Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.User Interfaces for All: Concepts, Methods and Tools. Constantine Stephanidis, (Ed.) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2001, Accessed 2019-05-14.
Design for All is design for human diversity (such as that described in the diversity in the workplace or business), social inclusion and equality.EIDD Stockholm Declaration, 2004 It should not be conceived of as an effort to advance a single solution for everybody, but as a user-centred approach to providing products that can automatically address the possible range of human abilities, skills, requirements, and preferences. Consequently, the outcome of the design process is not intended to be a singular design, but a design space populated with appropriate alternatives, together with the rationale underlying each alternative, that is, the specific user and usage context characteristics for which each alternative has been designed.
Traditionally, accessibility problems have been solved with adaptations and the use of assistive technology products has been a technical approach to obtain adaptations. Universal Access implies the accessibility and usability of information and telecommunications technologies by anyone at any place and at any time and their inclusion in any living context. It aims to enable equitable access and active participation of potentially all people in existing and emerging computer-mediated human activities, by developing universally accessible and usable products and services and suitable support functionalities in the environment. These products and services must be capable of accommodating individual user requirements in different contexts of use, independent of location, target machine, or runtime environment. Therefore, the approach aiming to grant the use of equipment or services is generalized, seeking to give access to the Information Society as such. Citizens are supposed to live in environments populated with intelligent objects, where the tasks to be performed and the way of performing them are completely redefined, involving a combination of activities of access to information, interpersonal communication, and environmental control. Citizens must be given the possibility of carrying them out easily and pleasantly.
For a thorough discussion of the challenges and benefits of Design for All in the context of ICT, see also the EDeAN White Paper (2005) and the "Report on the impact of technological developments on eAccessibility"Report on the impact of technological developments on eAccessibility , Accessed 2009-10-05. of the DfA@eInclusion project.DfA@eInclusion project website , Accessed 2009-10-05.
Benefits and challenges The European Commission Communication on e-Accessibility,Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: e Accessibility, Brussels 2005, Accessed 2009-10-05. identified a core of practical challenges, as well as market, legal and policy issues towards improving eAccessibility and e-Inclusion in Europe, and elaborated a three-fold approach based on: accessibility requirements in public procurement accessibility certification and better use of existing legislation.
In that respect, the challenges that need to be addressed include: the introduction of specific legislative measures to complement and enhance existing legislation, addressing and motivating the industry, effective benchmarking, providing harmonised standardisation, the creation of a curriculum for DfA and, addressing future research activities.
Legislative and regulative background The present policy context of accessibility in the Information Society in Europe is the i2010 initiative.The i2010 initiative website, Accessed 2009-10-05. The "i2010 – A European Information Society for growth and employment" initiative was launched by the European Commission as a framework for addressing the main challenges and developments in the information society and media sectors up to 2010. It promotes an open and competitive digital economy and emphasises ICT as a driver of inclusion and quality of life. The initiative contains a range of EU policy instruments to encourage the development of the digital economy, such as regulatory instruments, research and partnerships with stakeholders.
Equality and non-discrimination The goal of the European Union Disability Strategy is a society that is open and accessible to all. The barriers need to be identified and removed. The European Union Disability Strategy has three main focuses: co-operation between the Commission and the Member States, full participation of people with disabilities, and mainstreaming disability in policy formulation. Non-discrimination is also one of the general principles of the "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities",Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Accessed 2009-10-05. adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and was opened for signatures on 30 March 2007.
Telecommunications and information society There is a long tradition of European legislation with regard to telecommunications. In 2002, the European Union adopted a new regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services, covering all forms of fixed and wireless telecoms, data transmission and broadcasting. From a Design for All perspective, the most important Directives are the Directive on a common regulatory frameworkDirective 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a common regulatory framework for electronic communications networks and services (Framework Directive) , Accessed 2009-10-05. and the Directive on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and servicesDirective 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services (Universal Service Directive) [Official Journal L 108 of 24 April 2002], Accessed 2009-10-05. (Universal Service Directive).
Public procurement Public procurement is an important economic force, and therefore it is an important tool to promote accessibility. The legislative package of public procurement Directives, approved in 2004 by the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers, will help simplify and modernize procurement procedures.
The new directives make it possible to take accessibility needs into account at several stages of a procurement process. It is most convenient to refer to standards when making technical specifications. There are already many CEN, ETSI and ITU standards which can be used for this purpose and many sources which can be useful in practice. Likewise, guidelines like the WAI guidelines, for example, or national guidelines have been used. In the future it will be easier to find suitable standards. Mandate M/376European Commission Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General (2005): Standardisation Mandate to CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI in support of European accessibility requirements for public procurement of products and services in the ICT domain, Accessed 2009-10-09. has been given by the European Commission to the European Standardisation Organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, to come up with a solution for common requirements and conformance assessment.
Copyright Not all products are accessible for persons with disabilities. When producing audio books, or certain other accessible works, an additional copy is created, and copyright can be a problem in this situation. On the other hand, copyright is an essential part of the sustainability of a creative society. This conflict of interests must be solved somehow in order to ensure the Information Society is a Society for All. There is international and European legislation in this field. The objectives of the Directive on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information societyDirective 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society., Accessed 2009-10-05. are to adapt legislation on copyright and related rights to reflect technological developments and to transpose into Community law the main international obligations arising from the two treaties on copyright and related rights adopted within the framework of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)World Intellectual Property Organisation, Accessed 2009-10-05. in December 1996.
Protection of privacy The relationship between design and privacy is not necessarily obvious. Modern technology, which is a result of design, is able to collect significant amounts of personal information. The user has an interest in that information being correct and in it being used appropriately. The person may want to keep something confidential and have access to the information that has been collected. In other words, privacy is desired. In 1995 the European Union adopted a Directive on the processing of personal data.Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications), Accessed 2009-10-05.
This directive established the basic principles for the collection, storage and use of personal data which should be respected by governments, businesses and any other organizations or individuals engaged in handling personal data. Within the context of Design for All (in ICT), privacy protection is called Privacy by Design.
Relevant guidelines and standards In the US, Australia, Japan and in the European Union more and more legislative actions are put in place to require public bodies and companies to make sure that their products and services are accessible and usable not only by "standard" users but also by others such as elderly persons or people with an impairment. As it would be unwise to write down technical – and therefore time-bound – requirements into a law, legislative texts preferably refer to (international) standards.
Standardisation: general overview Standardisation, i.e., in very general terms, producing a "standard" (French: ; German: ; Spanish: ) is a voluntary action set up in the past, almost uniquely, by commercial partners who believe that the standardisation will permit easier exchanges of products and goods. This implied very often that the acceptance of the standards is also voluntary and triggered by expected commercial benefits. Only to a very limited extent consumer representatives did participate in standardisation. On the other hand, laws in many countries are referring more and more to the required acceptance of several standards (e.g. on safety or on ecological aspects). The net result of this need for standards is that nowadays many standardisation initiatives are stimulated (= subsidised) by public bodies or, in Europe, directly and indirectly by the European Commission. Also many guidelines have been created by stakeholder groups.
Recent developments in DfA related standardisation (formal standards)