessibility issues.
- Accessibility issues not covered by the applicable legislation.
1. Non-compliance with Act 306/2019
There are some issues with the accessibility of the ymparisto.fi website. The most critical accessibility issues will be fixed as soon as possible.
Below is a description of the issues that have been recognised. If you notice a problem with the website that is not listed, please contact us.
Each listed issue description is followed by the corresponding accessibility guideline criterion that the issue relates to.
Headings
Some heading levels have been used illogically (WCAG 1.3.1).
Some infoboxes use bold to indicate the heading level. (WCAG 1.3.1)
Links
There are some links on the site whose purpose is not clear from the link text alone or together with the link text and its programmatically decipherable context. (WCAG 2.4.4)
Graphs
There are different types of graphs on the site, some of which are not accessible by screen reader or keyboard (WCAG 1.3.2, 2.1.1).
Graphs made with HighCharts work with keyboard and screen readers, although some of the screen reader text is in English (even when the graph language is Finnish). In addition, in some cases the units are missing from the graph.
Other interactive graphs (e.g. on the Air Pollutant Emissions in Finland page) do not provide all the information with keyboard or screen reader, for example, information that appears only on hover.
Some graphs have insufficient contrasts (WCAG 1.4.3, 1.4.11).
Retrieval
The H1 title of the page is missing. (WCAG 1.3.1)
The organizer menu opens with the down event (when the mouse button is pressed down), and the up event (when the mouse button is released) does not undo the menu from opening. (WCAG 2.4.7)
The search input field, clear search term button, and Search button between the crumb path and the main content of the search results page are not accessible with a screen reader. (WCAG 1.3.1, 4.1.2)
2. Disproportionate burden
The following accessibility issues are subject to the exception of disproportionate burden under Article 5 of the accessibility directive:
- Some pdf, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files published after 23 September 2018 are not accessible.
- Control of the sorting of search results has an incorrect role to be programmatically determined. (WCAG 4.1.2). The element is marked, but the notation is not Orthodox. The repair requires changes to the third-party product. So far, this is not possible.
3. Accessibility issues not covered by law
The Act on the provision of digital services (306/2019) does not apply to
- maps,
- attachments published before 23 September 2018, such as pdf, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (also, on the basis of disproportionate burden, general form files related to operations are not accessible, but we aim to replace them with accessible e-forms in the future),
- videos published before 23.9.2020,
- third-party content that is not funded or developed and controlled by the Administrative Branch of Finland’s Ministry of the Environment.
Preparation of this accessibility statement
The first version of this statement was prepared on 29.3.2023. The statement was based on an assessment carried out by an external expert organisation (Eficode Oy) on whether the website meets the requirements of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services 306/2019. During May-June 2023, accessibility corrections have been made to the website. The second version of the statement was published on 26.6.2023.
The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland will assess the accessibility of the website in summer 2023. The report on the shortcomings was received in October. The deficiencies have since been corrected between October 2023 and April 2025. Some shortcomings remain to be addressed.
The accessibility statement has been revised on 17.7.2025.
Feedback and contact information
Did you notice an accessibility issue on our website? Let us know and we will do our best to remedy the issue.
Please contact us with the feedback form. Select Accessibility as the subject of your feedback.
The Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) is responsible for the accessibility and feedback on the environment.fi (ymparisto.fi) website.
Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom acts as a regulatory authority under the act, monitoring compliance with the obligations and requirements laid down.
Enforcement procedure
If you notice accessibility issues on our website, please give us feedback first. It may take up to 14 days for us to respond. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, or if you do not receive a response within two weeks, you can submit feedback to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.
Contact information of the regulatory authority
Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom
Digital Accessibility Supervision Unit
www.webaccessibility.fi
saavutettavuus@traficom.fi
telephone switchboard 029 534 5000
We are constantly working to improve accessibility
We are committed to improving the accessibility of our digital services and will address identified accessibility issues as soon as possible.