European Accessibility Act on standbyAlejandromoledo23/12/2013
European Accessibility Act on standby
At least one year and a half we have been waiting for the European Commission to release the European Accessibility Act. This piece of legislation will be fundamental to accomplish the general obligation stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to ensure the accessibility of goods and services to 80 million Europeans with disabilities.
Unfortunately, the market does not consider persons with disabilities as potential consumers and the Act should remedy this situation effectively. Furthermore, it is important to point out that a European Accessibility Act will benefit all consumers, not only persons with disabilities but also the ageing population, children and the millions of Europeans with temporary or permanent impairments. It is worth remembering that article 3 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that the role of the market is, among others, social inclusion, equality and social justice, therefore this legislation should not be just about the market place merely.
From European Disability Forum we have been advocating for a holistic approach to the Act which means to mainstream universal design and not to allow any good or service to be on or enter the single market unless they are accessible for all persons with disabilities or can be made accessible through assistive devices. This means that the Act should take into account not only existing but also future potential obstacles in the free movement of goods and services.
We need legislation with an ambitious and broad scope which includes telecommunications, audio-visual content, television and radio, e-books, self-service terminals, transport, healthcare, education and training, housing services, emergency services, services related with culture, leisure, recreation and sport, tourism, bank and insurance services, household appliances, retail, justice, and Information and Communication Technologies. The take-up of ICT services and devices usually happens really fast, so that the EU should not miss a point in time to ensure that European legislation, accessibility requirements and standards are set in order to ensure harmonisation in the single market. Otherwise, there would be the need to resort to retrofitting measures and all stakeholders would lose in that case.
The last news is that the Commission will present the Act in the first quarter of 2014. It will not be time to adopt it before the European elections but at least it will be a first step towards a more accessible Europe, a first step that is taking too much time.