Fwd: [Internet Policy] DCAD Session at EuroDig–The European Accessibility Act: a Model for a More Accessible Digital Europe–Monday June 17 8 UTC

Might be of interest for those following Internet issues touching on
accessibility.

Thank you

Best Regards

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Judith Hellerstein via InternetPolicy <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Subject: [Internet Policy] DCAD Session at EuroDig–The European
Accessibility Act: a Model for a More Accessible Digital Europe–Monday
June 17 8 UTC
To: Internet Society Accessibility SIG in formation <
[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

Dear All,

I hope you will all join us at our Eurodig session Monday, June 17 at 8:00
UTC, 10 CET time. To watch the session, you need to be registered for the
EuroDig. This can be done on this link.–
www.eurodig.org/get-involved/register-2024/

We will have human captioning and these can be found here,
www.streamtext.net/player?event=CFI-EuroDig

Hope you enjoy

Judith

The European Accessibility Act: a Model for a More Accessible Digital Europe

*by Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability*

17 June 2024 | 10:00 – 11:00 EEST | WS room 1
*Consolidated programme 2024*
<eurodigwiki.org/wiki/Consolidated_programme_2024#pre03_24>

Session teaser

The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD)
facilitates interaction and ensures that ICT accessibility is included in
the key debates around Internet Governance to build a future where all
sectors of the global community have equal access to the Information
Society. DCAD brings together key stakeholders from the technical
community, civil society, government policymakers, regulators, and
corporate and individual adopters, with the shared goal of accessibility.

Our goal has always been to ensure that the Internet and its benefits are
fully and equally accessible to and independently usable by persons with
disabilities, so they can acquire the same information, engage in the same
interactions, and enjoy the same services within the same timeframe as
individuals without disabilities, with substantially equivalent ease of
use. There are many types of disabilities from cognitive disabilities,
visual disabilities, and hearing disabilities are just a few. We work with
people across the spectrum to provide them with access to and the needs
they desire to become active members of the Internet Governance ecosystem.

DCAD focuses on these core principles: affordability, accessibility,
usability, and availability for persons with disabilities or specific
needs. Accessible technology can be a game changer for persons with
disabilities. In this vein, we have been working within the Internet
Governance community to promote public interest in and knowledge of the
necessity for accessibility for persons with disability and encourage
enlightened accessibility measures worldwide.
Session description

The European Accessibility Act took effect in April 2019. The Act’s goals
are to improve the trade between members of the EU for accessible products
and services, by removing country-specific rules. This law was built to
complement the EU’s Web Accessibility Directive of 2016 and includes a wide
range of systems including personal devices such as computers, smartphones,
e-books, and TVs, as well as public services like television broadcasts,
ATMs, ticketing machines, public transport services, banking services and
e-commerce sites that must be accessible to persons of disabilities.

This session will focus on how well several European organizations are
living up to these goals and making the EU as accessible as possible. The
session will be moderated by Dr. Olivier Crepin-Leblond and by Dr. Mohammed
Shabbir, the Coordinator of DCAD. Olivier will open the session and provide
an overview of this session while Dr. Shabbir will provide an overview of
the DCAD.

Speakers:

– Vilmantas Balčikonis will share the views on what is important in
implementing the European Accessibility Act from an end-user perspective.
He will also talk about the uncertainties in implementing requirements
stemming from EAA and attempt to address some of them.

– Lidia Best, President of the European Federation of Hard of Hearing
People (EFHOH), will speak about the efforts of the EU Federation of Hard
of Hearing People to ensure equitable treatment and participation in
health, education, jobs, and other professions.
– Giacomo Mazzone, EDMO Advisory Board, and EuroDig Board Member will
speak about the implementation of this Act in Media and Journalism and also
talk about the work of the European Audiovisual Observatory
– Indre Jurgelioniene, Chief Advisor at the Lithuanian Communications
Regulatory Authority and Co-Chair of the Body of European Regulators for
Electronic Communications (BEREC) End-User Working Group will speak about
the implementation of the ACT from the BEREC perspective, provide an
overview of the national legislation related to accessibility, and provide
some insight into the challenges they have faced in implementing the Act
and the solutions found to overcome the challenges.

Format

Pre-events should give the opportunity to create synergies with 3rd parties
i.e. Dynamic Coalitions, Partners. No session principles apply. They are
held on day zero in parallel to setting up the venue for EuroDIG. We
provide limited technical support.

Let us know here what you want to do.
Further reading

– www.igf-dcad.org
– igf-dcad.org/key-resources/
– www.internetsociety.org/resources/accessibility-toolkit/

The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD)
facilitates interaction and ensures that ICT accessibility is included in
the key debates around Internet Governance to build a future where all
sectors of the global community have equal access to the Information
Society. Our goal has always been to ensure that the Internet and its
benefits are fully and equally accessible to and independently usable by
persons with disabilities, so they are able to acquire the same
information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services
within the same timeframe as individuals without disabilities, with
substantially equivalent ease of use.

DCAD focuses on these core principles: affordability, accessibility,
usability, and availability for persons with disabilities or specific
needs. Accessible technology can be a game changer for persons with
disabilities. In this vein, we have been working within the Internet
Governance community to promote public interest in and knowledge of the
necessity for accessibility for persons with disability and encourage
enlightened accessibility measures worldwide.
People

Moderator:

– Dr. Olivier Crepin-LeBlond (In Person Moderator) and Dr. Mohammed
Shabbir, the Coordinator of DCAD (Remote Moderator)

Speakers:

– Vilmantas Balčikonis is the Vice President of the Lithuanian
Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted, with over 5 years of
experience in the field of accessibility. Vilmantas actively participates
in various accessibility-related events and is well-versed in The European
Accessibility Act.
– Lidia Best, President of the European Federation of Hard of Hearing
People (EFHOH)
– Indre Jurgelioniene, Chief Advisor at the Lithuanian Communications
Regulatory Authority and Co-Chair of the Body of European Regulators for
Electronic Communications (BEREC) End-User Working Group
– Giacomo Mazzone, EDMO Advisory Board, and EuroDig Board Member