Accessibility statement #

Last updated: 2026-09-20.

EthicsPortal is committed to making its whistleblower reporting platform accessible to all users, in line with the European accessibility standard EN 301 549 V4.1.1 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (September 2026) is the version of the standard that incorporates WCAG 2.2 Level AA, and this assessment is made against it. V3.2.1 remains the version cited in the harmonized standards list under the Web Accessibility Directive; it incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which WCAG 2.2 extends with six further Level A and AA success criteria while retiring 4.1.1 Parsing as obsolete.

This statement applies to:

• The EthicsPortal web application at secure.ethicsportal.eu
• Public whistleblower portals hosted under *.ethicsportal.eu
• The marketing website at ethicsportal.eu

Conformance status #

EthicsPortal is partially conformant with EN 301 549 V4.1.1 and WCAG 2.2 Level AA. “Partially conformant” means that some parts of the content do not yet fully conform to the accessibility standard. The non-conformances and available alternatives are listed below.

A clause-by-clause self-assessment is published as the EN 301 549 conformance report and can be supplied as a PDF on procurement request.

How EthicsPortal supports accessibility #

The product is built and tested against the requirements:

• Keyboard-only operation across the application and public reporting channel — every interactive element is reachable and operable without a mouse
• Screen reader support verified with VoiceOver (macOS, Safari) and NVDA (Windows, Firefox)
• Passwordless authentication by magic link or one-time code, with optional TOTP — removes the cognitive barrier of password memorization (WCAG 2.2 §3.3.8 Accessible Authentication)
• Reduced-motion support — animations and transitions are disabled when the operating system requests it
• Zoom and reflow — layouts reflow at 200 % browser zoom without horizontal scrolling, except for tables and code blocks
• Pinch-to-zoom is enabled on every page
• Touch targets of at least 24×24 CSS pixels, raised to 44×44 on coarse pointers where layout permits (WCAG 2.2 §2.5.8)
• High-contrast text — body text uses near-black on white (≈21:1) on the light theme and the equivalent on the dark theme
• Localised across 13 official EU languages plus Luxembourgish, with the language attribute set on every page

Non-accessible content #

The following content is not fully accessible. We are working to address each item.

Non-compliance with the accessibility standard #

• Generated PDF documents — compliance reports, compliance certificates, posters, the case-handler manual and case exports are produced as untagged PDFs. They do not meet EN 301 549 §10.1 (tagged structure, reading order, alternative text). Users who need an accessible version of any document can request an HTML alternative by contacting accessibility@ethicsportal.eu — see Feedback below. We are migrating these documents to a tagged-PDF pipeline; HTML alternatives served from within the application are the planned interim solution.
• Static error pages (HTTP 400, 404, 422, 500 and the unsupported-browser fallback) — these pages are served in English regardless of the user’s locale (EN 301 549 §9.3.1.1 / WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page). They are encountered rarely; the same information is presented in the user’s language inside the application. The pages themselves use semantic HTML and meet the other §9 web requirements.

Content exempt from the accessibility requirements #

• Third-party content embedded in the product — for example Stripe-hosted payment pages — is not under EthicsPortal’s direct control. We have selected providers that publish accessibility documentation and review these choices each year.
• User-generated content uploaded by case handlers (notes and attached files) is not within the product’s direct editorial control.

Preparation of this statement #

This statement was prepared on 14 May 2026 based on a self-assessment conducted by EthicsPortal against EN 301 549 V4.1.1 and WCAG 2.2 Level AA. The assessment combined:

• Automated checks in CI via axe-core-capybara on public reporting, authentication, and representative authenticated case-handler flows
• Manual keyboard, VoiceOver, and 200 % zoom testing across the portal report submission flow, case-handler workflow, authentication, and account management
• Review against the internal accessibility checklist maintained in our engineering documentation

The statement will be reviewed at least quarterly and after any significant platform change.

Feedback #

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of EthicsPortal. If you encounter an accessibility barrier, cannot access content, or need information in an alternative format:

• Email: accessibility@ethicsportal.eu
• Also accepted: support@ethicsportal.eu — please include “accessibility” in the subject line
• We aim to acknowledge accessibility requests within 2 working days and provide an alternative format or substantive response within 5 working days

Enforcement procedure #

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer the matter to the accessibility enforcement body in your country:

• France: Défenseur des droits — defenseurdesdroits.fr
• Poland: Minister właściwy do spraw informatyzacji — via gov.pl , with the Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich as the secondary recourse for unresolved complaints
• Germany: Überwachungsstelle des Bundes für Barrierefreiheit von Informationstechnik — bfit-bund.de
• Other EU Member States: see the list maintained by the European Commission at digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu

Standards and references #

This statement is prepared with reference to:

• Directive (EU) 2016/2102 — accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies
• Directive (EU) 2019/882 — European Accessibility Act
• Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/1523 — model accessibility statement
• EN 301 549 V4.1.1 — Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services (published version we report against)
• EN 301 549 V3.2.1 — version listed in the harmonized standards under the Web Accessibility Directive
• WCAG 2.2 Level AA

Last updated: September 23, 2026