Lviv adapts city council website to international accessibility standards — what will change for people with visual impairments
The city, together with SoftServe, has updated its website to meet WCAG standards: a brief look at the specific changes, why they matter, and how this ties into the development of digital infrastructure.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
March 10, 2026 · 2 min read
Update of the Lviv City Council website
According to LIGA.net, as part of an accessibility policy the Lviv City Council, in cooperation with IT company SoftServe, conducted an audit and implemented a number of changes that improve the site’s accessibility for people with visual impairments. Work began in 2025 and included a review of three municipal resources — the city council website, the Center for the Provision of Administrative Services (CNAP), and the "Meshkanets" portal. Priority changes were implemented on the city council website, since it has the largest user audience.
What exactly was done
Specialists adapted the resource in accordance with international web accessibility standards (WCAG):
• support for screen readers — page structure and semantics allow content to be read correctly; • text descriptions for images (alt); • increased contrast of interface elements; • more noticeable links for easier navigation.
“We carried out an audit and implemented recommendations for working with screen readers, added descriptive captions to images and increased contrast — these are basic steps so that people with visual impairments can use municipal services on an equal footing,”
— a representative of SoftServe (according to LIGA.net)
Why this matters
Accessibility is not only about social justice, but also about the efficiency of public services. When a site is designed according to WCAG, more people can independently search for information, submit applications and receive information and documents without additional technical support. This reduces the load on CNAPs and increases the speed of service.
Context: 5G and digital inclusion
The site update is taking place alongside the deployment of 5G in the city. This matters: high speed and network coverage do not automatically make services accessible — separate technical and UX solutions are required.
“5G will cover only part of Ukraine by 2030,”
— Stanislav Prybytko, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation (via LIGA.net)
Therefore, local initiatives to improve accessibility remain critically important — even where infrastructure is expanding, without correct layout and content structure people with visual impairments can be effectively cut off from services.
Conclusion
The update of the Lviv City Council website is a practical step toward an inclusive digital state. The next task is to scale the approach to other municipal services (CNAP, "Meshkanets") and ensure regular testing with users who have visual impairments. Whether there will be enough resources and political will for systematic implementation is the key question for local digital transformation.
