MEPs require major digital companies to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities

26.11.2021

EDF

European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee adopted its position on the Digital Markets Act (DMA), including requiring major digital companies to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities when meeting their obligations under the DMA. The text will be voted in the European Parliament plenary in December 2021, after which it will become the Parliament’s official position in negotiations with the Council.

On 23 November 2021, the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) of the European Parliament (hereafter ‘the Committee’) adopted its position on the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) proposal, which sets rules on what companies with “gatekeeper” status will be allowed to do and not to do in the EU.

What is the DMA?

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims to regulate major companies that provide digital services such as online intermediation services, social networks, search engines, operating systems, online advertising services, cloud computing, and video-sharing services, which meet the relevant criteria to be considered as “gatekeepers”. MEPs added web browsers, virtual assistants, and connected TV to the scope of the DMA.

What is a gatekeeper?

To qualify as a “gatekeeper” and fall under the DMA, a company must have a minimum of 8 billion euros ($9 billion) in European turnover and an 80 billion euro market capitalisation. The rules still need to be agreed upon between the European Parliament and EU countries before they can be adopted. Companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook fall under the DMA, but the law could also apply to the travel website Booking.com, Amazon’s Chinese equivalent Alibaba and online retailer Zalando.

EDF position on the DMA

EDF has highlighted to EU legislators that with the growing importance of digital services and online platforms, especially of gatekeepers, in the lives of all persons, ensuring their accessibility is essential for persons with disabilities.

Particularly, in our position on the DMA we have called on EU legislators to ensure accessibility as an obligation for gatekeepers with the possibility of further specification under Article 6 – Obligations for gatekeepers susceptible of being further Specified.[1] We have further asked that the measures gatekeepers implement to meet their obligations under the DMA comply with the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882). These measures are described in Article 7 – Compliance with obligations for gatekeepers.

We have also noted that the definition of an ‘unfair practice’ by a gatekeeper considers equal access and choice for consumers with disabilities, as well as to make important references to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and EU accessibility law, such as the European Accessibility Act.

What we didn’t get

We regret that the Committee did not include accessibility for persons with disabilities as a direct obligation for gatekeepers as part of Article 6 – Obligations for gatekeepers susceptible of being further Specified. It is also disappointing that the amendment for including a recital in reference to the UN CRPD was voted against by majority of Committee members. Such reference to the CRPD, to which the EU and all Member States are parties, was important to demonstrate acknowledgment of rights of persons with disabilities for equal access to gatekeeper services, as enshrined in article 9 of the CRPD and in coherence with EU treaties.

What we got

On a positive note, the Committee referred to the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) in Article 7 on the measures gatekeepers must implement to comply with their obligations under the DMA. For example, the measures gatekeepers implement to enable individuals to uninstall any pre-installed software on their operating systems must be accessible for persons with disabilities by complying with the accessibility requirements of the Accessibility Act.

In recital 58, which further details the objective of Article 7, it is noted that the measures gatekeepers implement to comply with their obligations under the DMA should be as much as possible and where relevant integrated into the technological design used by the gatekeepers, and reference to the Accessibility Act is again made. In the meantime, the European Commission is given the power to further specify in a decision some of the measures that gatekeepers should adopt to comply with obligations that can still be further specified. This can allow addressing issues in relation to accessibility for persons with disabilities in the future.

Recital 11 additionally refers to the European Accessibility Act and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/1808), mentioning that the DMA complements them.

The bottom line

While the compromise text voted by the Committee doesn’t go as far as requiring accessibility for persons with disabilities as one of the core obligations for gatekeeping digital companies, it obliges them that when meeting these obligations, they ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities. This is an important requirement that will make sure that the level of rights and choice of persons with disabilities are equal to consumers without disabilities. Additionally, even though not requested by EDF, the Committee voted to prohibit targeted advertising for minors. This will in effect protect children, including those with disabilities, on social media and similar platforms.

It is important to remember that the DMA puts additional obligations on the largest players in the digital market, while a parallel EU law – the Digital Services Act (DSA) – will set the baseline rules for all relevant digital services and platforms. EDF is also campaigning to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities in the DSA.

What’s next?

The DMA will be voted on in the European Parliament plenary in December 2021 (to be confirmed, hereafter “tbc”). The approved text will then be negotiated with the Council representing the EU countries. The plan is to start under the French presidency of the Council in the first semester of 2022. The Parliament hopes to conclude trialogue negotiations and adopt the DMA by the end of 2022.

According to the European Parliament website, the Digital Services Act (DSA) will be voted on by the Committee on 9 December 2021 (tbc), with a following plenary vote in January 2022 (tbc).

Contact

Mher Hakobyan, accessibility officer (mher.hakobyan@edf-feph.org).

[1] Note that obligations of gatekeepers are defined in two articles: Article 5 lays down self-executing obligations, while Article 6 sets obligations that are susceptible to specification that the designated gatekeepers should comply with in respect of each of their core platform services listed in the relevant designation decision.