On Tuesday (3 May), after a long night of negotiation, and after more than three years since its proposal, it was agreed that web accessibility will now be the law of the land in Europe. This is a victory not only for persons with disabilities, but all of us, writes Dita Charanzová.
Dita Charanzová MEP (Czech Republic, ALDE), is the rapporteur of the Directive on Web Accessibility for Public Sector Websites.The Directive requires:
– All new public sector websites and apps will have to accessible and current websites will have to be updated
– Older content, like old videos or word documents, will be available to citizens in accessible form on demand
– Government videos will have to have closed captioning or another accessible alternative, including live streaming within a maximum of 14 days of broadcast.
– Online services, like paying fines or fees, will have to be accessible.
– A clear statement on each website on to explain if a part of a website is not accessible.
Today, our lives centre around access to information online, either at our workplace or in our school or in our relations with government authorities. Most of us could not go through our day without this digital communication, no matter if it is on a computer or a smart phone. This will go without saying as more of the population become ‘digital natives’.
We, as a digital society, however, can only be complete when all citizens have access, and this access must include persons with disabilities.More than 80 million Europeans have disabilities. …
This legislation is therefore vital to all of us, even those without disabilities today.
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Curated by (Lifekludger)
Read full article at Source: Web accessibility will now be the law of the land in Europe – EurActiv.com
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