Inclusion is a concept that needs to be constantly revised as a whole in order to build a more equal and non-discriminatory society. Conceived as a forum to gather accessibility professionals, disability advocates and policymakers, EDF and Microsoft co-hosted the 4th EU Accessibility Summit on 7th May. Speakers at the event, as well as participants, engaged in a fruitful exchange focused on key areas for people with disabilities across the EU.
Although legislation has been adopted to move towards a more inclusive EU, it still needs to be further developed so it can be effectively implemented. That’s the case of the European Accessibility Act (EAA): although a milestone in the setting of accessibility standards, it still remains too focused on digital products and services, as our organisation has already underlined in the past. Furthermore, as pinpointed by Inmaculada Placencia, a Senior Expert on Disability at the European Commission, the EAA is not fully implemented in certain Member States. In line with this, Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director at European Disability Forum, emphasised the role of monitoring and enforcement in building a more accessible world, suggesting the creation of agencies to fulfill that purpose.
At the same time, other participants, such as Klaus Miesenberger, Head of the Institute Integriert Studieren at the University of Linz, highlighted the importance of establishing guidelines so products and services can be developed under the principles of inclusive design. In line with this, Klaus welcomed the launch of the Accessible EU Centre (one of the flagship initiatives of the European Commission’s Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030) as a good discussion point to exchange good practices and as a tool to educate both end-users and professionals working in the disability area.
Raising awareness of the importance of accessibility in the daily lives of people with disabilities also requires that their voice is taken into account at a political level. With the 2024 European elections taking place from 6th to 9th June, Helga Stevens, a former member of the European Parliament, stated that “governments still don’t grasp the idea of having fully accessible elections, as well as the importance of ensuring the representation of diversity in institutions.” In an era where campaigns have quickly moved to the digital world, speakers such as Nellika Valder, Deputy Head of the State Electoral Office of Estonia, or Dave Leichtman, Director of Corporate Civic Responsibility at Microsoft, pointed out some issues in that area, such as the lack of accessibility of political parties’ websites. In a fruitful debate, they all reflected on the importance of considering persons with disabilities’ needs when accessing political information through co-creation processes.
Monitoring inclusion in the labour market and the challenges of Artificial Intelligence
Apart from debates about the accessibility of products and services and the current state of people with disabilities’ right to take part in political life, the 2024 EU Accessibility Summit also hosted an interesting discussion about how inclusion has evolved in workplaces across the EU over the last few years. The discussion revolved around the impact of the Corporate Sustainability Directive as a reporting tool in order to ensure the implementation of article 27 of the UNCRPD. Delphine Leveneur, Chief of Engagement Officer of the Valuable 500, pointed out that people in charge of monitoring processes in this area need to understand what’s actually behind the data in order to make progress.
As part of statistics-collecting tasks, Artificial Intelligence has been seen by some experts as a possible solution to the problem. However, Carla Bonino, Sustainability Chief at Fundacion ONCE, remarked that data analysis is a much more complex process. In the same line, EDF Executive Member, Thorkild Olesen, stated that while AI applications might have the potential to improve the lives of people with disabilities, its design must consider their needs. To achieve that goal, he also underlined the need to have disability champions who lead awareness-raising campaigns in this field.