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.

UTC

Related Content

  • April 2, 2014
    The great pay divide
    Public acceptance is crucial for the acceptance of managed and express lanes as Jon Masters discovers. Lists of proposed highway expansion projects introducing variably priced toll lanes continue to lengthen. Managed lanes, or express lanes to some, are gaining support as a politically favourable way of adding capacity and reducing acute congestion on principal highways. In Florida, for example, the managed lanes on the 95 Express are claimed to have significantly increased average peak-time speeds on tolle
    Read More
  • November 26, 2013
    Pan-European travel information is a reality – at a price
    Pan-European, multi-modal traffic and travel information is now available, for drivers willing to pay for it. Jon Masters reports. Those able to afford a new car with all the latest options including internet connectivity can now look forward to getting detailed up-to-the-minute traffic information. They can also access multi-modal travel data, such as train times, plus weather forecasts and parking availability. Take the connected car to any Western European country and the system still works with live
    Read More
  • January 25, 2012
    Anywhere card delivers prepaid contactless ticketing
    David Crawford investigates a far reaching initiative in integrated travel. The Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), an operator of high speed commuter rail in the north eastern US, is not one of the world's best known transit providers. Its 13 stations along a single east-west route (three of them interchanges with other regional commuter lines) handle 40,000 passengers a day, travelling to and from Philadelphia, the US' fifth most populous city.
    Read More
  • March 4, 2019
    ASECAP cautiously welcomes EU agreement on VRU safety
    Tolling organisation ASECAP has welcomed a European agreement which would force governments to take ‘systematic account’ of vulnerable road users (VRUs). But it warns that the industry must guard against any unintended consequences of the provisional agreement between the European Council and European Parliament, which is designed to strengthen road infrastructure management in a bid to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. The wording has yet to be endorsed by the Council and the relevant European Par
    Read More

Highlighted Content