WEB ACCESSIBILITY GRANT SCHEME
SUPPORTING A MORE INCLUSIVE ONLINE EXPERIENCE FOR ALL
WEB ACCESSIBILITY GRANT SCHEME | PROSPECTUS
What is the Web Accessibility Grant Scheme?
Are you prepared for the new European Accessibility Act (EAA)?
This Grant Scheme is a new investment funding initiative designed to help businesses who have completed our Digital that Delivers Programme to bring their websites into compliance with the European Accessibility Act, which comes into effect in June 2025. It will support you in upgrading your website to be inclusive and accessible to all potential visitors. What’s included? You will be provided with: 1. Investment Grant Funding – this Scheme is 100% subsidised* to allow you to upgrade your website to comply with new digital accessibility standards, enabling you to engage with more visitors. 2. One-to-One Support – technical expertise and guidance to help you to upgrade your website and digital content. 3. Free Access to Learning – to build the skills of your team. Dedicated training on our new online platform learniFI, including the benefits of digital accessibility and how to maintain it in the future. 4. Free Consultancy Review – of your booking system to ensure that it’s optimised for performance and providing you with quality data, ensuring you can make informed data-driven decisions for your business.
Making your website accessible to everyone is no longer a nice-to-have option. New EU legislation means that Irish businesses need to up their game to ensure inclusivity and compliance. Websites need to meet a set of accessibility requirements with the primary goal of ensuring that online experiences, such as booking and browsing, are usable by visitors of all abilities through a “design for all” approach. Many Irish businesses will be legally required to comply with this new legislation, which comes into effect in June 2025. Whilst microenterprises may be exempt under the current guidelines, Fáilte Ireland wants to support all visitor experience businesses, regardless of size, by offering funding to make their websites fully accessible and inclusive for all users. Get ahead of the legislation, avail of this fully subsidised programme now to make your website accessible, and reap the benefits!
Did you know? Websites that are not accessible are missing out by excluding a significant section of their potential customer base. ▶ 16% of the global
How do I sign up? Register your interest today.
population live with a disability, from ageing eyes to a physical disability (source: W.H.O. 2023) ▶ 71% of users with a disability leave a website early due to difficulty using it (source: Click-Away Pound Survey 2020) ▶ 96% of websites were
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non-compliant in 2023, with 83% of web pages having colour contrast issues (source: WebAIM 2023)
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WEB ACCESSIBILITY GRANT SCHEME | PROSPECTUS
How much effort is required to upgrade? The good news is that if you previously replaced your website through the Digital that Delivers Programme, you are already well on your way to making your website accessible. Most of the remaining work will be handled by your chosen website vendor, who will adapt your site to ensure full compliance with the new accessibility standards. This upgrade generally does not require any major changes to your existing website. If you previously received an upgrade to your existing website through the Digital that Delivers Programme, there may be some additional work required. However, most of this once again will be handled by your website vendor, with some input from you.
▶ Once approved you will be issued a Letter of Offer, the terms and conditions of which you will be asked to accept on the Trade Portal, confirming your commitment to participate in the Scheme. Your Project Co-ordinator You will be introduced to a dedicated Project Co-ordinator, who will be your primary point of contact for the duration of this Scheme. Their role is to ensure you feel fully supported and informed throughout. Once accepted into the Scheme, they will reach out to you directly to introduce themselves and will be available to answer any questions you may have. Who is eligible to apply? ▶ Businesses that have completed Fáilte Ireland’s Digital that Delivers Programme. ▶ If you previously received a new or upgraded website through the Digital that Delivers Programme and now require accessibility upgrades to meet the latest WCAG 2.2 AA standards, you are eligible to apply. ▶ Businesses whose websites did not, at the time of participating in Digital that Delivers Programme, require a new or upgraded website, but now require accessibility work to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards, can also apply for this Scheme. ▶ Businesses that
Benefits of getting involved
Creating an inclusive online experience is one of the biggest opportunities for tourism businesses today which offers many tangible benefits. ▶ Compliance with new EEA legislation in Ireland. ▶ Access to a broader audience by offering a better and more accessible user experience. ▶ Better user engagement as an easily navigable site means people stick around longer. ▶ Improved search engine optimisation (SEO) performance to increase the findability of your business online by search engines and AI Chatbots. ▶ Creates a positive brand image, and positions your business as a brand that cares about accessibility for all. ▶ Become a leader in digital accessibility and inclusive tourism.
previously received funding for digital content work, or those that did not require the content workstream previously, can apply to upgrade their digital content to meet the new accessibility standards.
