Social Agenda Issue 54

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES of America that, in the area of accessibility legislation, were well ahead of the EU up till now. In addition to making it practical and concrete, this economic approach should ensure that the European Accessibility Act is properly implemented, thanks to all the monitoring tools and mechanisms at the European Commission’s disposal for ensuring the smooth running of the EU single market. CE marking In particular, the economic operators of this sector will have to comply with the famous CE marking. Henceforth, this marking will also indicate that a product bearing it complies with the requirements of the European Accessibility Act, if it falls within the scope of the Directive, and that the manufacturer takes full responsibility for it. The national authorities will have to check the validity of this marking and citizens will be able to go to court on that basis in case problems arise. Although accessibility is only one of 32 aspects related to persons with disabilities covered by the UN Convention, it is a horizontal one: It permeates right across all the other rights, such as education, employment, information, mobility etc. Accessibility is therefore key in implementing the UN convention. It contributes decisively to transforming its declaratory rights into operational requirements, for the benefit of citizens at large (e.g. including old age people) and manufacturers. Significantly, the European Accessibility Act touches upon approximately 30 other EU laws, on issues such as transport, telecommunications, public procurement, financial services, audio- visual media, ecommerce … It is therefore a major cross-cutting piece of EU legislation. Digital focus With its strong emphasis on digital technologies (see box), the European Accessibility Act is also a key piece of employment and social legislation, as it contributes decisively to the equal participation of persons with disabilities in the labour market. Not so long ago, there were still quite a few jobs that did not require using a computer. Nowadays, however, every workplace has a strong Information and Communication Technology (ICT) component. Also, the Internet has considerably expanded. Fortunately, the World Wide Web consortium - W3C, an international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Internet - started working on accessibility from very early on. This helped to bring the general issue of accessibility for people with disabilities to the forefront. Strong focus on digital technologies The European Accessibility Act will improve the introduction of accessibility features in key digital products and services. For example, for the operation of TV sets, remote controls might have tactile clues in the key pads and the text in the electronic programming guide might be available in a format that can be read aloud. Smartphones with advanced telephony services - combining voice, text and video where available - facilitate communication not only for deaf and hard hearing persons but also for all other people in noisy environments or in meetings, where it is not possible to speak on the phone. The European Accessibility Act will also contribute to the achievement of an e-inclusive society, by ensuring the accessibility of websites managed by providers of important services to citizens. More information: https://europa.eu/ !rv78bY Stretching out to pay for a car park ticket: The European Accessibility Act applies to products such as ticketing machines, Automated Teller Machines, check-in machines etc. © Belga Image 1 0 / SOC I A L AG E NDA / MA R C H 2 0 1 9