On June 21, 2023, EASIER was presented at the webinar titled Accessibility Statements and Feedback Mechanism in the European Commission, collocated with the 12th Meeting of the Web Accessibility Directive Expert Group (WADEX).
The presentation was delivered by Dr Giacomo Inches, the EASIER Project Coordinator. After providing the audience with a bit of context and explaining how the translation process works, Dr Inches introduced EASIER and its goals, which are well-aligned with the ICT-57-2020 topic description. He then presented the challenges hindering the implementation of a widely available automatic translation system between spoken and sign languages and explained how the EASIER team strives to turn them into opportunities. He also highlighted some of the lessons learned from prior projects and presented his vision for the future of translation, focusing on the need of securing more resources and investment for sign language technologies.
In addition to the presentation about EASIER, this private (by invitation only) webinar featured updates about the state of accessibility in the Member States (monitoring, accessibility statements, expertise, involvement of users with disabilities for checks, training opportunities, etc.) as well as accessibility statements and feedback mechanism in the European Commission. Among the speakers were the members of WADEX, DG COMM (Directorate-General for Communication is the Commission – a department responsible for explaining EU policies to outside audiences), and DG CNECT (Directorate‑General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, which develops and implements policies to make Europe fit for the digital age).
More information about the webinar including its full agenda is available here.
EASIER slides are available here (the presentation contains material which is from all the project partners).
About WADEX
The Web Accessibility Directive Expert Group (WADEX) was set up to advise the European Commission on technical matters regarding the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive including coordination and cooperation with Member States and stakeholders and to exchange best practices. When required, WADEX also advises the Commission in relation to the preparation of delegated acts and in the early stages of the preparation of implementing acts.
About Web Accessibility Directive
The Web Accessibility Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/2102), which has been in force since December 2016, provides people with disabilities with better access to websites and mobile apps of public services. The rules laid down in the Directive reflect the Commission’s ongoing work to build a social and inclusive ‘union of equality’, where all Europeans can play a full and active part in the digital economy and society. The Directive obliges websites and apps of public sector bodies to be more accessible.
The full text of the Web Accessibility Directive is available here.
A summary of the Web Accessibility Directive is available here.
