Funka Nu Accessibility Days, 13th April 2011
eAccessibility in Europe: practice, policy and impact
Jose Angel Martinez Usero
Director of International Projects and Relations
Contents
• Background and policy context
• Some relevant initiatives in the eAccessibility field
• The Study on Monitoring eAccessibility in Europe
• The Study on costs and benefits of eAccessibility
• Other related projects
Main areas of interest
e-Accessibility - make ICT accessible to all, meeting a wide spectrum
of people's needs, in particular any special needs.
Ageing - empower older people to fully participate in the economy and
society, continue independent lifestyles and enhance their quality of life.
e-Competences - equip citizens with the knowledge, skills and lifelong
learning approach needed to increase social inclusion, employability and
enrich their lives.
Socio-Cultural e-Inclusion - enable minorities, migrants and
marginalised young people to fully integrate into communities and
participate in society by using ICT.
Inclusive eGovernment - deliver better, more diverse public services
for all using ICT while encouraging increased public participation in
democracy.
The context
Policy frameworks
•European Disability strategy 2010-2020
•Digital Agenda
•UN Convention on RPD
Standards/guidelines
•Mandate 376: Accessibility requirements for public
procurement of products and services in the ICT domain
•Mandate 420: Accessibility requirements for public
procurement in the Built Environment
•Mandate 473 to include Accessibility following DFA in
relevant standardization activities
•WCAG 2.0
Regulation/legislation
•Report on the implementation of eAccessibility articles in
EU directives
Some relevant initiatives
The scope of running pilots, thematic networks and studies.
Priorities
Web
CIP Pilot - DTV4all
Digital TV
Self-service
Services
Terminals
X
CIP Pilot - APSIS4all
X
X
X
TN - ATs -ETNA and ATIS4all
Study cost/benefits
Study AT market
AT
X
CIP Pilot - Reach112
TN – eAccess+
Emergency
X
X
X
X
X
Monitoring eAccessibility in Europe
http://www.eaccessibility-monitoring.eu
Background and policy context
• The 2006 Ministerial “Riga Declaration” on ICT for an inclusive
information society highlights the need for facilitating the
accessibility and usability of ICT products and services for all,
with a special focus on people with disabilities.
• MeAC 1: 2007-2008
• MeAC 2: 2009-2011
Objectives
Monitor the status and progress made in eAccessibility in a series of
selected countries identifying the best practices.
Draw up an annual report, which include comparisons by country and
over time.
Develop a tool for gathering the data.
Establish a direct and regular relationship with the relevant actors in the
field of eAccessibility
Define, develop and apply a benchmarking framework for the monitoring
and comparative analysis.
Scope
Selection of countries, 12 EU and 3 Non-EU
EU countries: United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Italy,
Germany, Hungary, Portugal, France, Netherlands and Czech Republic.
Non-EU countries: United States, Australia and Canada.
Countries participating in a voluntary basis: Norway, Greece
Period of analysis : 2009-2011
Selection of technologies to be monitored
DEVICES/SERVICES
TELEPHONY:
INTERNET:
COMPUTERS:
MEDIA:
HOMES:
URBAN ENVIRONMENT:
EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT:
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES:
Fixed
Mobile
Special telephones (text and videotelephone)
Mobile Web
Web
Desktop
Portable
Analogue television
Digital television
Digital homes
Telecare
ATMs
Vending machines
Virtual kiosks
Digital information panels
Electronic books
Elearning platforms
Office technology - hardware
Office technology - software
Hardware
Software
Research methods
Analysis of national experts (30)
15 technology experts (technology questionnaire)
15 policy experts (policy questionnaire)
Surveys to main stakeholders
Consultation to associations of people with disabilities to get feedback on
some specific issues.
Workshops with experts
Analysis of main results and feedback from decision makers.
Main outcomes
Website
Balance Scorecard Tool
Search applications and download of raw data
Annual Reports
Report on the implementation of accessibility articles in Telecom
Directives
Report of interpretation and implementation of WCAG 2.0 in MS
Global eAccessibility status by country
GRAND TOTAL
TOTAL EU COUNTRIES
Czech Republic
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
The Netherlands
United Kingdom
TOTAL NON-EU COUNTRIES
Australia
Canada
Norway
United States of America
40
38
37
30
33
37
22
24
44
52
40
49
30
48
49
46
30
65
48
41
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Global eAccessibility policy by country
Technology status vs Policy implementation
Correspondence between eAccessibility level and the degree of
eAccessibility policy implementation in the countries analyzed
CZ
100
US
DK
80
NO
FR
60
CA
DE
40
20
AU
GR
0
UK
HU
NL
IE
SE
IT
ES
PT
eAccessibility policy implementation level
eAccessibility status
Example on WCAG 2.0 implementation
Correlation among web accessibility enforcement level, deadline of WCAG
2.0 for public websites and accessibility level of public websites.
Sweden: Technology indicators
Average technology indicators
Telephony
Internet
Computing
Television
Home environment
Urban environment
Educational environment
Assistive technologies
Public procurement
30,43
23,44
12,38
20,37
25,00
0,00
34,17
39,58
85,57
33,33
Visit us http://www.eaccessibility-monitoring.eu
Economic Assessment for Improving eAccessibility
Services and Products
http://www.eaccessibility-impacts.eu/
Study approach
• Desk research
• Questionnaires to relevant organisations
• 24 Case Studies
• Business Case Tool for ex ante evaluation in support of the
decision to invest in Web accessibility
• Estimations and Extrapolations and national and EU level
• Recommendations
Preliminary results
• COSTS
• Extra costs for redesign
• Extra costs for design from scratch
• Extra costs of technical maintenance
• BENEFITS
• Social responsibility and image (Intangible, self assessment)
• Compliance with legislation (Intangible, self-assessment)
• External audience reach and sales (quantifiable / monetisable)
• Productivity (internal IT application) ( monetisable);
• Efficiency gains from servicing/interacting online with
customers/suppliers (monetisable)
• More efficient recruitment process;
• Technical improvements (reduced site development and
maintenance time; reduced server load)
Other EU initiatives
• ATIS4all: EU Thematic Network on Assistive Technologies and
Inclusive Solutions
• APSIS4all: EU Pilot on Accessible and Personalised Public
Digital Terminals
• CLOUD4all: 7FP project on Cloud platforms for accessible Ict
products.
• DREAM Marie Curie – under recruitment!
ATIS4all website
http://www.atis4all.eu/
APSIS4all pilot
Thanks for your attention
Jose Angel Martínez Usero
jamartinez@technosite.es