Kyiv, 8 November 2025 – The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a draft law to make all digital services in the country accessible to all citizens, including those with disabilities. The legislation, which is based on European Union standards, enshrines digital accessibility requirements into law for websites and applications.  

The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of the DIA Support Project, which is implemented with financial support from Sweden. 

Many digital services (from banking applications to ticket purchasing sites) are still not barrier-free. This creates difficulties, for example, for people with visual impairments who need screen reading programmes, or for people with hearing impairments if there are no subtitles in the video. 

The goal of the Ministry of Digital Transformation is to create an effective mechanism to ensure that websites, applications and electronic services are convenient and accessible to all citizens. First of all, for people with disabilities. The developed draft law introduces clear requirements for digital accessibility, which have long been successfully working in Europe. 

How it will work: 

• For the first time, the requirements will extend beyond government agencies to include private businesses operating in key sectors: banking, transport, online stores, medicine, education, and communications. Small businesses will be exempt from these rules.
• The mandate will also cover new ATMs and self-service terminals installed after the law takes effect.
• Service owners will be required to publicly report on their accessibility, and an official monitoring system will be introduced to ensure compliance. 

Once implemented, the resulting online services will become convenient for everyone. Text will be easy to read thanks to sufficient contrast and font sizes. Interactive elements, like buttons, will be large enough to be operated even with one hand. Simple, crucial actions – such as booking a doctor's appointment, buying medicine online, or using a bank machine – will become equally manageable for all. 

This bill is component of the government's systematic effort to implement the National Strategy for the Creation of a Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine by 2030. It also marks another significant step in aligning national legislation with European standards. 

This legislation will finalise and enshrine at the legal level five years of digital accessibility initiatives led by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, UNDP, and Sweden. This work includes the 2022 introduction of a new State Standard on Web Accessibility, which partners developed based on the European standard. The government followed up in 2023 by passing Resolution No. 757, which requires all state bodies to comply with this standard. 

UNDP previously initiated the first official translation into Ukrainian of the global guidelines, WCAG 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). This step was taken to help Ukrainian developers easily apply the recommendations that form the basis of the new state standard. 

Finally, 2024 saw the creation of the first Digital Accessibility Competence Centre at the State Enterprise Diia. This is the first state-level centre dedicated to digital accessibility. Its primary role is to train representatives of state bodies and offer advice on implementing the requirements of the new state standard. 

Media inquiries: 

Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Head of Communications and Advocacy, yuliia.samus@undp.org