City of Helsinki’s Accessibility Model

The Accessibility Model is a collection of methods and guidelines developed by the City of Helsinki to be utilised for providing accessible, easy-to-use and, subsequently, effective services.

Photo: Jussi Hellsten

Read more about Helsinki’s Accessibility Model, which will provide you with help and support in your own development work. Let us create beautiful and accessible service experiences together! The software developer section is only available in English.

The purpose and the objective of the Accessibility Model

  • The purpose of the Accessibility Model is to:

    Provide support for and help with the implementation of accessibility, from service development to final release.

    Support you when you want to take accessibility into consideration in the different lifecycle stages of the service.

    Provide tools and methods for ensuring the accessibility is realised in practical work.

    Help you ensure that your service development processes meet the requirements of the Act on the Provision of Digital Services.

  • The objective of the Accessibility Model is to:

    Improve our ability to efficiently produce services that are optimised to work well for all Helsinki residents: Our services are suited for everyone!

    Unify our know-how: We take care of accessibility together!

    Reduce our dependence on individual suppliers: We have the know-how!

Photo: Jussi Hellsten

Digital accessibility benefits everyone

The more accessible a service is, the easier it is to use for everyone. Accessibility and usability are always directly related. By taking special groups into consideration, you can improve the user experience for everyone.

Remember that optimal accessibility and usability can only be achieved when the service is created with accessibility in mind from the start. Attempts to add accessibility to a service retroactively or at the end of the process are rarely successful.

You might be interested

Be sure to also read the City of Helsinki’s other development-related online guides to help you create digital services accessibility first.

  • Helsinki Design System

    Helsinki Design System (HDS) provides a component library for designing user interfaces. HDS is an open source design system intended for designers and developers.

  • Pelikirja

    The Pelikirja (‘Playbook’) website will provide you with support (in Finnish) for utilising service design in the development of digital services and websites. You will also find key instructions and guides for customer-oriented development.

  • Visual Identity Guidelines

    Brand.hel.fi brings together the City’s Visual Identity Guidelines and presents its brand strategy.

City of Helsinki intranet page (for City of Helsinki employees only).