Accessibility Legislative Framework

The European Union Digital Agenda in 2010^[37] , called for addressing challenges of accessibility to websites by persons with disabilities and online services. With emphasis on providing the needed help and training ensuring inclusion and active participation of persons with disabilities, the agenda required continual evaluation of its legislations to adhere to the CRPD convention recommendations. All new websites have to be in compliance with WCAG 2.0–AA. This was followed in 2016 by a directive on “the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies”^[38] . It aligns with WCAG guidelines, for improving the accessibility of public sector websites and e-government mobile apps by persons with disabilities. Web sites were given grace period until 2018 after which all sites have one year to comply with the directive and until June 23, 2021 for mobile applications to be in compliant.

A recent report by the European Disability Forum and Site improve, “Democracy, Digital Accessibility and the European Union”^[39], analyzed Web accessibility of the parliaments of the EU member states and European websites. Results show that only 3 sites had an accessibility rating above the industry average while more than 89% of websites were rated with poor accessibility structures.

The European Accessibility Act -2019 ^[40] on the accessibility requirements for products and services to make the EU fully accessible for persons with disabilities , covers a wide range of products such as, general purpose computers, tablets, laptops, and their operating systems, Payment terminals, bank ATMs, airport ticketing and check-in machines, handheld devices, IP and smart TVs, and electronic readers. It also covers a number of services such as, telecommunication services, video streaming, web based mobile apps, kiosks and e-commerce services.