EBU Member's Newsletter

All the news on Creative Europe/MEDIA, Marrakesh Treaty, Accessible Lifts, Equality in employment, and the EU Disability Strategy.

In the framework of its new awareness-raising European project PARVIS, due to start in early 2021, the European Blind Union (EBU) is looking for two collaborators: a PARVIS Project Coordinator and a Communications Officer.

The Croatian Blind Union and the Union of the Blind of Montenegro signed a Cooperation Agreement on November 4, 2020. The agreement is part of the activities within EBU Mentoring in 2020. During a two-day visit in September 2020, representatives of the Union of the Blind of Montenegro exchanged views and experiences on topics of importance to the visually impaired with representatives of the Croatian Blind Union in Premantura, Croatia.

The Onkyo World Braille Essay Contest is a worldwide initiative planned and sponsored by Onkyo Corporation and The Braille Mainichi, two Japanese firms actively engaged in the promotion of braille. Its European strand is run by the European Blind Union.

The 2020 edition of the essay contest received a total of 45 participants from 16 countries. The authors of the winning essays receive prizes made available by Onkyo and Braille Mainichi.

The government's reduction in the benefit program for children's glasses created a lot of noise last autumn. This year we have worked hard to bring attention to this issue.

The Norwegian Association of the Blind and the Norwegian Association of Opticians believes that the new rates do not cover the costs of good and functional glasses for the children that need treatment. The result of this can be that the parents' wallet decides whether children get the glasses they need.

Lack of glasses can cause permanent damage to vision and cause reduced educational benefits.

The general assembly of Blindrafélagið, Icelandic Association of the visually impaired was held digitally in the middle of October. The board had postponed the meeting from May due to the meeting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2016 the European Union Directive 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies was adopted with the objective to make public sector websites and mobile apps more accessible to persons with disabilities.

According to the Web Accessibility Directive, by 23 September 2020 all public sector websites must comply with the requirements of this European legislation. Help us understand if this is the case and if your country has actually taken full advantage of the Web Accessibility Directive.

This survey is primarily intended for persons with disabilities. EDF will treat your responses confidentially.

The IBF Foundation Blind Football Neighbouring Countries Challenge Series, supported by Santen grant programme invites national teams worldwide to apply for financial support to hold international friendly matches with neighbouring countries as they reinitiate activities after the global pandemic.