The European Parliament adopted its second reading position on Wednesday 26 October on the regulation on the accessibility of websites (see EUROPE 11546). In the debate the previous day, MEPs underlined the added value of this text and bemoaned the slowness of the legislative process.
The new rules, proposed at the end of 2012, establish a set of criteria and of technical provisions to ensure that everyone, including people with limited mobility and the handicapped, can have access to the websites and mobile phone and tablet applications of public sector bodies. They include a number of exceptions, however, for some kinds of older content that is not essential for administrative procedures and for content generated on Twitter, livestreamed videos and heritage collections held by libraries. The compromise reached in May contains a number of safeguards. Firstly, public sector bodies will have to provide regular updates demonstrating that their services comply with the new directive, including explaining if part of the content is not accessible. They will then have to make this content accessible 'on request' (access on demand). Lastly, there will have to be a hyperlink to an 'enforcement procedure' to which users can turn if the response is unsatisfactory. The new rules will only come fully into effect in 2021.
“Is this the last step? No. There are still some shortcomings to be resolved before the directive is completely proportionate. But at least, if a site is not accessible, governments will have to give reasons and they will not be able to hide behind arguments of cost”, said Parliament rapporteur Dita Charanzova (ALDE, Czech Republic). She added: “It’s not the last step either because accessibility cannot be limited to government sites. We still need a strong accessibility act that covers both the digital and the physical worlds”. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)