Favalli, Silvia and Ferri, Delia
(2018)
Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities in
the European Union: Paving the Road to
Social Inclusion.
Societies, 8.
pp. 1-19.
ISSN 2075-4698
Abstract
Despite the drawbacks and the challenges highlighted by several scholars, Information
and Communication Technology (ICT), in particular the World Wide Web, has the potential to
foster social inclusion of people with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which entered into force in 2008, has illuminated the role technology
can play as a tool to promote the human rights of people with disabilities, and their participation
and inclusion in society. The UNCRPD has also conceptualized ICT accessibility as a precondition for
the enjoyment of rights, prompting a series of reforms in domestic legal frameworks globally and in
the European Union (EU). Against this background, this article aims to address the role played by
the EU in fostering “digital inclusion”, and critically evaluates relevant EU policies and legal rules,
locating them within the broader realm of the implementation of the UNCRPD. It pays particular
attention to Directive 2016/2102 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public
sector bodies, as well as on the proposal for a European Accessibility Act (EAA). It attempts to show
that, while the EU has thus far played an extremely important role in fostering web accessibility,
many remaining obstacles must be eradicated to fully ensure access to the web to people with
disabilities. This article adopts a doctrinal legal research methodology and is primarily concerned
with the analysis of relevant legal rules and related scholarship. In addition, it is informed by a
socially-oriented understanding of disability and builds upon the multifaceted and multidisciplinary
literature on disability and technology.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Web accessibility; UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; European Union; European Accessibility Act; Web Accessibility Directive; social inclusion; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Law |
| Item ID: |
11724 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020040 |
| Depositing User: |
Delia Ferri
|
| Date Deposited: |
18 Nov 2019 12:03 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Societies |
| Publisher: |
MDPI |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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