Library
Libraries and material on Europa
- the Site map & Contacts pages of this site;
- The Information Society portal;
- the CORDIS IST results;
- the Europa EU library.
EU treaties, laws and charters
Amongst the comprehensive framework of EU treaties and laws, some relevant to the e-Inclusion sector are highlighted below.
- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
- Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
External links
Alternatively you can use your favourite internet search engine for external resources. Some external web sites, courtesy of their organisations, provide their own maintained directories of
relevant internet information and material. Finally electronic news/discussion groups, blogs and wikis might contain also relevant information. However it does not imply, for both the data and the
hosting owners, any support or endorsement by the European Commission. A few links are given below, either in a bulk list or grouped in some categories. Please note that these external links open a
new window
.
- Yahoo Group on i2010/e-Inclusion (was created as "eAccessibility" discussion forum under the Portuguese presidency of the EU at the launch of eEurope);
- Wikipedia/e-Inclusion (this could get expanded to specific country pages to describe relevant activities in each Member States and elsewhere, with links to national sites - a parallel language version in the respective country language could then also be maintained.);
eAccessibility
Design for All
- European Institute for Design and Disability (EIDD)
- USA: Centre for Universal Design founded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) ; Adaptive Environments Centre
Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
- European Disability Forum (EDF). EDF federates many of the other European and Member States NGOs in this domain and it is therefore a privileged contact for work in the e-Inclusion sector. The site also includes links to Member States institutional actors.
- Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE)
- World Institute on Disability (WID). The "links" section has in particular many pointers to the very developed USA legislative framework regarding the e-Inclusion sector.
International "Institutions"
- Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
- ex-Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) until 1960 (founded in 1948 to coordinate the Marshall Plan)
- Relevant activities: Ageing Society, Education, Employment, Labour & Social Affairs, Information Society, Science & Innovation, ...
- Council of Europe (CoE)
- Founded 1949, blue flag hosting 12 golden stars (1955), Consultative Assembly , Council of Ministers
- Relevant activities: European Convention on Human Rights, European Social Charter
- United Nations (UN)
- UN have many entities, like the General Assembly, International Court of Justice, Security Council, Secretariat, etc. In particular the Economic and Social Council has bodies related to Children, Refugees, Food, Trade, Development, Environment, Human Settlements, Drug. It has a task force related to ICT. Regarding Human Rights, its High Commissioner is very active and is the repository of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Other conventions and rights are also under its frame, regarding discrimination, social rights, etc. Directly related to the e-Inclusion sector is the section Persons with Disabilities, with its Standard Rules and its current theme on Accessibility.
- Different organisations of interest to the e-Inclusion sector, are also directly part of the UN:
- International Labour Organisation (ILO/OMT): it produces many conventions, like the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the International Labour Standards (in particular the ones related to discrimination, rehabilitation, disabled persons, older workers).
- UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO): it has programmes in particular in the fields of education, communication & information, culture, natural sciences, social & human sciences. In the context of intersectoral activities, ethics (ethics of scientific knowledge and technology) and info-ethics are looked after.
- World Health Organisation (WHO/OMS): in particular, activities regarding the health topics: lifestyle, ageing, mental health, rehabilitation, ...
- World Summit on Information Society (ITU/WSIS) - Geneva 2003 & Tunis 2005
- G8 Summits (Germany, France, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, Canada and Russia)
- They regularly put emphasis on topics like Global Information Society (2000 - Kyushu-Okinawa), Life Long Learning (1999 - Koln), Employability (1998 - Birmingham), Growth and Employment (1995 - Halifax), etc.
Technology and standardisation
Web and Accessibility
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): in addition to guidelines and resources their site include many policy links.
Standardisation Bodies
In EU efforts, standardisation is an important topic and the Commission and the Council are continuously looking at these aspects, in particular in the field of Information Technologies and Telecommunications. The 3 main European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) are:
- ETSI - European Telecommunications Standards Institute (e.g. its Human Factors Technical Committee),
- CEN - Comité Europeen de Normalisation (e.g. its ISSS - Information Society Standardisation System),
- CENELEC - European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization.
Other organisations are involved either formally or for preparing the texts. A few are mentioned below:
- DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting (preparation before ETSI approval),
- EBU - European Broadcasting Union.
while at international level there are also several, e.g.: