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By Chris Law, Executive Director
The past few months have shaken up the accessibility profession — where the USA historically was a leader in policy and innovation, are the tables now turning?
Most of the leading accessibility consulting firms, including those based in the USA, are now advertising their services around implementation of European Accessibility Act (EAA). With the upcoming deadline of June 28, 2025, companies are betting that there will be a solid stream of opportunity coming from this market.
I moved from the UK to the USA in the early stages of my career in the mid-1990s. The USA held a strong lead in accessibility over European countries at that time, with much greater level of academic and professional interest, research funding, and legal backing.
Is the reverse now true?
Will the interest, funding and legal position be stronger in Europe than in the USA? We’ll soon see how it plays out on both sides of the Atlantic.
One thing is for sure is that the mission to make the world more accessible has always been a struggle, and it will continue to be so. Implementing and enforcing the EAA in 2025 won’t be easy — just as the implementing and enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has challenged us since it was enacted in 1990.
Despite the struggles, we in the accessibility field are compelled to persist with our mission. We believe it’s the right thing to do.
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When we at Standard Accessibility Reporting release our first set of standards for reporting accessibility, industry will be able to provide consumers with apples-to-apples comparisons between available products.
Neither the EAA nor the ADA constrain us in our work, which is very much to our advantage. Because no one has published standards to date, it’s not possible to create a law, regulation, or how-to guide for something which is not yet in existence — and so the EAA and ADA make no reference to standardized reporting.
And, by the same token, if something doesn’t exist it’s not possible to prohibit it. Therefore, neither the EAA nor the ADA can prohibit the use of standardized scoring systems. Instead, it will be up to industry “push” and consumer “pull” whether the new standards are implemented when they are released — and this will take place outside of any regulatory framework.
Product reviews are ubiquitous, but mostly unregulated. Today, product reviews that include accessibility are hard to find. We intend to change that, and the process will be unregulated, which, at the present time, is a good thing. Industry consensus standards are for industry members to decide — not governments. In the ongoing struggle for improved accessibility, it’s reassuring to know that SAR’s current work is not reliant on any government’s permission or involvement.
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If you work in the accessibility field, you can be part of the decision making team for the new industry consensus standards. Join SAR’s membership.