Documents considered by the Committee on 28 January 2009 - European Scrutiny Committee Contents


18 i2010 and e-Accessibility

(30244)

16830/08

COM(08) 804

+ ADDs 1- 2

Commission Communication: Towards an accessible information society

Legal base
Document originated1 December 2008
Deposited in Parliament9 December 2008
DepartmentBusiness, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
Basis of considerationEM of 6 January 2009
Previous Committee ReportNone; but see (29091) 14872/07: HC 16-vii (2007-08), chapter 10 (9 January 2008)
Discussed in CouncilTo be determined
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared

Background

18.1 i2010 is the EU policy framework for information society and media. It promotes the positive contribution that information and communication technologies (ICT) can make to the economy, society and personal quality of life. The i2010 initiative is an essential part of the Lisbon Strategy and is aimed at harnessing the potential of ICT to drive innovation and productivity in Europe.[91]

18.2 The framework consists of three pillars: a single European information space; innovation and ICT R&D; and inclusion, better public services and quality of life. i2010 promotes a European Information Society for all citizens through its eInclusion policy, which is comprised of a number of strands, including e-Accessibility.

18.3 The Commission says that:

"E-accessibility means overcoming the technical barriers and difficulties that people with disabilities, including many elderly people, experience when trying to participate on equal terms in the information society.

"If everyone is to have equal opportunities for participation in today's society, the full range of ICT goods, products and services need to be accessible. This includes computers, telephones, TVs, online government, online shopping, call centres, self-service terminals such as automatic teller machines (ATMs) and ticket machines."[92]

18.4 A high-level conference and exhibition on the theme "ICT for an inclusive society" was held in Riga, Latvia, on 11-13 June 2006, organised by the Commission, the Latvian government and the Austrian Presidency of the EU. Although noting examples of imaginative and innovative uses of ICT helping to address some of the key challenges faced by socially excluded people in many countries and regions in Europe, and beyond, the Conference also noted that the widespread understanding of the issues and opportunities surrounding eInclusion, and take-up of good examples, was not yet evident. Member States and accession and candidate countries, EFTA and other countries adopted a Declaration on eInclusion, designed to provide political guidance for future action.[93]

18.5 Member States thus committed themselves to achieving targets which would avoid a further widening of the digital gap and ameliorate the situation, thereby achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Agenda by 2010. The Declaration identified six areas where positive action was needed in order to make a digitally inclusive society for all a reality by 2010 — ICT and Ageing, eAccessibility, ICT and Competences, ICT and Socio-Cultural Diversity, Geographical eInclusion and Inclusive eGovernment.

18.6 On 9 January 2008, the Committee considered Commission Communication 14872/07, "European i2010 initiative on eInclusion "To be part of the information society", which was a mid-term review of progress towards i2010 and followed-up the Riga Ministerial Declaration. It outlined the priorities and actions that the Commission saw as necessary to achieve a digitally inclusive society for all by 2010, and concluded that a step change was required if a further widening of a digital divide was to be avoided.

18.7 The Commission identified industry as being key to improving the current situation and encouraged them to do more with regard to, inter alia, the lack of eAccessibility, where the Commission saw structural market failures and the lack of a common approach in the internal market leaving users wanting to access websites, digital television or have phone access to emergency services often encountering difficulties.

18.8 The Communication also noted that the role of public authorities varied from one Member State to another. Though some had initiatives in place that favoured eInclusion (ranging from acknowledging legal rights for ICT access and accessibility, to financial support for eInclusion actions), much more needed to be done.

18.9 With regard to Bridging the eAccessibility Gap, the Commission said that between 2008 to 2010 industry should commit to providing privacy-friendly solutions for persons with sensory, physical, motor and/or cognitive restrictions to make use of digital TV (accessible DTV) and of electronic communications (total conversation) accessible.

18.10 With regard to Accelerating effective participation of target groups at risk of exclusion and improving quality of life, the Riga Declaration had identified several target groups including elderly people, people with disabilities and cultural minorities. The Commission said that ensuring that the enabling conditions were in place was necessary but not sufficient; it was also necessary to stimulate effective use of ICT-enabled services and provide competence-building opportunities via education and training services, with e-Inclusion actions that focussed on people at risk of exclusion, and on those who tended not to use ICT and were losing out on potential benefits to their quality of life.

