Accessibility at Qmatic

What is Accessibility?

Accessibility is about all people, regardless of ability, being able to participate in society in an independent way. This means everything from being able to move and orientate oneself in the physical environment to absorbing information and performing services, but also being treated well and having a chance to communicate on one's own terms. Accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities.

Digital accessibility is the design of technology products and environments to help people with various disabilities not be impeded or otherwise unable to use the service, product, or function. 

Qmatic's Standpoint

The UN convention and the US and EU acts and directives on accessibility have been the basis for Qmatic's aim to adhere to accessibility standards and make our products and solutions as accessible as possible. As the individual countries and states within the EU and US, implement their own interpretations of the directives, Qmatic strives to follow the strictest interpretations in our products and reporting.

 

Accessibility Regulations and Standards

Below you can find the regulations and standards that have formed the foundation for Qmatic’s accessibility work and accessibility policy.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD)
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD) recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to access information and communication technologies (ICT) on an equal basis with others. While the CRPD does not prescribe specific technical standards, it provides a guiding framework for countries to enact laws and policies that advance digital accessibility and inclusion, aligning with principles outlined in other regional and national regulations.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. The ADA guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to enjoy employment opportunities, purchase goods and services, and participate in state and local government programs. ADA addresses accessibility requirements for places of public accommodation, which includes websites and digital services. While the ADA does not explicitly outline technical standards for digital accessibility, courts have interpreted it to require compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act
Section 508 is part of the US Rehabilitation Act, which requires US federal agencies to make their information and communications technology accessible to people with disabilities. It states that access must be in a “comparable manner to the access experienced by employees and members of the public without disabilities.”  Section 508 compliance affects all federal agencies and the vendors, contractors, and partners of those agencies. In 2018 Section 508 was updated to align with WCAG 2.0 (Level AA).

EU Web Accessibility Directive (EU-WAD)
The EU Web Accessibility Directive (EU-WAD) of the European Union is a piece of law that applies to all EU countries and the European Economic Area. The directive aims to ensure that public sector websites and mobile applications are accessible to everyone and to harmonize standards within the EU. It references the European standard EN 301 549 as a basis for defining accessibility requirements.

EN 301 549
The European standard for accessibility requirements when procuring IT products and services (EN 301 549), specifies accessibility requirements for ICT products and services. The European procurement standard contains technical and functional requirements for IT in a broad sense. In addition to the web, the standard covers, among other things, vending machines, telephones and computers. It has been developed in close collaboration with the U.S. Access Board in the USA to correlate as far as possible with the American requirements. EN 301 549 is a minimum requirement, which means that you can set higher and/or additional requirements. The standard points to WCAG 2.1, level AA, for the web.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA)
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) is a legislative initiative aimed at improving the accessibility of certain products and services and avoiding regulatory fragmentation across the EU. It includes computers and operating systems, ticketing machines, smartphones, banking services, e-books, and e-commerce platforms etc.  It follows a commitment to accessibility made by the EU and all Member States upon ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The act becomes law in all EU member states in June 2025. Compliance requirements may differ between countries depending on how the act is transposed into national laws and regulations. Qmatic will strive to follow the strictest interpretations.
 

What is WCAG?

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is an international standard that explains how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. It was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and covers websites, applications, and other digital content.

WCAG is intended for web content and app developers primarily. The latest version of WCAG has 13 guidelines. The guidelines are organized under 4 principles:

• Perceivable

• Operable

• Understandable

• Robust

For each guideline, there are a number of success criteria to test against. These test criteria are organized into three levels: Level A, AA and AAA. How well your product meets the criteria of a certain level determines the conformance to WCAG. 

New versions of WCAG are being released continuously. The latest version is WCAG 2.2, released in October 2023, but the available standards, such as for Section 508 and EN 301 549, still point to WCAG 2.1 level AA.
 

Qmatic’s Accessibility Policy

Qmatic is committed to providing accessible products and works continuously toward improving accessibility. Support for assistive technologies is regularly reevaluated, and appropriate product changes are added to the development stream. As a result, we are constantly striving to make products easy to use and exceed the expectations of the legal requirements.

Below you can find an extract of the policy. See the complete Accessibility Policy here.

