The following article is the third article in our series on the European Accessibility Summit. It focuses on the panel on public procurement.
Also:
- Find the summary of the first sessions: Keynote and session on the European Accessibility Act.
- Find the summary of the sessions on Artificial Intelligence.
- Find the summary of the sessions on higher education and on video game accessibility.
Public Procurement and accessibility
The panel discussed how public procurement can drive the adoption of accessible products and services.
The panellists included:
- Inmaculada Placencia, Disability Expert, European Commission
- Peter Kemeny, Lead Technical Report for Public Procurement, ACCICT Project
- Stephanie Cadieux, Chief Accessibility Officer, Government of Canada
- Lucia Cojocaru, Head of the Sustainability and Accessibility Policy Unit, European Parliament
It was moderated by Thomas Bignal, Secretary General of the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities.
Thomas Bignal explained the importance of public procurement with a clear number:
14% of the European Union’s Gross Domestic Product
He continued highlighting:
It’s all public infrastructure that exists, it can be schools, hospitals, streets (…), whilst we digitalize our public services, it’s how they are built…
Main conclusions of the panel included:
- While the European rules on Public Procurement require an obligation on buying accessible, the rules are often incorrectly followed. The EU needs to revise these rules.
- The need for more support for authorities, especially authorities at the local level, to Include accessibility in the procurement processes (how to require accessibility, check the offers received, etc.).
- Likewise, more support for organisations and persons with disabilities to have the possibility and resources to engage and understand public procurement.
Stephanie Cadieux summarised the challenges by stating,
It’s not just about securing accessible products, it’s about ensuring that the process of procurement, the whole thing end-to-end is accessible.
The last two sessions focused on higher education and on video game accessibility.