Procurement of
Accessible ICTs*
Four th Session Of T he Conference Of States Par ties
To T he Convention On T he Rights Of Persons W ith
Disabilities
UN Headquar ters, New Yor k, 8 September 2011
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* Infor mation & Communication Technologies
Governments/Organizations get
• Computers and software
• Telecommunications hardware and services
• Web sites and applications
• Office equipment (copiers, printers)
• Facilities (buildings, offices, meeting space)
• Furniture (desks, chairs, lighting)
How? Through procurement.
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Even better, through accessible procurement!
The Convention says…
Article 4:
• To undertake and promote R&D of universally designed goods,
services, equipment and facilities…
Article 9:
• Promote the … production and distribution of accessible ICTs
and systems…
Article 27
• Employ persons with disabilities in the public sector
• Ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided to persons
with disabilities in the workplace
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Use your procurement power to purchase accessible ICTs,
other goods and services and comply with these and other
articles.
Laws / Policies
That mandate or support procurement of accessible ICTs
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United States of America – Rehab. Act, Section 508
United Kingdom – Disability Discrimination Act
European Union – Mandate 376 (still in draft)
Canada – Accessible Procurement Toolkit
Australia – Disability Discrimination Act
Ireland – Public Procurement Toolkit
Korea
and many more …
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At least 20 countries have Web accessibility laws or policies
Finding what you want…
Not every product may meet all applicable standards, so
presumably you choose products that are “most” compliant
How do you identify compliant products?
• Test and certify products in-house
• Contract 3rd party experts to test and certify
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• Allow manufacturers to self-certify
VPATs
Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates
At least 420 companies provide VPATs, including:
3M
Cisco
Kyocera
Qualcomm
Adobe
Hitachi
Lenovo
Samsung
Apple
HP
Microsoft
Sony
Canon
IBM
Panasonic
Xerox
= hardware, software, office equipment , computer peripherals,
telecommunication systems and end-user devices
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Microsoft and IBM have VPATs for almost 400 products each,
Xerox 184, Canon 182, Apple 53
Creating Procurement Documents
• Industry Canada’s Accessible Procurement Toolkit
• US GSA’s BuyAccessible Wizard!
Reference:
• National and international standards
• National and international guidelines and best practices
• Consult with persons with disabilities and their
organizations
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• GAATES and other service organizations
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Procure accessible ICTs!