EAccessibility European activities

1. eAccessibility European activities Inmaculada Placencia Porrero Deputy Head of Unit Directorate General Information Society and Media eInclusion Unit Inmaculada.placencia-porrero@cec.eu.int

2. European activities on accessibility Social Actions (ESF, Equal) Regulatory and legal actions (Antidiscrimination, employment equality Directive) R&D Telecom legislation Information Society policy Transport Regional policy Education

4. eAccessibility aims at overcoming the technical barriers that people experience when trying to participate on equal terms in the Information Society. Concerns at least 20% of the European population (about 90 M) Represents a growing market due to the demographic shift 63% of people with disabilities are 45 years or older . eAccessibility CommunicationAn Information Society for All

8. Public procurement: the ICT market Revised public procurement Directives PP 16% EU gross domestic product 1500 Billion Euros ICT sector 6% EU GDP European public sector ICT average spending is 0,8 % of GDP =76billion Euro The European average of public sector ICT spend that goes to external services such as consultancy and outsourcing is 16% Overall growth rate for public sector ICT across EU is 3.3% Total value of the ICT market in Europe is 594 billion Euro

9. Public procurement: the case of employment Lisbon Agenda Employment of people with disabilities: 52% of people with disabilities are economically inactive compared with 28% of non-disabled people; 42% of people with disabilities are employed compared with 65% of non-disabled people. Article 5 of the Employment Equality Directive reasonable accommodation�adapting workplace equipment (whereas 20) European competitiveness report 2004 Government employment is 16,7 of total employment in EU 15 (some countries up to 30%) Average EU-15 general government expenditure in 2003 was 49% of GDP

10. Public Procurement Directives The preambles to the revised Directives (paragraph 29 of Directive 2004/18/EC and paragraph 42 of Directive 2004/17/EC) now state that: �Contracting authorities should, whenever possible, lay down technical specifications so as to take into account accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or design for all users.� In addition, the specific Articles on technical specifications (Article 23, Paragraph 1 of Directive 2004/18/EC and Article 34, Paragraph 1 of Directive 2004/17/EC) now state that: �Whenever possible [these] technical specifications should be defined so as to take into account accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or design for all users.� Award phase�(art 53) the criteria on which the contracting authorities shall base the award of public contracts shall either: (a) when the awards is made to the tender most economically advantageous from the point of view of the contracting authority, various criteria linked to the subject matter of the public contract in question, for example quality, price, technical merit, aesthetic and functional characteristics, environmental characteristics,�. (b) the lowest price

11. The Draft mandate to the Standardisation organisations Phase I: Inventory Technology products (ICT) Existing accessibility requirements Gaps in accessibility requirements Existing standards to comply with accessibility requirements Assessment: requirements as technical specifications/ award criteria Report on testing and certification schemes

12. The Draft mandate to the Standardisation organisations Phase II: Standardisation Activities European standard (EN) Accessibility requirements for ICT domain to be used as technical specifications Technical report (TR) listing existing technical standards Guidelines on award criteria Guidance and support material On line freely accessible toolkit

13. The Draft mandate to the Standardisation organisations Underlying principles Consider National initiatives User and consumer involvement Industry participation Involvement of procurers Transparent open method International cooperation EU- US dialogue on eAccessibility

16. Better use of legislation Electronic Communication Framework Universal service Directive Terminal Directives Employment Equality Directive Public Procurement Directive Exploiting the � eAccessibility potential of existing European legislation� Riga Conference: mandatory accessibility requirements

17. Background Creation of INCOM in Feb. 2003: mission to provide information on problems faced by the users with disabilities when accessing/using electronic communications services Jan. 2004: INCOM report identifies constraints and urgent key topics Oct. 2004 extension of INCOM�s mandate to: �foster the implementation of the suggestions laid down in the report� and �provide an input on accessibility matters in the revision process of the electronic communications directives package� Questionnaire sent to the Member States through COCOM in April 2005. INCOM discussion and recommendations 20th march 2006 Report on eAccessibility implementation 2006

18. Some conclusions INCOM report 2006 General feed back Low level of detail and coherence: lack of information Potential of non compulsory provisions not used enough Provisions transposed but lack of detail on implementation Positive measures (payphones, tariffs, directory and Braille invoices) Concerns remain from 2003 INCOM report (real time text communication, access to 112, relay centres for sign language, access to DTV, access to mobile phone services, payphones, affordability, directories, quality of services parameters, consultation with users)

19. Main messages Convey to Member States the urgent need to work together towards harmonization of the solutions they demand Encourage industry to develop accessible solutions in their products and services (mainstream accessibility!) Show the users (with disabilities) the commitment of the European Commission to improve accessibility in the Information Society

20. Measuring progress of eAccessibility in Europe (objectives) To identify measures (e.g. policy, legal, industrial, �) that have a significant positive impact on eAccessibility and that support the Community eAccessibility strategy To assess how ICT products and services available in Europe take into account eAccessibility and Design for All To assess the eAccessibility situation in Europe and to measure its evolution quantifying the impact of the proposed approaches and measures To assess the implementation of successful measures, that can serve as policy recommendations in the eAccessibility domain.

21. Measuring progress of eAccessibility in Europe (results) review of the existing methodologies and indicators. survey of existing actions which have improve eAccessibility Methodology to monitor and identify the existing and use of the 3 proposed approaches. other existing positive actions. methodology used to measure the rate of eAccessibility in the Member States, experienced by people with disabilities and older people. the rate of eAccessibility, experienced by other stakeholders. the first measurement and analyse the data. (12m) the second measurement and analyse the data.(24 m) final report including conclusions and policy recommendations 2 workshops to disseminate and validate the results of the methodology, measurements and the conclusions

24. MeAC overview, September 2006

25. ICT for growth and employment

26. For further information � the eInclusion call for proposals http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/call_details.cfm?CALL_ID=208 projects financed in RTD in previous frame work programmes http://www.cordis.lu/ist/directorate_f/einclusion/previous-research.htm On the preparatory work for eInclusion research for Frame work programme 7 http://www.cordis.lu/ist/directorate_f/einclusion/future.htm On eInclusion and eAccessibility policies http://europa.eu.int/information_society/soccul/eincl/index_en.htm http://europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/accessibility/index_en.htm Inmaculada.placencia-porrero@cec.eu.in