Digitalization in society is going fast and was accelerated further by the Covid-19 pandemic. By this, many people's everyday tasks were transferred to digital environments. This meant in Sweden that most new internet users in 2020 were people over the age of 75 and people with different types of disabilities. Due to this increase in digitalization and all these new internet users, accessibility online is a subject that has gained higher significance. Since September 2020, all Swedish municipalities' websites must be accessible by law. Municipalities have a great responsibility to make information and necessary services available to the public. The purpose of this study was to investigate how well municipalities succeed with their work with web accessibility as a consequence of the legislation in Sweden and identify where the municipalities meet concrete obstacles in order to comply with the law. The purpose was also to investigate how the work with web accessibility on municipal websites can be simplified, improved, or otherwise enabled for those who work with such issues in the municipalities. To fulfill the purpose, two research question was formed for the study: 1.     In the process of making municipalities’ websites accessible, which are the concrete obstacles that make the work difficult for those who work with such issues in the municipalities?   2.     How can the work with the accessibility of municipal websites be simplified, improved, or otherwise enabled for those who work with such issues in the municipalities? To answer the research questions, two methods were chosen, a web survey and in-depth interviews, which corresponds to a combination of a quantitative and a qualitative method. The web survey was sent out to all municipalities in Sweden with the focus to answer RQ1 and the in-depth interviews were conducted with two accessibility experts with the focus to answer RQ2. Several obstacles were identified relating to lack of resources, lack of competence, lack of understanding of the law and the interpretation of it, attitudes, and old technology. Solutions on how the work can be simplified for those who work with web accessibility were identified relating to attitudes, resources, competence, legislation, and consumer demands. The main conclusions were that even though a municipality comply fully with the law, it does not mean that the website is accessible for all users, hence the law is not comprehensive enough. It also shows that there are several aspects that makes it hard for the municipalities to comply with the law and that most of these aspects also are the areas that needs improvement for the work to be simplified for the municipalities.

Bakgrund Tidigare studier från 2021 visar på att synskadade användare fortfarande har problem med hur väl de kan handla digitalt på egen hand. Detta förklarades vara ett resultat av kompetensbristen hos webbutvecklingsföretagen och brist av krav på tillgänglighet för synskadade. Tillgänglighetsdirektivet försöker ändra bristen på tillgänglighet i Europa genom krav för tjänster och produkter som exempelvis e-handeln. Syfte Syftet med undersökningen är att kartlägga hur tillgänglighetskompetensen och dess utveckling för synskadade på e-handeln ser ut idag. Undersökningen ska samla data från utvecklare, designers och tillgänglighetsexperter på om det finns en kompetensbrist idag och vilka förbättringsområden som finns för tillgänglighetsutvecklingen. Metod Undersökningen använde semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett bekvämlighetsurval för att samla kvalitativa. Därefter en enkätundersökning med ett självselektionsurval för att samla både kvantitativa och kvalitativa data. Resultatet från intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades med hjälp av en temaanalys för att identifiera mönster som svarar på forskningsfrågorna. Resultat Undersökningen visade att tillgänglighetsdirektivet har börjat påverka tillgänglighetsutvecklingen på den privata sektorn positivt. Resultaten visar på en kompetensbrist inom industrin idag som företag har börjat försöka motverka. Undersökningen visade på att ett av de största hindren idag med varför webbutvecklingsföretagen inte arbetar mer tillgängligt är på grund av bristande krav på tillgänglighet från beställare. Designval som tar bort information för att se estetiskt tilltalande ut kan resultera i en negativ användarupplevelse för synskadade. Slutsatser För att utveckla hur webbutvecklingsföretagen arbetar med tillgänglighet idag bör de arbeta med tillgänglighet i börjanav projekt i stället för i slutet av dem. Kravställningen utifrån beställarens behov är den avgörande faktorn till när man fokuserar på tillgänglighet och därför är det viktigt att förklara vinsterna för beställare med tidig implementation av tillgänglighet. Det identifierades att tillgänglighetsdirektivet är ett effektivt medel för att motivera tillgänglighet för både beställare och webbutvecklingsföretagen. / Background Previous studies from 2021 have shown that visually impaired users still have issues with how well they can shop by themselves digitally. It was explained to be a result of the lack of competence web development companies has and requirements on accessibility for the visually impaired. The European Accessibility Act aims to make a difference by enforcing accessibility requirements on products and services such as e-commerce. Aim The purpose of the survey is to map the accessibility competence and development in the industry when it comes to visual impairment on e-commerce. The goal is to gather web development companies’ perspective on whether there is a lack of competence today and which areas that can be improved. Method The survey used semi-structured interviews with convenience sampling to gather qualitative data. Then a questionnaire with a self-selection sampling to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Interviews were transcribed and analysed with the help of a thematic analysis to identify the patterns that fits the research questions. Results The survey showed that the European accessibility act has a positive effect on the development of accessibility. The results also show a lack of competence within the industry today that web development companies have begun to try to counteract. The lack of accessibility was a result of the lack of requirements based on customer needs. Design choices that remove information could result in a negative user experience for the visually impaired. Conclusions Early implementation of accessibility is needed to improve the accessibility development. Customer’s requirement on accessibility affects when it gets prioritized in a project.