Research informs new European standards on accessibility
Several new accessibility standards will be developed to support the European Accessibility Directive. A research assignment to guide the development of standards on non-digital information and support services is now underway.
The European Commission has mandated the three European standardisation organisations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI to review the standards needed to ensure compliance with the requirements of the new Accessibility Directive. In addition to updating existing standards, several new ones will be developed, including standards on accessibility to non-digital information and to support services such as customer care, which CEN/CENELEC is responsible for developing.
The standards have great potential to make a difference for users by recognising that it is not only the service or product itself that needs to be accessible, but also the support and documentation.
CEN/CENELEC is responsible for developing the new standards to be in place by 2026. The standards have great potential to make a difference for users by recognising that it is not only the service or product itself that needs to be accessible, but also the support and documentation. All users should be able to find and understand key information about the product or service, and to get the help they need make a service or product work. Both non-digital information and support services are areas that are relatively unexplored in accessibility standardisation. Therefore, CEN/CENELEC has initiated a study of what knowledge exists in these areas that can guide the development of the new standards. The project manager for the study is Sara Kjellstrand at the Funka Foundation. The assignment includes a review of relevant literature in standardisation and research, as well as interviews with representatives of user organisations and other relevant stakeholders to collect best practices.
The assignment will be presented to CEN/CENELEC JTC12 ‘Design for all’ in December 2024, and the results will be submitted as input for the standardisation work to be carried out in 2025.
About the CEN/CENELEC Technical Committee JTC12 “Design for all”, opens in new window