Talk:The three musketeers of ICT for development: Access, inclusion and empowerment – WS 02 2014

This is the discussion site for the session Accessibility and social inclusion

Possible WS Themes

• Accessibility: an important vector to be winner on the Global Market of ICT.
• The potential of the accessibility of ICT to an Inclusive Society
• Digital society at stake: the potential of ICT’s accessibility
• Accessibility and Inclusion: two vectors of innovation in European Digital Society
• Accessibility: a vector of innovation in a European Digital Society
• Access and opportunities for e-societies
• (…)

Background

"The power of the Web is in its universality.
Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
— Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and Inventor of the World Wide Web

European Norm 301549: Accessibility requirements for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe

Approved on 19 February 2014. This new standard (EN 301 549) is the first European Standard for accessible ICT. It is intended in particular for use by public authorities and other public sector bodies during procurement, to ensure that websites, software, digital devices are more accessible – so they may be used by persons with a wide range of abilities.

Luis Jorge Romero, ETSI’s Director General said: "Addressing accessibility is now becoming an important market-driven necessity and ETSI aims to help industry and operators to avoid creating technologies that exclude users from the information society. We also aim to help increase the quality and usability of products and services for everyone, with standardization processes that ensure consideration of 'Design for All' issues in every newly developed standard if appropriate."

CEN, CENELEC and ETSI have made sure that the accessibility requirements contained in their documents are consistent with other global accessibility requirements. This will help to expand and open-up the international market for accessible ICT products and services.

EAA - European Accessibility Act

“There are EU Member States that have advanced a lot when it comes to the accessibility of persons with disabilities in the society, and some others that have been left behind. The EU has the important role to push its Member States to take steps towards the inclusion of persons with disabilities in every aspect of life, as it is foreseen in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that it has ratified. That can only happen if its citizens with disabilities have access to goods and services as all the other citizens. The adoption of a broad and legally binding European Accessibility Act will be a strong booster for growth and employment in Europe, while it will also reinforce the European Commission’s recently published legislative proposal on the accessibility of public websites”, stressed EDF President, Yannis Vardakastanis.

The Act represents an opportunity for the Commission to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), which has been signed by all Member States and ratified by a majority of EU countries and by the EU itself.

Commissioner Reding confirmed that the European Commission will take on this commitment and confirmed that the Act is included in its 2014 work plan. The Vice President also referred to the preparatory work that the Commission has carried out to assess the impact of possible measures to improve the accessibility of goods and services in the internal market. The objective is to present a proposal for binding measures that would combine both, improvement of accessibility and growth potential for EU companies.

In December 2013 the Commission organised a high level meeting with a number of CEOs of European companies to discuss the impact that the Act could have on the goods and services they provide.

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the accessibility of public sector bodies' websites

An article with the latest news of the Directive by Jan Jellinek: http://www.ukauthority.com/tabid/64/Default.aspx?id=4610

Tough new rules requiring all EU public sector websites to be accessible to users with disabilities - enforced by (1) close monitoring, (2) a public complaints system and (3) fines set at a level high enough to be "effective and dissuasive" against non-compliance - moved a step closer in the end of last february after members of the European Parliament voted to beef up a proposed European Directive on Accessibility of Public Sector Bodies' Websites. A strengthened version of the law, with more than 70 amendments, was backed by MEPs by 593 votes to 40, with 13 abstentions.

To the 12 categories proposed by the European Commission such as social security benefits and enrollment in higher education, the parliament also wants the new rules to apply to websites run by "entities performing public tasks", such as energy utility companies and companies providing outsourced public services such as transport or health care. Groups and associations of public sector bodies would also be covered by the law as amended, as would "websites developed, procured, maintained or co-financed by public sector bodies or co-financed by EU funds."

Questions

• What was the main aims of Web Accessibility Directive?
• What could be the impact of a policy document like European Accessibility Act?
• Is the ICT's "EU market" loosing market to "US market" because they have the section 508 in action at a time and we only now have a EN301549 that need to be put in practice?

• Could the Accessibility be an Innovative driver of the ICT’s development?
• How the EN 301549 will help to expand and open-up the international market for accessible ICT products and services? What could be the impact to the market?
• Is the EN 301549 "Accessibility requirements for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe" the section 508 of Europe? Are we, actually, loosing money because the US have the section 508 and we don't have nothing similar until now?
• In the field of Internet, what could be done by the stakeholders responsible by the Internet Governance to improve the accessibility?

• What is the importance of ICT Public Procurement to improve accessibility features?
• What is the potential of ICT's Accessibility to Inclusion of people with disabilities?
• Are we (Europeans) loosing something because we don't have an Act like section 508 in US?
• What is the vision of EDF to implement the EN301549?
• Do we need sanctions to improve the ICT innovation?
• How to see the accessibility like a driver of ICT innovation?

Possible Invitations

• 1 person of CEN/CENELEC & ETSI related w/ EN301549
• 1 person of EDF to give us the position of users w/ disabilities
• 1 person of COM/DG Justice
• 1 person of a German Agency responsible to public procurement of ICT.