The European Accessibility Resource Centre “AccessibleEU” was officially launched last summer.
AGE was invited to share its views and expectations of this resource centre aimed to promote inclusion in the EU.
The AccessibleEU Centre is a one-stop-shop that will offer information, training, awareness-raising events, and practical skills on accessibility. The launch event on 4th July welcomed the participation of Helena Dalli, European Commissioner for Equality, and various stakeholders to discuss the importance of this initiative in building an inclusive Europe for all.
During the event, we underlined three main points:
- We expect the centre to make accessibility a true reality on a daily and local level. While we do have a strong legal basis for accessibility notably with the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Accessibilty Act, we need to see these rights implemented in practice.
- We expect the centre to enhance synergies to make sure the wealth of knowledge of the usual suspects is shared widely with all stakeholders who have a role to play in accessibility. For instance, we know by experience how much effort remains to be done in the banking sector (for more information see here).
- We expect the centre to be a platform where all users, whatever their disability (physical, sensory or cognitive) can share their experience and build their capacities. Persons with disabilities, including older persons, are the ultimate expert of their lives and should be meaningfully involved in developing and implementing workable solutions.
We are committed to providing support and making AccessibleEU known. And we will use the experience and the expertise of the centre in the framework of our contribution to the next session of the Open Ended Working Group on Ageing, given one of the focus will be on accessibility, infrastructure, housing and mobility.
About AccessibleEU
AccessibleEU is one of the flagship initiatives proposed by the European Commission Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. It is a resource Centre on accessibility working on areas such as built environment, transport, information and communication technologies to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of life on equal basis with others.
Its aims at :
- Building the capacity on accessibility in EU countries
- Supporting the implementation of the EU legislation on accessibility
- Connecting stakeholders responsible for implementing accessibility rules in the EU
- Creating a common European one-stop-shop on accessibility
- Training excellent professionals on accessibility
Interested to join forces or benefit from the knowledge sharing of AccessibleEU? You can:
- Join the community of practice which comprises accessibility experts from different EU countries as well as other people with interest in accessibility.
- Participate to the numerous events held in the different EU countries.
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