The European Standardization Organizations (ESOs) approved mid-November the first European standard on the accessibility of the built environment. This long-awaited document will be published at the very beginning of 2021.
The brand new standard ‘Accessibility and usability of the built environment – Functional requirements‘ sets down the requirements that the built environment, including urban areas, needs to fulfil to be considered accessible and usable. It was drafted in response to a standardization request (Mandate M/420) of the European Commission.
The whole drafting process was led by Fundación ONCE and UNE, the Spanish National Standardisation Body, with the participation and consensus of outstanding European organisations representing the relevant stakeholders: policy makers, national standardization bodies, representatives of people with disabilities, users, consumers and businesses.
As representatives of the beneficiaries of this new standard (the so-called “users”), we were also engaged in the process together with ANEC (the European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation) and EDF (the European Disability Forum). Other key European organisations joined this challenge: ENAT (the European Network for Accessible Tourism), SBS (Small Business Standards) and ETSA (the European Textile Services Association).
> Read UNE Press Release in Spanish
> Contact person: Julia Wadoux, Julia.wadoux@age-platform.eu
The publication of this standard is also important to be linked up with the Homes4Life Project in which AGE is involved.
