Hi,
The announcement below is from the European Disability Forum. This follows
farily closely on the December 4th announcement of an agreement within the
European Parliament on a proposal for a European Disability Act.
The difference between a European Directive and a European Act is that each
country must adopt a Directive but has some scope in how to interpret it,
but an Act is imposed from Europe itself so there is no scope for variable
interpretation.
Take care,
Gerry Ellis
If you don't know where you're going,
How will you know when you get there?
========== Forwarded message ==========
AGREEMENT ON THE WEB ACCESSIBILITY DIRECTIVE
EDF welcomes the agreement reached last night among the EU institutions
(Parliament, Council and Commission) on the proposed Directive on web
accessibility. It is a crucial milestone to achieve an inclusive digital
society, in which 80 million persons with disabilities will be able to
participate on equal basis with others. Public websites and apps should no
longer exclude anyone.
14 March 2016 | Based on the article of MEP Dita Charanzová, Parliament's
rapporteur of the web accessibility Directive, and the Commission's press
release, EDF is delighted to announce that the main demands and expectations
of the disability movement for this crucial piece of legislation have been
listened to and taken on board. Once the final text is made public, we hope
for a swift approval from the Parliament and Council, and a rapid and
effective transposition and implementation at national level.
This legislation is a great achievement for persons with disabilities: all
public sector bodies' websites and mobile applications (apps) will be made
accessible, including the electronic documents and multimedia. In cases when
they are not made accessible, public websites will need to explain why, in a
mandatory accessibility statement. Citizens will have a mechanism to request
the content they could not access. Regular monitoring and reporting by
Member States have also been agreed, which is indispensable for the success
of this legislation.
During more than three years of advocacy work, EDF in collaboration with its
members, as well as other civil society organisations and partners, have
pushed hard for improving the original Commission's proposal presented in
December 2012, which only included 12 public services on websites and very
soft enforcement measures. Thanks to the collaboration with the Parliament
and the Council, a truly future proof and meaningful Directive can be
approved in the coming months, making a real change for persons with
disabilities.
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of EDF: "Accessibility is a Human Rights
issue. It is a condition for participation in society, for education, for
employment, and for access to public services. This Directive is an
important step in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities within
the EU. The EU, and all EU members states should make all of their public
services accessible, including those delivered through the web, including
through apps. This Directive provides for a harmonised way to do this within
the EU, and will assist the EU, and its member states in meeting their
obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities".
Unfortunately some exemptions will remain in the Directive, such as public
broadcasters' websites and live audiovisual streaming, and therefore EDF
will need to continue working with its national members for a correct
transposition at national level. Additionally, we will need to ensure that
relevant and complementary EU legislation, such as the European
Accessibility Act and the revision of the Audiovisual Media Service
Directive will properly address what is not covered by the Web Accessibility
Directive.
Check out EDF's campaign for web accessibility
Contact EDF: Alejandro Moledo | New Technologies and Innovation officer |
alejandro.moledo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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