Declaration of accessibility level

Qmatic software products fall into several broad categories.

1. Software created webpages used by end customers, generally the public. These are pages that typically allow a customer to make an appointment.

2. Software that is intended for our client’s staff to use the system. These are typically people serving customers in a face-to-face environment, such as a public office, retail store, or healthcare facility.

3. Software that is used by administrators of the system (usually restricted to one or two people in the client headquarters). Several of the utilities require functionality that would render disproportional investment burden to be fully accessible.

Qmatic’s software generally falls under the WCAG AA rules. The version applied will change over time.

Qmatic hardware falls into the following groups:

• Entry point devices such as kiosks and printers, where customers and employees can initiate a customer visit—sometimes involving printing a paper ticket.

• Customer notification devices where customer ticket numbers are called fall into two categories: audio announcements and visual LED displays. All information is repeated in both.

• Other items are largely provided as connection hardware and there is no day-to-day user activity for them. 
  
  

Accessibility evaluation

The Qmatic accessibility evaluation follows a number of steps.

Internal inventory

• Mapping which websites, services, apps, and other services Qmatic provides

• Identifying if the system is covered by the law

• Validating if there are accessibility issues

• Evaluating if there are exceptions (disproportionate burden)

Action plan

Once the shortcomings have been identified, a plan for remediating them is established. This plan includes prioritizing the shortcomings and setting a schedule.

If several shortcomings are discovered, the work may need to be prioritized, and a step-by-step plan put forward. This is done by identifying which shortcoming provides the greatest benefit to the users.

Accessibility reporting

As a last step, an accessibility statement is prepared for the particular product. The accessibility statement is a self-declaration about how accessible the product is. It should primarily be for the end user, but it should also facilitate supervision for the supervisory authority. See our Accessibility Statements in the Accessibility Reporting section further below. 

Internal training

By giving Qmatic employees increased knowledge, the organization can improve its products and services, which in turn leads to a better user experience. Knowledge is also important in the process of ordering accessibility. If you understand the need for an accessible service, searching for products or setting requirements that meet the standard is easier. Qmatic continuously trains the product development and design teams in accessibility and accessible design and provides the sales organization with the necessary training and information. 

Accessibility in product development

At Qmatic, the work with accessibility is a natural part of the business and is included in all phases of the development work.

Accessibility requirements in development projects

The accessibility requirements in a development project are based on the accessibility standard intended to be followed. It starts from the standard but is broken apart and concretized into requirements based on Qmatic’s and our clients’ businesses. As far as possible, there should be no room for interpretation; for example, it should be possible to answer yes or no if a point is met. 

Validation and testing

Qmatic uses different ways to test and validate accessibility.

• Automatic tools, for example screen contrast checker

• Manual tests

• Practical tests with aids

• User tests, for example with people with a certain disability or accessibility persona 

Purchasing accessibility from an external party

As mentioned previously, having the right training and setting accessibility requirements without room for interpretation are key pillars in Qmatic’s internal development. Having the right training for purchasing and setting firm accessibility requirements is also crucial when purchasing accessibility from external parties. Additionally, the development process with external parties is followed continuously, and Qmatic follows up to make sure the accessibility standards and requirements are met in the final delivery.

Accessibility personas

To develop products that are accessible, accessibility personas are used in the design and evaluation processes. Depending on the type of product and intended use, different accessibility personas can be used. Some examples are:

• A sight-impaired user

• A dyslexic user

• A user with cognitive disabilities

• A user in a wheelchair

• A profoundly deaf user

• An older user with multiple conditions

There are other types of accessibility personas not based on a disability per se but with other limitations such as:

• A user speaking another language

• A user not used to modern information technology

• A user without their own mobile phone

Accessibility features in Qmatic’s products

Readability and contrast

For a partly sight-impaired user, or a color-blind user, the readability on a digital screen or monitor is crucial. Qmatic’s applications are developed with this in mind, and this is also something that is an important part of the WCAG guidelines. Some examples of adjustments made are to ensure that the contrast between different items in the digital user interface is good enough and that items can be seen even if you can’t see colors. The option to magnify the view on the screen is equally important.

