European Accessibility Act ‘favours business demands; says disabled group

The European Disability Forum (EDF) has reacted strongly to the recent EU vote which aims to make key products and services, like phones, e-book readers, operating systems and payment terminals, more accessible to people with disabilities, under new draft EU rules. EDF is an umbrella group representing 100 associations and some 80 million disabled people across the EU. The Internal Market Committee (IMCO) amended and approved the rules, which would apply only to products and services placed on the EU market
May 8, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The European Disability Forum (EDF) has reacted strongly to the recent EU vote which aims to make key products and services, like phones, e-book readers, operating systems and payment terminals, more accessible to people with disabilities, under new draft EU rules.


EDF is an umbrella group representing 100 associations and some 80 million disabled people across the EU.

The Internal Market Committee (IMCO) amended and approved the rules, which would apply only to products and services placed on the EU market after the directive takes effect.

The proposed European Accessibility Act (EAA) would enable people with disabilities to benefit from more accessible products and services. The draft directive sets out accessibility requirements for a list including ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines, PCs and operating systems, phones and TV equipment, consumer banking services, e-books, transport and e-commerce. MEPs added other items to the list, such as all payment terminals, e-book readers and websites and mobile device-based services of audio-visual media.

EDF says the IMCO Committee has favoured business demands over the rights of people, including persons with disabilities, older people and all consumers. This fully contradicts all previous statements by the European Parliament on the Accessibility Act and in particular the European Parliament’s resolution of 7 July 2016. It claims the report is watering down the 1690 European Commission’s proposal to such an extent that there is a risk that the Accessibility Act may be meaningless for millions of people in Europe.

The accessibility requirements would also cover the built environment where the service is provided, including transport infrastructure, such as train stations, “as regards to the construction of new infrastructure or renovations with a substantial change of the structure of the existing building”, where member states do not already have requirements in place, the committee decided.

EDF is now calling on the European Parliament to substantially amend the IMCO Committee’s report in the plenary and to promote a strong and ambitious Accessibility Act that will bring a real change in the lives of its citizens.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Financing the US road infrastructure – road user charging?
    February 2, 2012
    In the US, the National Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission's report to Congress will state that a national, distance-based charging is the only long-term solution to the country's infrastructure financing problems. The Commission's Chair, Rob Atkinson, talks to ITS International
    Read More
  • Asecap Days 2024: Getting used to the new normal
    August 27, 2024
    Asecap Days 2024 in Milan focused on environmental protection of road infrastructure, digital twin-based maintenance and monitoring of highways as well as the impact of electric vehicles, reports David Arminas
    Read More
  • Transport in the round
    October 13, 2015
    The ITF’s Mary Crass tells Colin Sowman why future transport demands will require governments to overcome the silo effect of individual single-modal authorities. The only global multimodal transport policy organisation,” is how Mary Crass describes the International Transport Forum (ITF), which is housed at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As head of policy and summit preparation at the ITF she says: “All other organisations are either regional or have a modal focus, we cove
    Read More
  • US state of the art workzone safety
    January 25, 2012
    The Texas Transportation Institute's Jerry Ullman talks about the state of the art in work zone safety in the US. Work zones are places where, perhaps more than anywhere else on the road network, mobility and safety are strongly linked. Historically, field crews and contractors wanted vehicles in work zones to be moving as slowly as possible, assuming that made conditions the safest for work crews. We are though starting to see a shift in such thinking with the realisation that excessive delays or slow-down
    Read More

Highlighted Content