Unlock new opportunities, make your visitor experience accessible to all, and gain a competitive edge in the market.
How does the Scheme work?
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▶ Once you express your interest, a review will be undertaken to check the eligibility of your business (see terms and conditions on pg. 7) ▶ If your business qualifies, an audit of your website will be undertaken to determine the level of funding required to make it fully accessible. ▶ You will then receive confirmation of your eligibility and an invitation to apply for your investment grant through Fáilte Ireland’s Trade Portal.
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WEB ACCESSIBILITY GRANT SCHEME | PROSPECTUS
WEB ACCESSIBILITY GRANT SCHEME | PROSPECTUS
When will the Scheme commence? ▶ The first phase** of this Scheme will commence in June 2025. ▶ Your project will run over a period of up to 6 months.
Terms and Conditions
▶ If you have already upgraded your website to meet WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards you are not eligible to apply for this Scheme. ▶ Businesses that have already procured a vendor, and are currently undergoing WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility upgrades, do not qualify for additional support under this Programme. ▶ Applicants must be fully compliant with the terms and conditions of their previous Digital that Delivers Programme Letter of Offer and data sharing conditions to the satisfaction of Fáilte Ireland. ▶ Applicants must qualify for the grant under the De Minimis Regulation (Commission Regulation) meaning they have not exceeded the €300,000 aid ceiling from any source over a three-year fiscal period. For more information, please refer to Fáilte Ireland’s State Aid Handbook. Applicants will be required to provide a declaration confirming that they have not exceeded and will not exceed this ceiling and should note that the EU is drawing up a register of all De Minimis funding on which details of this funding will be entered. ▶ Those applying on behalf of a grantee business should be in a leadership or management position, e.g. an Owner, Commercial Manager, Sales & Marketing Manager, or General Manager of the grantee business. The applicant must have management responsibility for website development, accessibility compliance and the performance of the website’s booking system. ▶ Applicants must be authorised to commit to their business dedicating 8 hours to capability development, including the completion of three digital accessibility courses. This will include a mix of online and self-directed learning aimed at upskilling your team to improve business operations. ▶ Grantees must have a live, standalone website in order to be eligible under this Scheme. ▶ Grantees website should have Google Analytics tracking installed so that progress and performance can be monitored. ▶ Once approved, Grantees must work with a website vendor from an approved list of trusted, vetted vendors with the expertise to meet the specific needs of your project. ▶ Please note that only work related to website and digital content upgrades to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards will be considered in scope for this Scheme. Other types of website improvements or upgrades will not be eligible. For other courses please see Fáilte Ireland’s Business Supports Hub. ▶ *Investment Grant Funding up to a maximum value of €10,000 is available to applicants. The level of funding offered may be dependent on the requirements of your website and content, which will be determined by an external accessibility review and audit. Where the audit determines that accessibility upgrades exceed this value, Grantees will be liable to fund any additional amount. ▶ **This Scheme will run over two phases, the first will commence in June 2025, with a later phase planned provisionally to commence in January 2026. Acceptance into the Scheme will be based on eligibility, demand, availability of funding, compliance with the terms and conditions of the earlier funding and allocated on a first come first served basis.
▶ Once you accept your official Letter of Offer, work will begin almost immediately by completing a short survey to assess your digital maturity. ▶ You will be provided with a Digital Roadmap which will outline the milestones and timings specific to your project, aligned to your capacity. ▶ You will select an approved vendor(s) from our panel of trusted, vetted vendors with the expertise to meet the specific needs of your project and upgrade the accessibility of your website and digital content to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA standards. ▶ The development of your website will then begin, and you will work with both the vendor and your Project Co-ordinator to ensure that milestones are met, and the final product aligns with your requirements. ▶ You will participate in three digital accessibility learning courses as part of the Scheme over the six-month period, with access to other optional resources and training to undertake at your own pace. ▶ Your Project Co-ordinator will introduce you to a booking system consultant who will undertake a review of your system set up to ensure it is optimised for performance and data quality. This typically will take 1-2 days to complete. ▶ Throughout your project, you will receive support and guidance to deliver a successful outcome.
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For further information on this Web Accessibility Grant Scheme, please email customersupport@failteireland.ie or visit www.failteireland.ie
© FÁILTE IRELAND 2025
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