MeAC – Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe

Here the focus is on whether, in addition to the various sectoral themes discussed above, there are also horizontal or co-ordinated eAccessibility measures that cover a range of sectoral themes or dimensions of eAccessibility.

In Estonia, the Joint Inclusion Memorandum of 2003 addresses various aspects of eInclusion. The document, prepared by the Government of Estonia with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs, focuses on social inclusion and outlines the principal challenges in relation to tackling poverty and social exclusion. The report is a high-level policy document and has brought attention to eInclusion topics (including eAccessibility).

In relation to disabled people, it is acknowledged in the Memorandum that disabled people face barriers in terms of access to the Internet and on-line services owing to their disability. The Memorandum urges that the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account and mentions the need to raise awareness about the difference that the use of ICT can make to the lives of disabled people and the barriers they face in terms of access to e-services. It recommends minimum accessibility standards or guidelines to be adhered to and gives an example of a disabled user-friendly website. It also recommended that when opening Public Internet Access Points, attention should be paid to physical accessibility.

While the Government’s current Information Society Strategy 2013 includes a broad principle that the information society is created for all residents, it contains a specific eAccessibility initiative only in relation to public websites and does not address other aspects of ICTs.

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