On 03.05.2016, IMCO negotiators reached an informal deal with Council on the first EU-wide rules to make public sector bodies' websites and mobile applications accessible for people with disabilities. Over 167 million EU citizens who have a disability (medical or due to age) are prevented from accessing data/services on the Internet. Many websites lack adequately adapted content for the blind, the deaf and the hard of hearing as well as for those with low vision and with functional disabilities.
The Directive will set out minimum conditions foraccessibility and it requires regular monitoring and reporting of the sites andapps' accessibility by Member States (MS). The deal also covers mobileapplications and the scope is extended to cover all public sector bodies,beyond the 12 categories initially proposed by the EC. Certain content will beexcluded such as office file formats or archived websites. Public sector bodieshave to prepare an "accessibility statement" explaining which partsof their website/app are not accessible. The Directive also enables individualsto request specific information "on-demand" if the content isinaccessible. Users are given the opportunity to notify any failures of thewebsite/app to comply with the requirements via a feedback mechanism. MS willhave to designate an authority tasked with monitoring and enforcing theserules.
Rapp.: D. Charanzova (ALDE)
Shadows: S. Verheyen (EPP), J. Weidenholzer (S&D), J. Reda(Greens/EFA), A. Van Bossuyt (ECR).
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP