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Tech Industry Slams 'Fragmented' EU Inclusion Policy

Published: 23rd January 2009

Author: Andrew Hart

The following article relates to the failure of EU member states to take a unified and workable approach to accessibility.

Why is this important? Well, lets consider who accessibility affects:

  • Those with vision defects (the elderly, blind, partially sighted, colour-blind (me included!))
  • Those with physical disabilities (e.g. motor neuron problems can limit the capability to use a mouse)
  • Those with cognitive difficulties (this include people with learning difficulties, non-native who do not share the same primary language etc.)

The 'disabled' community accounts for a significant proportion of our population: they are workers, voters, members of society and family members and they also wield significant spending power. The needs of this not-so-minority group can not be ignored from a legal, an ethical or even a business standpoint. So whether you are a public body, proving online services, an information provider, or even a commercial organisation using the internet for trading you can not ignore these users.

The lack of a coherent approach to boosting technology accessibility across European nations has been attacked by a leading technology industry spokesman.

Mark McGann, Director General of the European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Association (EICTA), told the recent European Commission Vienna conference on digital inclusion that the lack of a cohesive approach in this field has been "a massive failure".

He said the situation with accessibility was similar to that found with the switchover to digital television, which has happened in a fragmented fashion across Europe. "Too often we don't have one Europe, a single market. We have been advocating a single European approach to switchover for years."

Governments need to set a regulatory framework for accessibility, McGann said, but "we don't want 27 policies" - policies should be unified and co-ordinated at a European level.

Both the unified and national policies should focus on the goals of accessibility, not the specific means of attaining them, he said. "We do not recommend that individual governments go into technologies or try to choose a technological winner, that would fail. [But] now more than ever, governments have an obligation to show leadership in this domain."

On the other hand, there were positive signs, McGann said. With digital TV, for example, once the policy side becomes more co-ordinated, the technology itself "will be much more accessible than analogue ever was."

Taken from e-access bulletin, a free monthly email newsletter' from Headstar.

The EU and every member state needs to make significant improvements in protecting and enforcing the rights of the disabled. Business should not wait for legislation to force their hand either as there are still strong ethical and business cases to be made. The ethical argument is also a business one: just think of all the trading that is currently being done off the back of "green/environmental", "fairtrade" and other such socially responsible movements.