Understanding digital accessibility in Switzerland

Start with the operator and responsibility

A website of a federal office, a cantonal portal and a private online shop have to be classified differently in legal terms. So first note the operator, the service offered and the people who are meant to use it. For public projects, the responsible level of government explicitly belongs in this inventory.

The BehiG contains requirements in particular for services and information provided by the Confederation. It does not follow that every private Swiss website automatically has to meet the same detailed technical requirements as a federal offering. For private offerings, further legal, contractual and industry-specific requirements have to be checked separately.

Cantonal requirements can be more specific

The Canton of Zurich, for example, specifies WCAG 2.2 at level AA for its web offerings and also covers documents, videos and embedded applications. That is a specific requirement of this canton's web presence, not a general description of all websites in Switzerland.

For a public contract, check the tender and the client's applicable guidelines. Note the version, target level and additional acceptance criteria. Vague terms such as “accessible under Swiss law” should be turned into a testable agreement before implementation.

Choose technical standards deliberately

WCAG provides a shared technical language for web content. The Swiss eCH-0059 Accessibility Standard is an important reference point in e-government. Which standard, in which version, is binding or contractually agreed has to be clarified for each specific project.

For teamwork, it is worth mapping requirements to components: navigation, forms, tables, media and documents. That way, recurring errors are fixed in one shared place instead of patching every subpage individually. Acceptance testing should cover complete user journeys, not just individual screens.

Separate reform proposals from current obligations

The Federal Office for the Equality of People with Disabilities (EBGB) provides information on the partial revision of the BehiG. It describes changes for employment and publicly offered services as a reform project. A proposed legal text is not yet a reliable basis for claiming that new obligations are already in force.

For longer-running projects, check the current state of the law again before expert sign-off. Record separately which requirements apply today and which improvements your team is planning voluntarily or in anticipation. This article reflects the sources as of 8 November 2026.

Additional checks for a shop with an EU audience

The company's registered office alone does not answer the question of cross-border requirements. If your offering specifically targets consumers in the EU, the service and the markets concerned should be classified separately. Don't copy German or Austrian information templates without clarifying which legal system applies.

Practical checklist for the project

1. 1Document the operator, level of government, target group and target markets.
2. 2Collect the applicable laws, the client's requirements and the agreed technical standards, including their versions.
3. 3Test important processes automatically and manually, including documents and third-party components.
4. 4Involve people with disabilities in assessing real-world usability.
5. 5Record findings, fixes, feedback contacts and a retest before publication.