18.11 In a comprehensive and helpful Explanatory Memorandum of 20 December 2007, then Minister of State for Competitiveness at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Stephen Timms) said that the comprehensive eInclusion strategy presented in the Communication should help overcome the barriers that individuals wanting to access the digital world encounter, and maximise the contribution of ICT to economic and social inclusion which in turn would stimulate business opportunities. He welcomed many of the points in the Communication, as the Government was "committed to creating a digitally inclusive society for all, by overcoming the barriers that hinders the individual's access to ICT", and shared the Commission's objective of "enabling as great a proportion as possible of the UK and European society, irrespective of their location, to actively participate in the digital world is an objective which HMG shares with the Commission." The UK Government had launched a programme of work to consider the implications for next generation access, which was being led by the Government's independent advisory body, the Broadband Stakeholder Group. Discussions had already taken place regarding "the role of the public sector in rolling out next generation networks, with business leaders from the main telecoms companies, investment community, Government Departments, regional public authorities and Ofcom." Furthermore, following the Central Office of Information's formal consultation of Government websites' accessibility guidelines, a set of proposals would be published at the end of 2007 which should improve the current situation in the UK. Moreover, the UK was also working closely with the Commission on the Seventh Framework Programme on Information Society Technologies, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme and Article 169 research initiatives, "to maximise the number of citizens and enterprises able to reap the benefits of the information society, including the ageing society." There would be further consultation during 2008 as more details of the Commission strategy become clear.

18.12 Although the Commission flagged up one or two areas where it saw the possibility of some sort of legislation, the Communication itself raised no questions at that stage. The Committee looked forward to hearing from the Minister as appropriate, as the Commission strategy unfolded. In the meantime, we reported this Commission to the House because of the widespread interest in ICT issues in general and the importance therein of e-Inclusion, and cleared the document.[94]

The Commission Communication

18.13 Against this background, this latest Communication addresses the Commission's continuing concerns that urgent action now needs to be taken by Member States to achieve a more coherent, common and effective approach in favour of people with disabilities and elderly persons to e-Accessibility (access to electronic equipment), with particular focus on Web Accessibility (access to the Internet), so as to hasten the advent of an accessible information society as announced in the Renewed Social Agenda.[95] The Communication is accompanied by a Commission staff working paper on e-Accessibility and a report from an online public consultation on the same topic. The Communication also builds on two independent studies on the situation of e-Accessibility in Europe, conducted for the Commission.[96]

18.14 The Communication describes the current state of play, sets out the rationale for EU-level action and proposes key steps to be taken. It asks Member States, users and industry to recognise the need to step up efforts and seek more consistent impact through greater cooperation at European level and better exploitation of EU policy.

18.15 In order to achieve a common and coherent e-Accessibility approach, the Commission proposes that:

—  European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) should pursue wider e-accessibility standardisation activities to reduce market fragmentation and facilitate increased adoption of ICT-enabled goods and services for example by addressing standards for fixed telephony services, TV broadcasts, and public websites accessibility;

—  Member States, stakeholders and the Commission should stimulate greater levels of innovation and deployment in e-Accessibility, in particular through the use of the EU research and innovation programmes and the Structural Funds; and

—  all stakeholders should make full use of the opportunities to address e-Accessibility within existing EU legislation.

18.16 The Commission will include appropriate e-Accessibility requirements in revisions or new legislative developments.

18.17 The Commission will also boost stakeholder cooperation activities to enhance the coherence, coordination and impact of the actions. In particular, a new High-Level Ad Hoc Group will be mandated to provide strategic guidance on a coherent overall approach to e-Accessibility (including web accessibility) and propose priority actions to overcome e-Accessibility barriers.

18.18 To speed up progress in the special case of web accessibility:

—  ESOs should rapidly adopt European standards for web accessibility, following the establishment of updated web guidelines (WCAG 2.0) by the World Wide Web Consortium;

—  Member States should step up work on making public web sites accessible and jointly prepare for swift adoption of European web accessibility standards; and

—  the Commission will monitor and publish progress and may follow up at a later stage with legislative action.

