One of the most awaited initiatives of the new EU Disability Rights Strategy is the launch of a resource centre for accessibility called AccessibleEU. This centre aims to bring together public authorities, persons with disabilities, accessibility professionals, and the private sector to share good practices across sectors, inspire policy development, and develop tools and standards to facilitate the implementation of accessibility policies in the EU. But concretely, how can accessibility resource centres help bridge the gap between these policies and the impact on the everyday lives of persons with disabilities? Will the AccessibleEU resource centre be able to live up to expectations? What can we learn from similar initiatives?
To answer these questions, and on the occasion of the Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we brought together representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, the US Access Board, the Polish Access Board, professionals, and private sector representatives. The event was co-sponsored by the European Commission and G3ICT and was covered live on Twitter.
Moderated by Catherine Naughton, Director of the European Disability Forum, the discussion was framed around the following points:
- The European Commission plans for the AccessibleEU centre;
- The similarities and differences between the US Access Board, Polish Access Board and future AccessibleEU centre;
- The inclusion of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in accessibility resource centres;
- Expectations for and opportunities brought by the AccessibleEU centre for accessibility professionals and the European disability movement;
The main messages shared by speakers included:
- We need to raise awareness, create a community of practice, and develop knowledge;
- Countries must have a designated government body to work with and protect persons with disabilities. They also need to be committed to international accessibility standards.
- The AccessibleEU centre is an opportunity to fill gaps in areas of knowledge and practice and make accessibility everyones responsibility.
Sachin Dev Pavithran, Executive Director of the United States Access Board – one of the initiatives that inspired the proposals for and creation of the AccessibleEU centre – took the floor to present the board’s role and responsibilities: to set standards for facilities, and the accessibility of all federal spaces, address the various aspects of accessibility, and work on standards and guides in cooperation with accessibility experts and persons with disabilities.
Inmaculada Placencia Porrero Senior Expert on Disability, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, spoke about the EU investment in the development of standards on accessibility in Europe. She highlighted the role of the AccessibleEU centre in facilitating the implementation of EU accessibility legislation and these standards: “We need to raise awareness, reach out to those who need to implement accessibility, invest in creating a community of practice, and build more knowledge”,
Przemysław Herman, Deputy Director of Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, and representing the Polish Access Board, stressed the importance of the composition of the Polish Access Board: “it is based on two pillars: one is a unit, the other is comprised of 50 persons from different sectors advising our Ministry. Together we developed standards and guidelines in consultation with people with disabilities”.
Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Senior Coordinator for Digital Inclusion at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), warned about the challenges of building capacity and implementing policies; “confusion when we talk and say, access, affordability, and accessibility. We need to be able to speak all the same and the correct and right language and have a common understanding”.
Axel Leblois, President at G3ICT and CEO at the International Association of Accessibility Professionals referred to the Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation (DARE) Index as a source of information and indicator for countries to perform better in term of implementing accessibility policies. He explained that the best-performing countries had a designated government body to work with and protect persons with disabilities and were committed to international accessibility standards.
Katrin Langensiepen, Member of the European Parliament and of its Disability Intergroup, spoke on the Parliament’s opinion regarding the AccessibleEU centre, highlighting the need for the initiative to rely on “persons with disabilities’ expertise” and “connect the different Member States and NGOs”.
For Jennifer Chadwick, Senior Accessibility Consultant at Siteimprove, the AccessibleEU centre is a great opportunity for private companies which would like to adapt their work; “having a resource center or focus points on accessibility would be a perfect way to fill gaps in areas of knowledge and practice, particularly in three areas: a process for procuring accessible web service agencies and software; creating an effective EU Accessibility Statement that outlines how your website is supporting end-user needs, and role-based training to increase ownership and accountability, as accessibility is everyone’s responsibility”.
Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director at European Disability Forum, concluded the discussion by sharing the European disability movement’s expectations for the AccessibleEU centre. The initial proposal from EDF and its members was to propose the establishment of an EU regulatory agency, similar to the US and the Polish Access Boards. Even without a legal role to play, the European disability movement expects the AccessibleEU centre to involve all parties, and support implementation, coherence, monitoring, and enforcement of accessibility legislation, including accessibility-related standardisation efforts.
Related resources shared during the event:
- ITU’s online self-paced training on ICT digital accessibility
- ITU’s online self-paced training on Web accessibility
- ITU’s online self-paced training on ensuring inclusive communication
- ITU’s toolkit and self-assessment for ICT accessibility implementation