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Compliance Updates

EGARA & CityMaaS Launch First Gambling-Focused Accessibility Toolkit Ahead of June Compliance Deadline

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Digital accessibility has become a legal, reputational, and operational risk that gambling operators can no longer afford to ignore. With less than three months until EU Member States must begin enforcing national laws implementing the European Accessibility Act (EAA), gambling industry stakeholders face a fast-approaching compliance challenge.

Failure to meet accessibility requirements could expose operators to financial penalties, enforcement action, public scrutiny, and consumer litigation—especially if key features like responsible gaming tools are not accessible to all users. We’ve already seen how this can unfold in the United States, where thousands of lawsuits have been filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act against digital platforms, including online gambling operators.

In response, gambling advisory firm EGARA and accessibility technology and certification provider CityMaaS have announced a strategic partnership to deliver the first-ever accessibility solution tailored to gambling operators by combining their respective fields of expertise.

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This includes accessibility audits, product integration support, certification, and staff training—all delivered with a deep understanding of the unique demands and risks faced by licensed operators in highly regulated gaming markets. It addresses a long-overlooked risk area that also ties directly into responsible gaming, fairness, and user protection.

Key highlights of the EGARA x CityMaaS Partnership:

  • Readiness check: The partnership between EGARA and CityMaaS offers operators a readiness check and manual to implement across their business.
  • Certification: The partnership offers operators a solution to certify their accessibility offering. This will prove highly important for operators as several gambling regulators have confirmed the regulations are in scope and are already themselves being called to action by accessibility enforcement bodies.
  • Audit function: The partnership offers a tailored auditing, reviewing platforms’ accessibility offering, ensuring they reach more customers, more effectively in line with the projected regulations, while ensuring critical features like responsible gaming tools are available to everyone with fairness, transparency and actual protection of all groups.
  • ESG and Responsible Leadership: The collaboration offers bespoke advice and training to ensure operators lead— and not just comply—by embedding fairness and inclusion into the core of digital player experiences across all offerings including websites and customer service functions.
  • Technical Solution: CityMaaS’s technology incorporates the latest advancements in accessibility, providing a robust and reliable solution for EGARA’s clients in the gambling industry.

Operators and platform providers can begin accessibility readiness assessments now: www.egara.co/contact-us.

Jessica Maier, Co-founder of EGARA said: “Despite its transformative potential to harmonize accessibility standards across the EU, the European Accessibility Act has surprisingly remained underdiscussed within our sector, leaving many organisations unprepared for its imminent impact. Through our partnership with CityMaaS, we’re enabling operators to rapidly close any existing gaps to reduce legal and reputational risk, and ultimately make gambling platforms more inclusive and sustainable, bolstering responsible gaming efforts and providing opportunity for sustainable growth.

“CityMaaS is thrilled to collaborate with EGARA to bring our state-of-the-art accessibility solutions to the gambling sector. Together, we are setting a new standard for accessibility and user experience,” said Rene Perkins, CEO of CityMaaS.

The post EGARA & CityMaaS Launch First Gambling-Focused Accessibility Toolkit Ahead of June Compliance Deadline appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) Selects New Board Chair

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The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) has announced Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, as its new Board Chair for SIGA’s Board of Directors.

SIGA is a non-profit First Nation gaming operator for seven land-based casinos and the online gaming platform PlayNow.com in Saskatchewan.

Chief Cook-Searson first joined SIGA’s Board of Directors in 2018 and has been a regular SIGA Board member as well as a member of SIGA’s Audit & Finance Committee.

She is serving in her 20th year as Chief of Lac La Ronge Indian Band and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree and a graduate diploma in management from Athabasca University. She also holds honorary degrees from the University of Regina, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

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Chief Cook-Searson replaces outgoing Board Chair former Chief of Muskowekwan First Nation Reginald Bellerose, who has held the Board Chair position since February 4, 2015.

The post The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA) Selects New Board Chair appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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ACMA Blocks More llegal Online Gambling Websites

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has requested the Australian internet service providers (ISPs) to block more illegal online gambling sites, after investigations found these services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The latest sites blocked include Casiny, CoinPoker, Crown Play, Fafabet9, SlotFred, Smart 93 and Vigor Spin.

Website blocking is one of a range of enforcement options to protect Australians against illegal online gambling. Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 1251 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked. Around 220 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal online gambling rules in 2017.

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The post ACMA Blocks More llegal Online Gambling Websites appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

Norway Progress Party Renew Calls to End Gambling Monopoly

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Norway’s state-run gambling model could soon face a major change. With the next general election scheduled for September 8, the Progress Party is renewing calls to end the national gambling monopoly.

Speaking at a May conference hosted by the Norwegian Online Gaming Association (Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill), MP Silje Hjemdal reiterated her party’s long-standing position that Norway must move towards a liberalised market. The call echoes the Progress Party’s 2021 election manifesto and gains momentum as similar reforms unfold in neighbouring Finland.

Hjemdal, a member of the Storting’s family and culture committee, highlighted successful remote gambling frameworks in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. While she stopped short of endorsing a specific model, she expressed admiration for Denmark’s regulatory setup.

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“I haven’t landed on a concrete model, but what’s happening in Denmark is very exciting. I’d gladly take a study trip there to learn more,” she said.

She also pointed to the broader risks of maintaining the monopoly, noting that large sums of money continue to flow out of the country through unlicensed platforms.

“We are one of the very few countries left using this model. There’s a clear need for better regulation—under the current system, Norwegian sports and culture lose out as money is spent offshore,” Hjemdal added.

The Progress Party isn’t alone in pushing for change. The Conservative Party also supports opening Norway’s gambling market and included the proposal in its latest manifesto, released in September 2023.

Carl Stenstrøm, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Online Gaming Association, believes the upcoming election could prove decisive. In a previous interview, he described the current level of cross-party support as the strongest yet for ending the monopoly, with liberalisation potentially arriving by 2028.

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The post Norway Progress Party Renew Calls to End Gambling Monopoly appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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