18.19 Annex 1 of the Communication (which we reproduce at Annex 1 of this chapter of our Report) lists various proposed e-Accessibility and Web Accessibility actions, with datelines and those responsible for carrying them out.

The Government's view

18.20 In a helpful Explanatory Memorandum of 6th January 2009, the Secretary of State for Wales and Minister for Digital Inclusion (Mr Paul Murphy) explains that although the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster also have responsibility for e-accessibility and web accessibility issues covered in this EU Commission Communication, it is he who is responsible for coordinating Government Digital Inclusion policies ensuring that the economic benefits of the digital world are maximised by the private and public sector respectively. He also notes that the UK's e-accessibility and web accessibility legislation is a devolved matter and that the devolved administrations have been consulted in its preparation.

18.21 With respect to Legal and Procedural Issues, the Secretary of State describes the Communication as looking at the relationship at a national level between existing legislation and the actual progress being made by member states on e-accessibility. He notes that the research points to the legal fragmentation in the EU being due to divergent legislative measures. Building on this and earlier related Communications, the Secretary of State says that although the latest Communication contains no proposals for legislation, and is essentially focused on awareness raising and creating increased opportunities for Member States to learn from one another's experience, "the commission has started to explore a more general legislative approach to e-accessibility [and] may revisit this issue if legislation becomes necessary".

18.22 The Secretary of State continues as follows:

"The Commission has proposed Member States make use of existing legislation to advance accessibility, and indeed the UK and other Member States currently negotiating the review of the Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications have strengthened disability access rights.

"The UK is considered one of the leaders in this field, but we very much welcome the opportunity to participate in the new high level ad-hoc group.

"Along with the Governments Transformational Programme the UK recently launched its Digital Inclusion Action plan 'Delivering Digital Inclusion — An Action Plan for Consultation' which sets out a number of steps to meeting the Riga targets for accessible government and public websites and local access facilities for online government services, ensuring wherever possible that services offer choice as to how citizens access them, taking account the needs of users, ensuring that all including the most disadvantaged people and communities benefit from huge potential of ICT enabled public service transformation.

"The Government is taking the lead on driving through accessibility standards for public websites and has developed guidance for all public sector website owners on delivering inclusive websites.[97] The Government has also set the minimum standard for public sector websites at Level Double-A of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, and put in place target milestones for compliance.

  • "For the medium term, it is crucial to provide content developers and authors with tools that support accessibility training and to recognise that different roles need different training.
  • "Another medium-term objective is for public sector organisations to implement an explicit procurement policy for tools and content, which should have a positive knock-on effect on the industry.
  • "Websites owned by central government departments are required to comply by December 2009. Websites owned by central Government agencies have until March 2011.
  • "The Government is also working with academia, industry and the third sector to ensure that all public websites achieve a high standard of accessibility.

"Government is committed to increase the availability of broadband in underserved locations to reach at least 90% of the population. Both the Digital Britain report and the cross-Government paper 'Delivering Inclusion — An action Plan for Consultation' will be looking at what Government can do to stimulate take-up and access of digital technologies in the UK.

"The UK Government is developing the Power of Information programme to promote innovative ways of providing all sectors of public with better information about public services within present EU rules and legislation."

18.23 With regard to Consultation, the Secretary of State notes that (on 27 October 2008, with an end-date of 19 January 2009) the UK government launched a cross-government paper "Delivering Digital Inclusion — An Action plan for Consultation" which sets out a number of recommendations to improve e-accessibility and web-accessibility. The public sector guidance on Web Accessibility "Delivering inclusive websites" was, the Secretary of State says, developed in collaboration with industry, academia and the third sector including organisations such as Nomensa, AbilityNet, RNIB, W3C, Adobe and HumanITy. The consultation documents, in both Word and PDF format, were emailed to:

—  Departmental Directors of Communications;

—  Local government via SOCITM and the Better Connected team, who are responsible for regular accessibility evaluations of local government;

—  an eInclusion Working Group, representing UK accessibility policy and with strong industry and third sector representation (such as BT, Vodafone, Microsoft, Intellect, RNID, RNIB, Age Concern.);

—  the Cross-government Accessibility Network, led by DWP to look at the issue of accessible ICT in the workplace;

—  Accessibility Summit attendees, this event took place in February 2007 and was attended by thought leaders in the accessibility community (represented were a strong academic representation, BBC, BECTA, Museums and Libraries Association); and

—  Selected relevant stakeholders (such as British Computer Society, Adult Dyslexia Organisation, Shaw Trust).

