Dr Gerald Craddock Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) National Disability Authority (NDA) Dublin Ireland University of Pittsburgh Accessibility in the Context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Transatlantic Perspective June

"Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe" (known as the 'MeAC' study). The study commissioned by the European Commission in 2006 as a follow-up to the eAccessibility Communication of 2005 The aim To provide an evidence-base to support the future development of EU policy in the eAccessibility field. The full report including annexes is available at:

MeAC Reports 07,08 Major data gathering programme was implemented to compile the necessary information for this purpose, including:  1) survey of the policy situation in relation to eAccessibility in each of the Member States and in selected comparison countries (Australia, Canada, United States)  2) measurement of the status of eAccessibility in each of these countries on a common set of selected key Indicators  3) surveys of key stakeholders (ICT industry, user organisations, and public procurement officials). Dataset the largest and most representative information on the eAccessibility field in Europe and internationally that has been available anywhere in the world to date – Benchmarking eAccessibility!!!!!!

The spectrum of relevant ICT technologies and services MeAC Report Nov 08

MeAC Report Results not good: Surprise!!!! –eAccessibility “Deficit” –eAccessibility “Gap” –eAccessibility “Patchwork”

Image courtesy: Raph de Rooij - web interface quality specialist,

Examples of Deficit in Europe on eAccessibility  Text relay services (essential for deaf and speech impaired people) are only available in one-half of the Member States; emergency services are directly accessible by text telephone in only seven Member States  Mobile operators in only seven Member States provide dedicated information for customers with disabilities on their websites  On average, less than one-third of national language broadcasts of main public broadcasters in Europe were provided with subtitling (for deaf people) in 2006; there is wide variability (from 95% to none) in the amount of subtitling across individual countries  key government web sites in the Member States meet the accepted minimum international standards on accessibility (12,5% passed automated testing and only 5,3% passed both automatic and manual examination) key commercial/sectoral web sites (e.g. railways, TV, newspapers, retail banking) providing this minimum level of accessibility is even lower (only 3,9% passed automated testing while not a single site passed both automatic and manual testing )

Implementation “GAP” – Europe - CA, Aus, USA

The Policy “GAP” – Between Europe and Canada, USA and Australia

Pathwork across all Countries – White Spaces = No Implementation/Policy

Ireland policy Policy and Implemtation Impact Ireland Progress of eAccessibility in Ireland

Overall eAccessibility Policy Scores

Ireland Score Overall eAccessibility Policy Scores

The eAccessibility Implementation 'Gap' Ireland

Why Ireland????

BC

Strategy For Equality 95 People with Disabilities came up with 402 Recommendations:- All Sectors Key: Disability Defined within a Social Model Legislation introduced would be “rights based” Independent Assessment of Need

Equality Legislation The Employment Equality Act 1998 National Disability Authority Act 1999 The Equal Status Act 2000 The Equality Act 2004 The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 The Citizens Information Act The Disability Act 2005 The Citzens Information Act Advocacy

Equality Acts Legislation Illegal to discriminate against worker or job applicant with disability Discrimination is in context of worker being able to do core job Employer must reasonably accommodate disability – if cost not disproportionate Premises serving the public must be accessible – if cost of doing so is nominal

Equality -Infastructure Equality Authority 99 Equality Tribunal 99 National Disability Authority 2000 National Council for Special Education 05

National Disability Strategy sets the Agenda for Change Disability Act 05 Education of Persons with Special Needs Act 06 6 Sectoral Plans Multi-annual funding for high support needs Citizen Information Bill re advocacy Equality Acts as foundation Overseen by interdepartmental Senior Officials Group chaired by D/Taoiseach -Champion Cabinet Committee on Social Inclusion

Six Sectoral Plans Government Departments Dept of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, - Comreg (Communications Regulator), –BCI (Broadcasting Commission of Ireland) Dept of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, –BRAB – Building Regulations Advisory Board Dept of Transport. –(National Transport Authority) Dept of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dept of Health and Children, Dept of Social and Family Affairs,

Accessible public services Part 3 Disability Act Public bodies must Ensure people with disabilities can use mainstream public services Provide information in ways that suit the needs of people with disabilities (e.g. large print, Easy to Read) Buy in accessible goods and services By 2015, have accessible premises All “where practicable and appropriate” NDA Code of Practice on services, information, procurement Gov/Public Bodies Only – Regulatory Instrument

Accessibility UN Convention – Art. 9 Accessible premises, information Access to private sector public venues Co. of Europe Barrier-free built environment Universal Design Nat. Disability Strategy Public service obligations for accessible services, premises, information, public procurement Accessibility programme by local authorities under Environment Sectoral Plan

Universal Design UN Convention Art. 4 to promote universal design in the development of standards and guidelines Co of Europe 6 Guidelines, standards, training of professions Disability Act 2005 Centre of Excellence in Universal Design –Develop and promote standards –Education of design professions –Work with professional bodies

Correlation between national level accessibility-related policies and achieved accessibility (EU25, USA, CA, AU)

Centre for Excellence in Universal Design CEUD IT Guidelines 5 technology areas –Web –Public access terminals –Application Software –Telecoms –Smart Card Systems

IT Procurement Toolkit Practical advice on procurement: Writing an Request for Tender document (RFT) Assessing candidates and tenders Evaluating deliverables eg – sample text to insert into RFT

Digital Accessibility Toolkit for Policy Makers (G3ICT)

Standards Past: Standards = minimum requirements Today: Standards = support & catalyst for Innovation

Innovation and standards development European Commission paper – “ Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe ” Stronger role for standardisation in support of innovation Enables Europe to address economic, environment & social challenges. Can be a tool to disseminate new knowledge innovation and technology EU Mandates 376 and 420 – Phases 1 completed by CEN – testing & Comformance ETSI – Human Factors

Defining Innovation “Something new that will be adopted by customers” Michael Schrage (MIT)

Main Reason for non-adoption Failure to fully understand customer needs

Universal Design curriculum for Continious Professional Development (CPD) European Committee for Standardization (CEN) provides a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical specifications. A CEN Workshop Agreement is a consensus-based specification, drawn up in an open Workshop environment. goal to specify and recommend a curriculum for training IT and web professionals in how to apply a Universal Design approach. Launch 27 May, 2009 Brussels

Solution??? eAccessibility is more than a technical Solution!!! Image courtesy: Raph de Rooij - web interface quality specialist,

Going Forward Increase Collaboration Transatlantic –Regulation/Directives/Standards –ITU, UN globally New Champions Education – integrated into Courses at all Levels Universal Design – Not as a Marketing tool but as a Process that Includes all and is Good Design – brings more people to the party – older people, gender, eithnic minorities etc

: The contribution of Assistive Technology and Design for All towards inclusion; The need for standardization (formal, informal and de facto); Cultural aspects: e.g. acceptance of different approaches, designs and aesthetics of AT devices and inclusive living environments Social aspects: penetration of AT and integrated approaches, the role of Europe in building up inclusion competence in emerging and developing countries, etc.; 10th International Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Assi stive Technology in Europe (AAATE) Inclusion between past and future ‐ AT from adapted equipment to inclusive environments August 31 – September 2, 2009, Florence, Italy

“The difference principle” Institutions to be structured with a built-in bias in favour of the disadvantaged (Rawls, 1971)

As international communication and travel increase, it will become increasingly difficult to justify national or regional differences in accessibility criteria... the marketplace is demanding accessibility at a rate that is outstripping accessibility standards. John P.S. Salmen, Universal Designers and Consultants