ACTIVITIES :: e-Inclusion :: eAccessibility :: Deployment :: Public Procurement in the ICT domain :: EC Mandate 376 to ESOs
EC Mandate 376 to ESOs for common requirements and conformance assessment
Public Procurement policy and practice for accessible Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has the potential to play a vital role in removing barriers to participation in the Information Society by disabled or older people. The 2005 EC Communication indicated that Public Procurements in the ICT domain are an important lever for the deployment of eAccessibility.
End of 2005 a mandate has been given by the European Commission to the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) to come with a solution for common requirements and conformance assessment.
The mandate was discussed with the Member States via the 98/34 Committee under the coordination of DG Enterprise. The ESOs are preparing their work plan proposal and then activities are expected to start before summer 2006. The mandate [PDF 60kB EN | FR | DE] requests:
- Phase I: Inventory
- Technology products (ICT); Existing accessibility requirements & current gaps ; Existing standards to comply with accessibility requirements Assessment: requirements as technical specifications/ award criteria ; Report on testing and certification schemes
- Phase II: Standardisation
- 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.
Underlying principles include: consideration of National initiatives, international cooperation, User & Consumer involvement, Industry participation, involvement of procurers and the method must be transparent and open. The large industry has expressed concerns in regards to some of the certification schemes that could be considered.
The mandate has already been accepted by CEN and ETSI. More information will be provided here or through the ESOs' web presence (CEN, Cenelec, ETSI/ICT-SB, DATSCG) once the work will be in progress.