The guidance "spread virally through email dissemination and was debated openly in the blogosphere and relevant online channels."

18.24 Turning to the question of Impact Assessment, the Secretary of State says:

"There is an increasing acceptance and recognition of the important role that digital technologies play in the lives and life chances of everyone. In particular there is a concern that a new driver of social exclusion in the 21st Century will be caused by an inequality in use and application of digital technologies be that the internet, mobile telephones, digital TV, better information management or mobile technology to support front line workers.

"The speed of technological change is immense and we need to develop the structures to ensure that as these changes take place that the most vulnerable are not left behind — but not only that they [are] not left behind, but that the full potential of digital technology is harnessed to drive improvements in people's life chances."

18.25 Finally, looking ahead, the Secretary of State says that Member States will report progress to the High Level Group by summer 2009, and that the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee are also invited to express their views on the action to be taken to make the information society accessible to all from 2009 onwards.

Conclusion

18.26 Although both the Communication and the Secretary of State make mention of the possibility of legislation, the thrust of the Commission's approach is plainly towards encouraging, once more, Member State governments, other public authorities and industry to make better use of what is available, so as to make the "step change" for which the Commission has been calling. Moreover, should any legislative proposals be put forward, they will be subject to scrutiny in their own right.

18.27 We accordingly clear the Communication, which we are reporting to the House because of the continuing importance of the subject matter.


ACTIONS | DATE | RESPONSIBLE |

E-accessibility

1.  Establish an ad hoc high-level group to provide guidance on priorities and a more coherent approach to e-accessibility. Stakeholders are called upon to commit to this cooperation. | Early 2009 | EC, stakeholders |

2.  Ensure e-accessibility remains a policy priority in the follow-up to i2010 and disability action plan. | 2009- | EC |

3.  Monitor web-accessibility and e-accessibility progress and implementation, support cooperation and exchange of good practices via studies and a CIP thematic network. | 2009- | EC, industry and stakeholders |

4.  Ensure e-accessibility is a strong research and innovation priority. | 2009 — | EC |

5.  Stimulate e-accessibility innovation and deployment via the Structural Funds, FP7, the AAL programme and national programmes. | 2009 — | MS, other stakeholders |

6.  Provide a disability toolkit applicable to ICTs for use in Structural Funds and other programmes. | 2009 | EC |

7.  Under Mandate 376, rapidly develop EU standards for e-accessibility, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders. | 2009- | ESOs |

8.  Ensure appropriate e-accessibility provisions are integrated in revisions of EU legislation. | 2008- | EC |

9.  Make full use of opportunities in current legislation to strengthen e-accessibility. | 2008- | MS, EC industry and stakeholders |

Web-accessibility

1.  Achieve 100% accessibility of public websites and prepare for rapid transition to updated web accessibility specifications in a common and coherent way. | 2009-2010 | MS

2.  Rapidly develop EU standards for web accessibility building on WCAG 2.0. | 2009- | ESOs (and stakeholders) |

3.  Improve the accessibility of Commission websites, updating internal guidance to reflect the new specifications. | 2009- | EC |

4.  Websites owners providing services of general interest and other relevant website owners to improve the accessibility of their websites. | 2009- | Other stakeholders |

5.  Monitor and publish progress and consider the need for common EU guidance, including legislative action. | 2009- | EC |

6.  Lead in improving the awareness and understanding of web accessibility in a coherent, efficient and effective manner and report progress to the high-level group. | 2008- | MS |


91   See http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm for full information. Back

92   COM(08) 804, page 4. Back

93   See http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/ict_riga_2006/index_en.htm for full details of the Conference and the Declaration. Back

94   See headnote: (29091) 14872/07: HC 16-vii (2007-08), chapter 10 (9 January 2008). Back

95   COM(08) 412: see (29818) 11517/08: HC 16-xxviii (2007-08), chapter 8 (22 July 2008). Back

96   All this material is available at http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/index_en.htm  Back

97   COI Web standards and guidelines - Delivering inclusive websites (TG102)

http://www.coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=129 Back


 
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