Multi-Year Digital Accessibility Plan 2025–2027

Introduction

Definition of digital accessibility

Digital accessibility involves making online public communication services accessible to people with disabilities, that is to say:

• Perceptible: for example, making it easier for users to perceive content visually and auditorily; providing text alternatives for all non-text content; creating content that can be presented in different ways without losing information or structure (for example, with a simplified layout);
• Usability: for example, providing users with navigation cues to help them navigate and find content; making all features accessible via the keyboard; giving users sufficient time to read and use the content; avoiding content that could trigger epileptic seizures;
• Intuitive: for example, ensuring that pages behave in a predictable manner; helping users correct input errors.
• Robust: for example, optimizing compatibility with current and future uses, including assistive technologies.

Digital accessibility is part of a commitment to equality and is a fundamental political and social issue aimed at ensuring that everyone, without discrimination, has equal access to online information and digital services.

Regulatory Framework in France Regarding Digital Accessibility

Section 47 of Law No. 2005-102 of February 11, 2005, on equal rights and opportunities, participation, and citizenship for people with disabilities requires that all online communication services be accessible to everyone for the following organizations:

• Legal entities governed by public law;
• Private-law legal entities entrusted with a public service mission;
• Legal entities under private law formed by one or more of the persons referred to in subparagraphs (1) and (2) for the specific purpose of meeting public interest needs of a non-industrial or non-commercial nature;
• Companies with annual revenue of at least 250 million euros, calculated on a per-person basis using the average annual revenue generated in France over the three most recent fiscal years ending prior to the year in question.

Pursuant to Chapter III of the aforementioned Article 47, the multi-year plan, covering a maximum period of three years, outlines AFNOR’s policy on digital accessibility for the years 2025–2027. As such, it contains information on governance, the internal organizational structure established, training initiatives, the consideration of accessibility in new projects, compliance audit policies, and related corrective actions…

The goal of this multi-year plan is to ensure that the Group’s digital services are gradually brought into compliance with legal requirements and meet the needs of people with disabilities.

Article 47 establishes the General Framework for Improving Accessibility (RGAA) as the national standard, with which all digital media must comply. The latest version of the RGAA currently in effect (RGAA 4) is available at the following link: accessibilite.numerique.gouv.fr .

Addressing digital accessibility

Policy on Inclusion of People with Disabilities

The AFNOR Group has been committed for many years to a policy of inclusion for people with disabilities, through various disability agreements led by the Group’s Human Resources Department.

To this end, the Group provides training and awareness-raising initiatives on disability for its employees, including demonstrations of para-sports and awareness-raising activities during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, among other initiatives.

AFNOR Compétences, a professional training organization—which offers training related to disabilities—is committed to providing training tailored to the needs of people with disabilities to ensure that everyone has the best possible training experience:

• A tailored onboarding process starting from registration to anticipate and implement the necessary accommodations, with the help of AFNOR disability liaisons;
• A specially adapted training center in Saint-Denis: access ramps, elevators with Braille numbering, tactile paving on the stairs, and accommodations for guide dogs…;
• Documents made available in advance for transcription into Braille for people with visual impairments;
• The option of having a sign language interpreter available and training rooms equipped with audio loops for deaf and hard-of-hearing trainees;
• Distance learning programs designed to be inclusive and accessible, delivered via Zoom with live captions and accessible course materials.

The specific needs of people with disabilities are now more fully incorporated into the Group’s CSR policy.

Digital accessibility: a strong commitment for the AFNOR Group

The AFNOR Group remains committed to addressing the digital needs of people with disabilities.

With more than 12 million people living with disabilities in France, the Group has made it a top priority to ensure that everyone has access to its digital services by ensuring they comply with accessibility standards.

To this end, this multi-year plan aims to establish a roadmap for bringing priority digital applications into compliance with the standards of the General Framework for Improving Accessibility (RGAA). To define this roadmap, the AFNOR Group has already compiled a list of all its externally accessible websites. More than twenty digital accessibility audits have already been conducted since 2024, following the establishment of a dedicated contract.

Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

This three-year multi-year digital accessibility plan (2025–2027) aims to inform the public about the measures and initiatives implemented by the AFNOR Group to ensure that its priority digital services are accessible.

It is accompanied by an annual action plan, which is included in the appendix.

Accordingly, the AFNOR Group has set the following objectives to ensure digital accessibility:

• Assess existing digital assets by conducting compliance audits on digital services (websites and applications);
• Improve existing services by conducting accessibility audits and implementing corrective measures, as well as monitoring and validation by experts;
• Take digital accessibility into account from the design phase onward when rolling out new features and redesigning certain user flows, at every stage of the project;
• Raise awareness and train internal teams on disability inclusion and accessibility standards