2016 Internet Governance Forum – PALCCO, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico December 6th to December 9th 2016 "The Goal of Accessibility as Sustainable Criteria for Public Procurement" Presented by Mr. Gerry Ellis   2 1

Global Economics of Disability Fifth Quadrant Analytics Global Economics of Disability Report, 2013 1.3 Billion Persons with Disability globally Friends and Family add a further 2.2 Billion Control over 8 Trillion Dollars of Disposable Income annually 2

European Economics of Disability European Disability Forum 80 Million Persons with Disabilities Increasing because of a greying Population 80% of Disabilities are acquired during life rather than at birth European Commission's Public Procurement Strategy Public Spending on Goods, Works and Services add up to 14% of EU GDP 3

European EN 301549 Standard European Standard on Public Procurement of Accessible ICT products and services Published by European Standards Bodies CEN, CENELEC and ETSI Complemented by 3 Technical Reports Promotes Interoperability of Products and Services across Country Borders within Europe Australia has adopted it verbatim Mexico is considering adopting it verbatim 4

U.S. Section 508 Specifies Federal Requirements for the Acquisition of Accessible Electronic and Information Technology Promotes Interoperability of Products and Services across State Borders A "Buy Accessible" Wizard supports Federal Public Bodies to Comply with Section 508 Section 508 is being Revised Final rule on Accessibility of ICT sent to Office of Management and Budget on October 24th for Review 5

Strengths & Weaknesses Both have Strengths and Weaknesses Interoperable within their own spheres of Influence Neither Interoperable across Continents Neither Enforceable on non-Public Bodies unless Supplying products or Services to Public Bodies Differences between USA and European Markets Cause problems for Industry EN Problems with the likes of Real Time Text Old Section 508 out of Date 6

Solution Each Alone is Better than None at all A Harmonised Hybrid could take the Best of Both and Eliminate the Weaknesses This would be Better than Either One of them Alone Persons with Disabilities, Industry and Society all Gain 7

References Global Economics of Disability Report, 2013 http://returnondisability.com/disability-market/ European Disability Forum http://www.edf-feph.org European Commission Public Procurement Strategy https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/public-procurement/strategy_en European Standard EN 301549 http://www.etsi.org/news-events/news/754-new-european-standard-on-accessibility-requirements-for-public-procurement-of-ict-products-and-services Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act http://www.section508.gov 8

Thank you Mr Gerard Ellis gerry.ellis@feelthebenefit.com 9