We hosted a joint webinar with Oracle on 19 September 2024 to discuss how standards facilitate accessibility of ICT products and services in a digital world and support the implementation of accessibility legislation.
Speakers included:
- Fernando Machicado, Spanish Standardization Association (UNE) and AccessibleEU Centre.
- Kent Boucher, Senior Director, Oracle Accessibility Program Office.
- Chuck Adams, Senior Principal of Accessibility Standards, Oracle Accessibility Program Office.
- Susanna Laurin, Chairperson Joint Technical Body (JTB) eAccessibility (CEN-CENELEC/ ETSI), Funka Foundation (Sweden).
- Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director and Head of Policy (EDF).
Main outcomes
Panellists highlighted that:
- Standards are an essential tool to provide guidance on implementing accessibility requirements.
- It is essential that persons with disabilities and their representative organisations get involved with standardisation bodies – they should also try to learn about standardisation as it can be overwhelming to get directly involved.
- The fast pace of technological change presents both risks and opportunities to accessibility.
Susanna Laurin started her presentation by reminding us that the use of standards is voluntary, and that is why it’s important to use them together with accessibility laws, such as the European Accessibility Act and the Web Accessibility Directive.
She explained that harmonised standards, which are developed together by users, private organisations, experts and researchers, hold a certain weight as they give a clear way to meet legal requirements.
She explained that the European Commission requested that European Standardisation Bodies create harmonised standards that allow organisations to comply with the European Accessibility Act and the Web Accessibility Directive. They are updating 3 standards:
- accessibility requirements for ICT products and services (called EN 301549);
- design for all (EN 17161);
- accessibility and usability of the built environment (EN 17210);
They are also creating 3 new standards on:
- accessibility of emergency communications;
- non-digital information related to products;
- accessibility of support services like customer services and help desks.
She added that they are working on improvements in guidance documents to support accessibility in public procurement and in how public authorities get and provide accessible products and services.
She ended by informing that, unfortunately, these standards will not be ready by the time the European Accessibility Act comes into force.
Fernando Machicado, representing AccessibleEU, explained how this resource centre supports governments and stakeholders with information on accessibility and networking possibilities between stakeholders. He explained that the Centre is involved in the standardisation bodies and produced a guidance document on accessibility standards. He also shared that Fundacion ONCE provides free access to standards for organisations of persons with disabilities through the platform Accessibilitas.
Kent Boucher, Senior Director at the Oracle Accessibility Program, shared the business perspective on implementing ICT accessibility. He explained the 5 tenants that Oracle deploys to ensure accessible solutions: strategy, leadership, collaboration, impact, and awareness. He also added that Oracle is active in leading accessibility and standardisation in international standards organisations, like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) working group on Accessibility Guidelines. Oracle collaborates with users and representative organisations to ensure their solutions provide added value to their customers and people using their products. More information about Oracle’s work on standards and accessibility can be found at Oracle’s Accessibility Program website and at the Standards at Oracle website.
Future of ICT standards
The second half featured a panel on the present and future of ICT standards.
Chuck Adams, Senior Principal of Accessibility Standards at Oracle, shared some challenges faced when applying standards, including the fast pace of technological development. He stressed the Oracle leadership in accessibility standards and industry consortia that enable Oracle to drive innovations in global web accessibility and create accessible products for its customers.
Alejandro Moledo started his intervention by focusing on risks, including potential discrimination due to AI and a focus on cost-efficiency often leading to exclusion of accessibility in IT solutions. He recalled that persons with disabilities bring lived experience to the process of standards development but that they need to partner with accessibility experts as they often lack the technical expertise. He also highlighted opportunities such as the personalisation of accessibility solutions, improving the creation of accessibility content and accessibility monitoring.
Fernando Machicado added the risk of persons with disabilities being excluded from the development of standards and solutions.
Susanna Laurin warned that while accessibility is about providing the user with a choice, over-personalisation may lead to problems and make solutions difficult to find. She shared the need to develop accessibility standards, as the scope of current standards is limited.
Panellists shared some ways to be involved with standard development, including by reaching out to national standards organisations and organisations of persons with disabilities. Panellists recommended that disability organisations join and partner with national standardisation bodies, accessibility experts and standardisation professionals. Susanna added that it is also important to first search for courses to understand standardisation.