Access to the Internet and to Information Society technology is of increasing importance to the European Union. Lack of access to Web solutions and to receiving information means social exclusion, missing important educational and job opportunities and even having difficulties in exercising your democratic rights. There are 50 million persons with disabilities in the EU today, and to this number may also be added elderly people who face various challenges in using the Internet and ICT related technologies. The European Union answers these challenges both on political and legislative levels.
The EU Member States have also committed themselves to improve the accessibility of public websites generally. In particular, the Riga ministerial declaration[i] was an important political statement and indicated that all public websites should be accessible by 2010. Recent monitoring of the status of web accessibility in Europe show however that progress towards this goal remain too slow.
The recent adoption of WCAG 2.0, the ongoing work with the standardisation mandate 376[ii] on incorporating accessibility in public ICT procurements provide a new momentum for web accessibility.
2003 was the European Year of disabled people, where the European Action Plan was launched for the period up to 2010. Every second year the Commission produces a list of priorities. Accessibility remains one of the main priorities. In June 2008 a proposal for an antidiscrimination Directive was proposed to provide the right of access to goods and services and an inclusive society for all. The new Disability Strategy will include important changes since 2003:
- an enlarged EU
- the need for cohesion and mobility within EU
- the adoption and signature of all EU Member States of the UN Convention on rights of disabled people
- a changed focus from social issues to rights elements and legal rights
In all these fields the Disability Strategy must be launched. For instance accessibility is now a general obligation according to the UN Convention (Art 3), since EU has signed the Convention and will ratify it. The Convention also includes universal design and the requirement of accessible goods and services. This will also be an incitement for including universal design in European standardisation.
Member States are expected to monitor the accessibility of goods and services open to the public, and providing training for the individuals in universal design issues. The EU through the Commission will act on environments to ensure that barriers are removed.
The European Commission has several instruments at its disposal for promotion of an inclusive information society: legislation, standardization, awareness raising campaigns, funding of research and deployment programs and projects, and studies. In addition, the Commission cooperates with committees and has dialogues with stakeholder groups. The activities are covered under a common policy framework. However, specific legislation on universal design to ensure accessibility for all to Information and Communication Technology does not seem to be forthcoming in the near future. The Commission is still awaiting the attitudes to this issue from the different stakeholders and is in the mean time relying on the Public Procurement Directives to ensure that universal design is included in tenders for public authorities purchasing of ICT related goods and services.
The following are the most important EU actions in this field:
i2010 Action Plan
The Commission is now reviewing its i2010 Action Plan and this meeting is part of the consultation process. An on-line consultation is open for all to contribute to. The i2010 was launched in 2005, as a new policy framework for the European Commission, embracing all aspects of the information, communication and the audiovisual sector. The idea was to seamlessly join individual policy initiatives into a coherent strategy. The full name was "i2010 - A European information society for growth and employment". It includes broad policy guidelines for what EU calls the emerging "information society" in the years up to 2010.
i2010 aims to:
- Establish a single European information space, i.e. a truly single market for the digital economy so as to fully exploit the economies of scale, offered by Europe’s 500 million strong consumer market
- Reinforce innovation and investment in ICT research, given that ICT is a major driver of the economy and
- Promote inclusion, public services and quality of life – in other words extending the European values of inclusion and quality of life to the information society[iii]
To achieve those aims there are various actions including regulation, funding for research and pilot projects, promotion activities and partnerships with stakeholders.
Research and development
EU supported research and deployment programmes include the 6th and 7th Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7), which are ongoing long-term research programmes.
The content of ICT for e-Inclusion in FP7 for 2011-2012 is to be defined: One issue is whether research on specific aspects of web accessibility should be included?
The deployment programme, i.e. for validating (not only at technical level) implementation and demonstration of R&D-results, is ongoing in the Competiveness and Innovation ICT Policy Support Programme (CIP ICT PSP). Content of ICT for e-Inclusion in CIP 2010 is also now to be defined – one issue is whether pilots on specific aspects of web accessibility deployment should be included (e.g. public services at national, regional or local levels, other services of public interest).
Examples of recent research projects on web accessibility are:
· UWEM Assessment methodology on top of WCAG
· Automatic large scale observatory (prototype) European Internet Accessibility Observatory (EIAO)
· Labelling schemes (CEN WSA[iv]) (Support-EAM[v])
· Test suites for WCAG2.0 assessment tools (BenToWeb[vi])
· Guidelines suitability analysis for Elderly (FP6 WAI-AGE[vii])
· Adaptive web interfaces (FP6 DIADEM[viii])
· Developers assessment methodology and simulation for rich web applications (FP7 AEGIS[ix] + Accessible[x])
A current open call in the CIP program calls for a thematic network on e-accessibility[xi]. The network is expected to collect and exchange experiences on key activities accompanying the introduction of e-accessibility specifications, technical solutions, and implementation of legal obligations. Its focus should be on web accessibility (50%), communication and audiovisual systems, and self-service terminals.
The European Commission is also funding studies. Recently completed studies addressing web accessibility include:
• "Measuring progress of eAccessibility in Europe" (MeAC) analysing accessibility of ICT products and services e.g. text relay services, mobile telephones, TV from programmes public broadcasters, web accessibility and ATM's
• ”Accessibility to ICT products and services by disabled and elderly people”, this study analyses the EU-level measures on web accessibility and explores some implementation options.
