@article{maciejewska2026accessibility,
  title = {Accessibility Declarations vs. Automated Audit Results: A Cross-Country Study of Government Websites in Six EU Member States},
  author = {Katarzyna MACIEJEWSKA},
  year = 2026,
  url = {https://ibimapublishing.com/p-articles/47SE/2026/4731426/},
  journal = {Communications of International Proceedings},
  volume = 2026 (14),
  abstract = {This is the second study in a research series investigating digital accessibility through complementary measurement and governance perspectives. It builds on the Weighted Accessibility Concern Index (WACI) introduced by Maciejewska (2026a) and applies the index to government websites to examine whether self-declared accessibility statements correspond to measured accessibility levels. The Web Accessibility Directive (WAD, 2016/2102) requires EU public sector bodies to publish accessibility statements declaring WCAG 2.1 AA conformance. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), applicable from June 2025, complements this framework by extending comparable obligations to selected private sector services. However, it remains unclear whether self-declared statements reflect actual accessibility levels. This study examines the declaration–audit gap between self-declared and measured accessibility for 24 government websites across six EU member states: Poland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Romania, and Italy. Four service types were audited using WAVE and the Weighted Accessibility Concern Index (WACI): patient portals, farmer portals, citizen portals, and national WCAG supervisory body websites. Results show that Romania is the only country where all four websites lack any WAD-compliant accessibility statement. Mean WACI scores range from 9.25 (Finland) to 131 (Romania), showing that a high Enforcement Maturity Index score is necessary but insufficient to guarantee low WACI. A key governance finding is that the national supervisory bodies in Sweden, Finland, and Italy all declare Partial conformance on their own websites and explicitly acknowledge they cannot supervise themselves. The study contributes cross-country evidence on EU accessibility statement credibility in the post-EAA regulatory context.},
  keywords = {WCAG, declaration–audit gap, Enforcement Maturity Index (EMI), Weighted Accessibility Concern Index (WACI)},
  note = Article ID: 4731426
}