Kyiv, 6 March 2025 – For the fourth year in a row, the level of basic web accessibility of government websites in Ukraine has risen, according to the fourth annual analysis of the basic accessibility of 100 websites of executive authorities. The analysis was conducted at the end of 2024 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine together with the Digital Accessibility Competence Centre as part of the DIA Support Project, which is funded by Sweden.

In 2024, 24 out of 100 analysed websites of government bodies in Ukraine were at sufficient and high levels of accessibility for people with disabilities. This represented a rise of 2% over 2023, while in 2021 the rise was 11%.

In 2024, seven websites had a high level of web accessibility, 17 sufficient, and almost half (55) of the websites showed an average level of accessibility. In 2021, only one website was at a high level of accessibility, 12 were at a sufficient level, and 48 were average. At the same time, the number of websites with a low level of accessibility decreased – from 39 in 2021, to 21 in 2024.

The Diia.Barrier-Free and Diia.Education portals and the websites of the National Bank of Ukraine, the Electronic Court, as well as the Vinnytsia, Lviv and Kharkiv regional state administrations had a high level of basic accessibility.

Three websites showed the greatest progress in improving basic accessibility over the year: the Diia and Diia.Osvita portals (both increasing by six points in the rating) and the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (up by five points).

The priority of the Ministry of Digital Transformation is to create such electronic services that are not only easy and convenient to use, but also accessible to all Ukrainians, said Deputy Director of the Department for the Electronic Services Development at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Valeriia Koval. “Last year, two portals of the ministry – Diia and Diia.Education – were leaders in improving the level of accessibility over the year,” Koval said. “This shows that our work to increase the web accessibility of state online resources is yielding results. We’re continuing to work on promoting web accessibility in the country so that all state resources and services in the country are accessible to all citizens.”

The 100 websites of the executive authorities are analysed according to 10 basic web accessibility criteria, which are components of a specially developed methodology. State web administrators can independently use the methodology to analyse their own resources. In addition, the study offers recommendations on how to correct identified accessibility errors.

Over the four years of the study, progress has been noticeable in the field of web accessibility of government bodies. However, the pace remains slow, and 97 out of the 100 analysed websites still do not meet all basic accessibility requirements, emphasized Dmytro Popov, a digital accessibility specialist at UNDP in Ukraine’s DIA Support Project and author of the monitoring study. “The issue of increasing web accessibility in Ukraine remains relevant,” Popov said. “It is important to remember that this does not require a lot of effort or finances from developers, but rather their awareness of the problem and understanding of the need to solve it. Spreading knowledge about web accessibility is one of the tasks that this monitoring is designed to solve, so that Ukrainian web resources no longer present barriers to people with disabilities.”

In recent years, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, with the support of UNDP and Sweden, has implemented a number of legislative changes aimed at encouraging improvements in web accessibility in the country. In particular, a new state standard on web accessibility was adopted, which became mandatory for state bodies, the first official translation of the global guidelines WCAG 2.1 was made, and training is being systematically conducted for public servants from all over the country. In 2024, the Digital Accessibility Competence Centre, initiated by the partners, also began operating at the state enterprise Diia. This is the first centre that will deal with the issue of digital accessibility in the country at the state level.

This time, the Digital Accessibility Competence Centre at the Diia state enterprise took part in the analysis of the basic accessibility of 100 sites. The centre’s goal is to help state bodies, project managers, and developers ensure the inclusiveness of digital resources and services for all Ukrainians, said Iryna Zabolotna, Head of the Diia Implementation Team, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. “Every user has the right to interact with online resources without barriers, and this should be the standard, not the exception,” Zabolotna said. “That is why such studies are important – they allow us to assess how Ukraine is moving towards digital accessibility. And they help determine what exactly needs to be done to make public websites accessible to all.”

Annual monitoring of the web accessibility of state websites is designed to help remove digital barriers to state resources. This task corresponds to the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine, which is being implemented as part of the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska, Tetiana Lomakina, Advisor – Presidential Commissioner for Barrier-Free Environment, noted. “Respect for people means not only convenient sidewalks, ramps and accessible transport, but also accessible websites, services and applications. We must eradicate not only physical but also digital barriers in order to develop a truly barrier-free society,” she said.

Digital accessibility is critically important for Ukraine, as the number of people with disabilities is constantly increasing due to the war, said Olena Ursu, UNDP Ukraine Project Team Leader for Democratic Governance. “UNDP, with the support of Sweden, is committed to supporting the government of the country in putting the principles of digital accessibility into practice,” Ursu said. “The creation of a responsible centre for digital accessibility and the annual analysis of government websites are part of a joint effort aimed at expanding web accessibility in the country. This will help achieve the ultimate goal of making all government websites and digital services in Ukraine increasingly accessible to all citizens.”

Media inquiries:

Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Team Leader, yuliia.samus@undp.org