Future studies expected to be launch are:
• Monitoring of e-Accessibility in Member States (MeAC follow-up),
• Web accessibility situation + WCAG2.0 plans in Member States,
• Accessibility situation + WCAG2.0 compliance in European Commission sites,
• Costs & Benefits of Accessibility, including web accessibility (WCAG2.0)
• Internal market for inclusive & assistive ICT
Mandate 376
The Commission is focusing on the use of standardisation as a tool to achieve the objectives, therefore Mandates 420 and 376 have been published on universal access on the built environment and on ICT. National initiatives will have to confirm with the European standards for instance on ICT (WCAG 2.0). National standards can in principle not differ from this. This will be a good test for the system! Already the Commission refers to standards in policy documents: e.g. toolkit for implementation of Design for All in funding from the Structural Funds. National standards must be used pending common European standards. Another example is a Guide on social considerations on public procurements. This will soon be finished. A strategy must also be made to implement on European level the UN Convention, for instance on monitoring. A mandate in this domain can be produced but this is at an early stage. Today environmental concerns are included in mainstream standardisation work and this should also be the case for Design for All. For instance “Sustainable Construction” is now an initiative, on environmental, economical and social aspects of construction. Accessibility will be part of it but this will have to be worked out.
Mandates are thus the most important tool of the European Commission to order specific standardisation work to be executed by the three European Standards Organisations, CEN, CENELEC and ETSI. For Mandate 376, DG Enterprise cooperates with DG Information Society and DG Employment.
The Mandate 376 is carried out in two phases, and this work, through CEN/BT WG 185, is now in the final part of Phase 1. Two reports are produced; one covers an inventory on current accessibility requirements used in public ICT procurements in the Member States and on international level, existing standards or technical requirements on ICT accessibility and a gap analysis on ICT areas not covered by ICT standards. The other report describes conformity assessment systems and schemes having the potential to be used for ICT accessibility standards.
Preparations for the second phase have started. This phase shall produce a European Standard with functional requirements on ICT accessibility. Web accessibility is one main issue. WCAG 2.0 will be central in the development of this standard. In addition phase 2 shall also produce a support material to assist public ICT procurers in incorporating accessibility in their procurement processes.
One discusses the content of the standard and then will follow the standard development itself. There was a broad public participation in phase 1 and there will be ample opportunity for this in phase 2 as well.
Political initiatives
An important overall framework for the European Union’s politics towards disabled people is currently the UN Convention of rights of disabled people. The Convention contains articles on accessibility and on ICT. EU has signed the Convention and it is therefore a matter of law. The High Level Group and other minister level meetings have discussed the implementation of the Convention.
Common challenges are identified: Council Resolution from 2008 called for eAccessibility standard to be used in public procurement. The European Disability Action Plan ends in 2010 and the next one is now being planned. It is important that eAccessibility is also included in the new plan. The focus for the third phase (2008-2009) of the Disability Action Plan – Accessibility – includes and analyses situation of disabled people and commitments on access to rights. There are two areas with five priorities:
• Actions for inclusive participation through accessibility:
– Fostering accessibility of the labour market
– Boosting accessibility of goods, services and infrastructures, addressing transport ICT and built environment.
– Consolidating the Commission’s analytical capacity to support accessibility
• Actions towards full enjoyment of fundamental rights:
– Facilitating the implementation of the UN Convention
– Complementing the Community legislative framework of protection against discrimination
This leads to a framework where accessibility is integrated.
A toolkit for the implementation of the Structural Fund will soon be presented, and a guide for social public procurement is produced, including universal design concerns. The situation is similar to 1998 where the action plan was produced.
Standards and legislation are important tools. EU has standards – but the need is to train people is still there. Fragmentation of the standards is still a problem – what should be done today?
Conclusion
The European Union has a high degree of awareness of the need for implementing measures to avoid social exclusion as a result of inaccessible Information Society technology. Though a proposal has not been made for legislation ensuring universal design in the field of ICT, a series of important initiatives have been taken.
These include clear expressions of a political will to ensure accessible solutions and combat digital exclusion, support for research and development, encouraging standardisation work in the European standardisation bodies, etc. Up to now the European Commission has thus preferred to encourage industry and developers to ensure accessible technology on a voluntary basis, pointing among others to the vast market potential, rather than introducing new legislation. In stead the Commission has referred to existing public procurement legislation requiring universal design, and making clear its political objective of an Information Society for all, as well as using Mandate 376 to boost standardisation on universal design for all in ICT – again in the field of public procurement.
However, there is great pressure on the Commission on these issues. Industry does not wish for legislation but prefers self-certification and voluntary solutions. Organisations of disabled people, in particular the European Disability Forum, has for several years pressed for EU legislation for accessible ICT for all, as is already present in all fields of the transport area. And as EU has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there is an additional pressure to bring EU legislation on line with the demands of the Convention, including the Article on universal design of ICT.
On the other hand, EU is always wary of the danger of stretching too far in the field of rights legislation, because of potential awakening of the Member States’ animosity against transferring new competences to “Brussels”. The Commission has already proposed a general antidiscrimination Directive which is under debate and probably fears an overload of legislation in the field of disabled people’s rights.
However, the end result may be the same as in the case of air passengers’ rights legislation – it was proposed after it became obvious that voluntary commitments from the air traffic companies were not forthcoming. After all, many EU Member States, like Britain, Italy and France already have clauses in their national legislation to promote universal design of ICT. It will in my opinion be difficult for EU not eventually to follow suit.
Notes