Ocawa
Legislative Issues
The rise in concern for internet accessibility is evident throughout the countries of the European Union as well as in the United States of America. The main political trends in each region are distinct while following largely the same idea: that some consensual and legally binding standard should be aimed for.
Of course, the official domain for any legislation on accessibility is the public sector; yet private enterprise is quickly trying to follow the code voluntarily, given the various strong economic arguments for accessibility.
More recently, these trends are beginning to be felt in the southern hemisphere where, apart from Australia , there has been little organised movement toward web accessibility.
Below are some of the key aspects of the political milieu in which accessibility issues currently stand.
United States of America
Political action and legislation on web accessibility issues in North America predate those in Europe by a few years. By the end of 1998 the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 had been ammended with what is now known as "section508" stipulating the federal position on accessibility of information technology via the web.
Even if the legislation in the U.S.A. applies only to federal bodies, it has become a burning issue at all administrative levels from states down to towns and counties.
Athough earlier litigation had failed to establish the importance of web accessibility in the private sector (Gumson et al. v. Southwest Airlines, in the state of Florida), recent events have suggested that the application of accessibility norms in the market place may be more than just a good idea (see The State of New York vs. Ramada Franchise Systems, 2004.
For up-to-date information on section 508 related issues :
A history of developments can be found at :
European Union
In 2001 the European Commission specified the measures to be taken to improve web accesibility for the handicapped. In the document (com 2001, 529), amongst other things, it is stipulated that European institutions and the 15 member states should by the end of the year 2001, come into line with the recommendations of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines du W3C.
Amongst the measures put forth as a means to improving the situation for accessibility, two main workgroups were created at the heart of the sub-commission eEurope (charged with development in the IT domain); these are the workgroup on eAccessibility and the "Design for all" workgroup.
The Workgroup eAccessibility concentrates mainly on the Accessibility of Information Technology and includes politicians and experts from all member states. These members exchange information regarding new developments in the field of assistive technology (including web accessibility). Conclusions are documented in the reports of the European Commission and lead to the creation of appropriate legislation.
The E-Europe action plan of 2002 commits all public websites of member states to be accessible to the handicapped, confirming the adoption of the recommendations of the W3C/WAI for website accessibility.
The "Design for all" workgroup aims to create a technological niche targeted directly at accessible information (with the central theme being web accessibility). This involves defining the standards of accessibility and advising the commision on a framework of regulation in the European Union.
Some dates of importance are:
May 28 2002: The eEurope action plan, 2005: The European commission accepts the "eEurope Action plan 2005", which outlines the formal approach that the European Commission is going to adopt as regards information technology until 2005. Amongst other things, this plan singles out the necessity of adapting the directives of the W3C in member states. In the meantime, each member state has formally declared agreement with the directives.
June 13 2002: The European parliament adopts a resolution to prolong the effect of the official communication (COM 2001, 539), but which also serves to augment the rigour of the accord, specifically: creation of "information points" where complaints may be lodged for non-observance of the W3C's directives. Thus an imperative character is given to the directives of the W3C for the websites of the EU and its member states.
For continued updates on the state of accessibility the following links are useful.
