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6On 26 February, MEPs will be voting to make substantial changes to the proposed Directive on the Accessibility of Public Sector Bodies' Websites. The Blind Aontais Eorpaigh (EBU) has declared the vote as "very important for us, as it could be the first significant step towards the end of inaccessible websites".

However, the legislation may be delayed because member states have yet to begin discussions on the text, which may delay new rules for many months "and therefore be hugely detrimental to the 30 million blind and partially sighted EU citizens who struggle to access information and services online", the EBU declared. "We are therefore urging all parties to demonstrate their commitment to accessibility and prioritise this issue. Blind people have been shut out of the online world for far too long – it is time for the EU to act!"

The EBU has stated that it wants MEPs to send the Council and the Commission "a strong signal" on 26 February, and is addressing the following messages to EU institutions:

Message to the Greek Presidency

The Directive on Accessibility of Public Sector Bodies' websites is listed in the Greek Presidency's work programme but it has not been treated as a priority by the Presidency. Indeed it is extremely disappointing to see that the Presidency has not scheduled a single meeting to discuss this dossier.

  • EBU wants the Greek Presidency to live up to their promise to make progress on this dossier. The Presidency can do this by scheduling a meeting of the relevant working group before the end of February.

Message to member states

The 30 million EU citizens who are blind or partially sighted are disproportionately affected by the inaccessibility of websites. Finalising work on the directive must be a priority and be treated as such by Member States.

  • EBU wants the Council to take ownership of this issue and fulfil its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Message to the European Commission

sa Clár Oibre Digiteach don Eoraip, the European Commission had promised that it would work to ensure that all public websites and websites providing basic services to citizens would be fully accessible by 2015. Yet the proposed Directive on accessibility of public sector bodies' websites only covered 12 services, included no enforcement mechanism and did not take on board the huge shift to mobile web technologies - and the fact that millions of people, including blind people, now access online information and services through apps and mobile devices.

We wanted a directive that was ‘fit for purpose' so we met the European Commission at the end of October 2013. At the meeting we were given reassurances that the Commission would support an amended Directive, with a wider scope including those apps developed by the websites covered by the Directive, as suggested by MEPs in the IMCO Committee.

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Yet in a recent response to the European Economic and Social Committee's report on the Directive, which EBU has seen, the Commission seems to go back on their promise, stating that the Directive is not the right one to address this issue ‘as it is focused on the accessibility of websites'. We disagree. Apps are here to stay and are now an integral part of accessing information online. In fact, for many of us apps are often the primary route to access information on websites. They must be accessible and therefore it is absolutely essential that they are covered by this legislation.

  • EBU wants the Commission to clarify its position on this crucial issue and actively support negotiations for a Directive that is ‘fit for purpose'.
  • EBU also wants the Commission to publish the promised EU Accessibility Act. We believe that publication of this proposal will facilitate negotiations on the Directive and that delaying it is detrimental to disabled people.

Message to Members of the European Parliament

We would like to thank the IMCO Committee for their key role in strengthening the proposed Directive thus far and are asking all MEPs to support the text adopted by the Committee during the vote in plenary.

  • As the largest organization representing the 30 million blind and partially sighted people who live in Europe, EBU wants to see all MEPs support the changes that we have been waiting for. We want equal access to the online information and services that everyone else takes for granted.

It is time to act.

Help EBU improve web accessibility for blind and partially sighted people.

 

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