Screen reading

Screen readers are most commonly used by individuals who are blind or have low vision. These users rely on screen readers to convert on-screen text and other visual elements into speech. Some individuals with cognitive disabilities, such as dyslexia or attention deficit disorder (ADD), may find screen readers helpful in processing and understanding written text. Screen readers can read text aloud at a controlled pace, which can aid comprehension for some users. Screen reading technology can be used with Qmatic's solutions.

Assist button

For users with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities or who are restricted by a wheelchair, an assist button can aid in accessing digital products and services. Qmatic has developed an assist button function for the self-service kiosks in Qmatic’s Certified Hardware assortment. The assist button is a physical button on the self-service kiosk. By using the assist button, the user can get in touch with a staff member to get assistance. The staff member will be notified through the staff application interface.

Navigation Keypad

The Navigation Keypad assists individuals with impairments in self-check-in at entry points (kiosks). Qmatic has developed a keypad function for the Check-In Kiosks of its Certified Hardware assortment. The Navigation Keypad features tactile buttons for navigating the menu, adjusting volume and speech speed, and using headphones. It maximizes the ability of individuals with impairments to operate the kiosks independently, with minimal assistance from others.

Mounting of self-service kiosks

Physical access is also important to access digital products and services. Qmatic provides mounting for self-service kiosks in the Qmatic Certified Hardware assortment that enables a wheelchair to come close enough for the user to interact with the interface.

Voice announcements

Voice announcements can aid accessibility for individuals with visual impairment or cognitive disabilities. Qmatic provides solutions for voice announcements in waiting areas to increase the inclusion and waiting experience. With AI text-to-speech, it is also possible to make voice announcements in multiple languages without prerecorded translations.

Multiple languages

While many accessibility legislations focus primarily on standards for ensuring digital content is accessible to individuals with disabilities, some regulations do address language accessibility to a certain extent. As Qmatic aims to make our solutions accessible to everyone, multiple language capabilities are important to us and to many of our clients. Qmatic has several solutions for multiple languages both for digital user interfaces and voice announcements.

Options for access

Providing different options for accessing services is important as some users are not used to modern information technology or don’t have a smartphone or even a regular mobile phone. Qmatic’s solutions offer several alternatives to accessing the services of our clients so that everyone can access the services they need. Some examples are offering appointment booking both by phone and online booking, and getting in line either through your phone, an arrival kiosk, or with the assistance of a staff member.
 

Qmatic Accessibility Statements

Qmatic’s Accessibility Statements and Conformance reports show in detail how our products conform to standards and guidelines. Find them here:

Accessibility statements

An accessibility statement is a self-declaration about how accessible a website or application is. Qmatic's accessibility statements are created to declare the accessibility of each of Qmatic's applications following the Web Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 level AA, which is the standard referred to by the EN 301 549. The US standard, the revised Section 508 refers to WCAG 2.0 which is an earlier version.

Some of Qmatic's applications are available for both our SaaS solution, Qmatic Experience Cloud, and our on-prem solution, Qmatic Orchestra. Others are only applicable to one platform.

Find our accessibility statements here:

Accessibility statements for applications available only in Qmatic Experience Cloud 

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic Experience Cloud - Online Booking

• Accessibility Roadmap for Qmatic Experience Cloud - Online Booking

• WCAG 2.2 Audit for Qmatic Experience Cloud - Online Booking 
  
  

Accessibility statements for applications in Qmatic Experience Cloud and Qmatic Orchestra

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Mobile Ticket

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Counter

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Concierge

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Operations Panel

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Serve

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic - Check In
  
  

Accessibility statements for applications available only in Qmatic Orchestra

• Accessibility Statement for Qmatic Web Booking

• WCAG 2.2 Audit for Qmatic Web Booking

Accessibility conformance reports

The accessibility conformance reports are written according to VPAT® - Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. This template follows a certain way of reporting. It can include conformity reporting to one or more of Section 508, WCAG and EN 301 549. If a VPAT report is not available for the product you are looking for, please see the Accessibility Statements above as they also declare how well the product conforms to the WCAG version 2.1 level AA.

Leave feedback

Do you have suggestions or feedback regarding the accessibility of Qmatic’s products and services? Please contact us.