Equality / anti-discrimination
Policy approaches based on equality / anti-discrimination legislation have considerable potential in the eAccessibility field. Such approaches can provide people with disabilities – individually or collectively – with a right to seek redress if they are confronted with inaccessible ICT equipment or services, either in relation to ICT-based goods and services in a general sense or in relation to specific usage contexts.
Legislation/regulations
The Equal Treatment Act (2004) prohibits discrimination on the ground of disability and covers a wide scope including public services, employment, education and goods and services; however there is no specific reference to eAccessibility.
Goods and services equality
The Equal Treatment Act (2004) prohibits discrimination in access to and supply of goods and services though there is no direct reference to eAccessibility.
Employment equality
The EU Employment Equality Directive has been transposed. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons Act (2004) aims to increase employment of people with disabilities and non-discrimination in the labour market. Direct and indirect discrimination in employment on the ground of disability is prohibited. The principle of ‘reasonable accommodation’ appears to be covered in Article 37 and could cover eAccessibility. The Act says that workplaces for disabled persons should be adapted in order to promote new jobs for disabled people and that employers should adapt workplaces to the needs of unemployed disabled people on an equal footing by adapting workplaces and technical equipment to the needs of disabled people. The Act also stresses the importance of other suitable forms of workplaces for disabled persons: work from home and distance work.
Education
As noted above, the Equal Treatment Act (2004) covers education.
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We are interested in receiving any corrections and/or additional information that may help us to update or improve our understanding of the current state of affairs in this country concerning the consideration of accessibility issues in the framework of anti-discrimination policy. This may concern information on relevant legislation, other policies and/or the level of accessibility actually achieved. Please enter your contribution in the “Leave a Reply” box below or send an e-mail to meac at empirica dot com.
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