WAI-CooP open meeting 7 March 2023

WAI-CooP open meeting 7 March 2023
from2 pm to 4 pm

Online. Zoom

From 2 pm to 4 pm CET (Brussels time)

Online. Zoom

The Web Accessibility Initiative Communities of Practice (WAI-CooP) project  is organising a new open meeting on 7 March.

This event will focus on the feedback mechanism and complaints procedure of the Web Accessibility Directive.

In a recent evaluation report on the implementation of the Web Directive the European Commission highlighted the fact that the feedback and enforcement mechanisms have not yet reached their full potential.  There are many questions to discuss:

  • Are public sector bodies aware of these mechanisms? Are they easy for users to find?
  • What is the experience of users who provide feedback on web accessibility to public sector bodies? What are the challenges?
  • How many users take things further and complain to enforcement authorities? What is their experience?
  • How could the feedback and enforcement mechanisms be improved? What can we learn from the first years of implementation of the directive?

Panelists from public sector bodies, enforcement bodies and the disability community will be debating these issues, followed by discussion with online participants.

The event is open to all and may be of interest to practitioners from public authorities or the private sector; organisations representing people with disabilities; researchers; product or service providers; training providers, NGOs, as well as policy makers.

This meeting will take place on Tuesday 7 March 2022 from 14:00 to 16:00 CET (Brussels time).

Background

The WAI-CooP Project, Communities of Practice, is a Coordination and Support Action project, co-funded by the European Commission (EC) under the Horizon 2020 programme (Grant Agreement 101004794). The project supports implementation of international standards for digital accessibility through:

  • Establishing vendor-neutral overview on available training, tools, and resources internationally
  • Analyzing technological advancements and coordinating with relevant research and development
  • Providing opportunities for key stakeholders to share resources and to exchange best practices

Agenda

14h00  Welcome: Alejandro Moledo, EDF Deputy Director

14h10  Introduction: June Lowery-Kingston, Head of Unit, EC Unit on Accessibility, Multilingualism and Safer Internet

14h15  Panel 1: The Web Directive’s feedback mechanism

  • Tanja Kleut, Web Accessibility Specialist, European Parliament, Luxembourg
  • George Rhodes, Digital Accessibility Team Lead, University of Westminster and Director, All Able Ltd, UK
  • Claartje Sadée, ICT Accessibility Policy Officer, Iederin, Netherlands

Discussion with online participants

15h10  Panel 2: The Web Directive’s enforcement procedure

  • Katie Durand, Digital Accessibility Expert, Federation for the Blind, France
  • Anete Ilves, Legal Counselor, Ombudsman Office, Latvia
  • Bart Simons, Web Accessibility Expert, Anysurfer, Belgium

Discussion with online participants

15h50  Conclusion and takeaways

  • June Lowery-Kingston, Head of Unit, EC Unit on Accessibility, Multilingualism and Safer Internet
  • Kevin White, W3C Accessibility Development and Operations Lead and WAI-CooP Project Lead

16h00 Event closes

This meeting will take place on the Zoom teleconference system with real-time captioning in English and International sign interpretation. It will not be recorded.

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