RESOURCES : INTERNATIONAL POLICY
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Policies Relating to Web Accessibility (W3C®)
( http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/ )
International Accessibility Policy and LegislationAccessibility issues are considered to be one of the “target areas for equal participation” at an international level. Late in 1993 — at the infancy of the World Wide Web—the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities [1]. Rule 5 of the Standard Rules addresses accessibility in terms of the physical environment and with reference to information and communications services. Among other points, Rule 5 recommends: "States … develop strategies to make information services and documentation accessible for different groups of persons with disabilities."
Although not a legally binding instrument, the Standard Rules represent a strong moral and political commitment of governments to take action to attain equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. The rules serve as an instrument for policy making and as a basis for technical and economic cooperation. In the past few years, a special rapporteur appointed by the U.N. Secretary General to monitor the implementation of the Standard Rules has encouraged governments to consider accessibility of information and communications services within their country’s social development policies.
The unique governance structure of the Internet makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a country to impose accessibility legislation on its own citizens. For example, it is not easy for one government to impose penalties for poor accessibility in a web site of one of its own citizens if the web site is hosted in another country. Governments have used either policy or limited legislation in an effort to ensure that public information is an accessible public good.
Policies that encourage accessibility — stating its benefits to the producers and consumers of information — are used by most of the early adopters of the importance of information accessibility. These policy/guidelines can only implement minor penalties such as the notoriety of non-conformance. Australia, Canada and Portugal have issued policy statements, and have mostly limited policy application to their own federal governments.
A good example of a clear and concise policy statement comes from the "Guide to the Internet" of the Government of Canada. It states:
"Since the end user cannot count on either standard technology or helping devices to ensure access to information on the [World Wide] Web, the onus is on the web page developer to deliver the message in a way that allows everyone to benefit."It is every Canadian's right to receive Government information or service in a form that can be used, and it is Government of Canada's obligation to provide it."
Only the U.S. has, so far, turned information accessibility into legislation. It does so using both “push” and “pull” regulations. "Push" regulations—such as Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 — require industry to consider accessibility. This type of regulation is, however, only effective in production of accessible products such as kneeling buses and accessible teller machines. It is difficult to regulate delivery of online information using “push” regulation because World Wide Web information is available globally, and there are many countries that do not consider information accessibility an issue.Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is an example of "pull" legislation because it requires that the government purchase accessible products, but does not require that industry produce them. This provides a market pull to industry. Obviously, industry prefers pull regulations to push regulations. In practice, Section 508 may also be more effective because suppliers stand to lose major Federal contracts if they are perceived not to adopt corporate accessibility policies. By imposing accessibility regulation on its own ranks, the U.S. federal government is hoping that corporations will adopt accessibility policies as a matter of example and as a sign of good corporate citizenship.
The European Union seems convinced that “pull” regulation and standardizing on WAI is their best option. In its Europe Action Plan, the E.U. provides a special section titled “e-accessibility: Participation for all in the knowledge-based economy.” This action plan optimistically targets the year 2002 as the deadline for all member countries to make their federal websites follow the WAI Content Accessibility Guidelines.
In Canada, Federal websites have mostly complied with the Treasury Board Secretariat's Common Look and Feel (CLF) Guidelines. The successful implementation probably makes Canada's web sites the most accessible among industrialized nations. But the Treasury Board is not satisfied. The CLF Guidelines are currently being used in the formulation of legislation similar to Section 508, and with a compliance date of December 31, 2002. The difference between U.S. regulations and the Canadian and E.U. regulations is that Canada and the E.U. are adopting the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative as a reference material to keep with new technologies and developments. This move will likely be the same approach as other countries determine how, if ever, they formulate information accessibility policy.
Unfortunately, many countries may never have to deal with web accessibility for mostly economic reasons. One reason is that country priorities for information and communication services will naturally begin with the telecommunications infrastructure and the cost/benefit analysis of various platforms. For example, the e-Mexico project concentrates on making telecommunications facilities available to the rural areas, and the term accessibility is used to refer to the access of these facilities.
Another reason web accessibility might not be adopted is that in countries where labor costs are low, care giving for persons with disabilities is the norm, and independent living is not common. Caregivers can be asked to provide other services such as reading books and online information.
Links Related to International / Regional Laws:
(Links lead out of Accessibleware®)
255 - 504 - 508 - ADA - Individual States in USA
International Disability Rights Legislation
( http://www.disabilityworld.org/05-06_01/gov/legislation.shtml )
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Last Updated: September 1, 2002