eAccessibility
E-Accessibility is one of the themes of European Union eInclusion* policy. It aims at ensuring that people with special needs can access digital services and devices on an equal basis with others. This includes removing the barriers encountered when trying to access and use ICT products, services and applications.
DIF Views
DIF says
DIF members are constantly working at ensuring that existing and future Digital TV services and products are developed with the aim of overcoming the technical barriers to people with special needs.
The current emphasis on industry self-regulation encourages the growth of accessible ICT products. DIF believes that an overly-prescriptive approach could increase costs and stunt the growth of the market for innovative new ICT products and services, thus disrupting existing solutions and deployment.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND POLICY MEASURES
In the past few years the EU has increasingly focused on the eInclusion/eAccessibility agenda.
The June 2006 Riga Ministerial Declaration on e-Inclusion demonstrated the commitment of EU Member States to implement these measures. Six themes were agreed upon to steer the e-Inclusion agenda forward including e-Accessibility, i.e. making ICT accessible to all, meeting a wide spectrum of people's needs, in particular any special needs. This was followed in November 2007 by the European Commission's adoption of the Communication "European i2010 initiative on e-Inclusion - to be part of the information society". This non-binding EU initiative included a strategic framework for action to implement the Riga Ministerial Declaration.
In 2008 the Commission funded a study on "Accessibility to ICT products and services by disabled and elderly people". One of its main conclusions was the need to start thinking of a framework for further development of EU legislation or other coordination measures on e-accessibility.
This message was reinforced in the Commission's follow-up communication "Towards and accessible information Society" which was published during the December 2008 High Level Ministerial conference in Vienna. In it the Commission set out a clear common European direction for eAccessibility, stating the possibility of making full use of instruments at European level to ensure the right level of technological development and support in favour of people with special needs. The Commission will continue to consult stakeholders through the establishment of a High Level Working Group on eAccessibility.
* E-inclusion ('e' standing for electronic) aims to ensure that disadvantaged people are not excluded due to their lack of digital literacy or internet access. E-inclusion also means taking new advantages of new opportunities offered by digital and technical services for the inclusion of socially disadvantaged people and less-favoured areas. Inclusion is also one of the pillars of the i2010 initiative on the Information Society, and is closely related to other European policies, namely on social inclusion, education and culture, regional development.