MeAC – Measuring Progress of eAccessibility in Europe

Legislation/regulations

The Equal Opportunities Act (Disabled Persons) of 2000, as amended, provides the legal basis for public website accessibility obligations. The Act outlaws discrimination in employment, education and provision of goods and services, amongst others, though it does not specify accessibility of websites.

Accessibility guidelines produced by the Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA) have an ‘official’ status in that Government websites are required to pass a FITA accessibility check at pre-launch stage. FITA is a quasi-NGO, whose core funding is provided by the government IT agency, MITTS (Malta Information Technology and Technical Services – MITTS Ltd). The Equal Opportunities Act (Disabled Persons) of 2000 is the legal basis for this requirement. The guidelines are also reportedly used by the private sector on a voluntary basis.

Other initiatives

FITA provides an ICT accessibility audit service to both public websites (through MITTS) and commercial websites (at commercial rates) The requirements in both cases derive from the Equal Opportunities Act (Disabled Persons) of 2000. The public sector accessibility audits are carried out as an integral part of the MITTS quality assurance role for work commissioned by the Central Information Management Units. The service is also provided based on user requests or through proactive assessment of essential services being provided through ICTs. Although accessibility assessment seems to be voluntary the initiative appears to have some monitoring aspects for the public sector, linked to MITTS quality assurance and government policies regarding content.

The National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (KNPD) takes an active role in promoting accessibility of both public and private websites. In its report for 2006/7, the Commission cites work it has undertaken with FITA to ensure that major entities are accessible, including Government Departments and large copanies. The Commission also commits to continue working with FITA to ensure that websites are accessible to everyone.

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