Anti-discrimination is written into the Constitution of Finland: Nobody is without acceptable grounds to be discriminated against because of their gender, age, ethnic origin, language, religion, conviction, opinion, health, disability, or any other cause related to a personal trait. There are no other anti-discrimination laws in Finland but instead there are laws with the same aim: they regulate services for the disabled. In Finland, however, municipalities enjoy great freedom in forming their policy and practice on services for the disabled, and unfortunately, legislation is followed in an extremely varying degree across the country.
There is no legislation or regulation concerning Design for All in Finland. However, both the concept and the aim, although not always labelled Design for All, are increasingly present in government-initiated research and development projects. In the Nordic Forum for Telecommunications and Disability (under Nordic Co-operation on Disability, under Nordic Council of Ministers), Finland participates in solving questions around disability and the information society in the Nordic countries. As part of the eEurope Action Plan, the Ministry of Education, Stakes, and the Ministry of Social Affairs are preparing the establishment of national centres of excellence in Design for All.
Finland's consumer policy central objectives are collected into the Consumer Policy Programme for the years 2000-2003, written by the Advisory Council on Consumer Affairs, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The programme states that Information Society services must be available to all population groups both technically and economically and that all population groups must be able to use essential services with reasonable conditions.
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