In July 2025, new legal requirements will enter into force for digital accessibility of products and services in the private sector. The public sector is already covered by similiar rules. Here you find information about QR codes for BankID in your services.
Accessible QR codes
The legal requirements mean that the accessibility standards WCAG (level AA) and EN 301 549 need to be met.
If you use BankID in your e-services, among other things this affects the flow used when the customer visits the service on, for example, a computer, but uses BankID on another device, such as a phone. In this flow, an animated QR code is shown, which the visitor scans with their BankID app.
For people with impaired vision, motor impairment or digital unfamiliarity, the display time of QR codes is often too short. In the case of imparied vision, it can also be difficult to know whether the QR code is visible in its entirety or not, which affects the reading.
Timings for QR codes
To enhance accessibility for QR code, your e-service should:
Provide an option to easily extend the time when at least 20 seconds remain.
Provide the option to generate a new QR code, at least 10 times.
Use a long enough display time, preferably at least 5 minutes.
Read the full requirements here
It's your responsibility to ensure your e-service meets the demands before the new law is in force by July 2025.
Improve the experience for visitors with impaired vision
To further facilitate visitors with impaired vision, you can, among other things:
Make the QR code clickable so that it opens in full screen mode in the browser. The aim is for the entire code to be visible, even on smaller screens.
Include a clear description for screen readers, for example: “QR code, scan at arm's length. Press for full screen.”
Make the QR code "sticky" and adjust the size to the size of the window. Then it's visible even if the visitor has scrolled down, zoomed in on the browser or has a small browser window. This can work well in some services but not others, depending on if the sticky QR will hide other important content on the page or not.
Read more in this article from Axess lab
How it can look
Below you will see a QR code with a countdown and the option to extend the display time.
See live example
On our website for testing your BankID you can see our example which meets the new requirements. Open the site through the link below and select ”start the test”. You don’t need to perform the test to see the accessibility adjustments.
Instructions for your QR code for BankID
The QR code used for BankID in your service is generated by you. To increase security, animated QR codes are used, which means that they must be updated continuously.
The QR code must be renewed every second.
The codes must be generated continuously, not in advance as pre-generation would lower security.
The order to our server is valid for 30 seconds. To give a longer display time, you can create new orders, for example for five minutes.
If the visitor is approaching a time-out, you should give them the opportunity to extend the time. This means that a new order must be created.
Read more technical instructions for the QR code in our technical guide.
