AccessibleEU

The Centre aims to ensure that EU member states are able to mainstream accessibility into all relevant policies and actions. The European Commission (EC) has launched the European Resource Centre (AccessibleEU), that aims to provide support for implementing accessibility widely and systematically across the public and private sectors in all the European Union Member States. The AccessibleEU Resource Centre is one of the flagship initiatives proposed by the EC in the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 to increase coherence in accessibility policies and facilitate access to relevant knowledge. The Resource Centre, which will be managed by the leading Spanish non-profit organisation, Fundación ONCE, will establish an open framework for communication and implementation of its mission, reaching out to actors and stakeholders in a variety of sectors of European society. It will also monitor and pursue the implementation of European Union law while performing a “policy watch”. As a part of its activities, the Resource Centre will offer an online library on accessibility knowledge that will include direct links to the most important databases on legislation, standards, accessibility documentation, and assistive technologies and products, among others. It says will also create a community of experts consisting of actors who are – or will be – in charge of implementing accessibility requirements. To achieve this aim, the Centre will offer learning events consisting of workshops, training courses and other mutual learning activities that will deal with different accessibility related topics. Additionally, the Centre will offer guidelines on how to implement accessibility across different sectors and will monitor the compliance of accessibility standards and policies. For this purpose, Fundación ONCE will design a methodology for organisations to self-assess their progress in accessibility.