The e-Government Web Accessibility Divide and the European Internet Inclusion Initiative (EIII)

The European Internet Inclusion Initiative (EIII)

Online interactions have become an important channel of communication as greater usage creates efficiencies for users and providers alike. In Europe, about three-quarters of the population is now regularly using the Internet and about 4 in 10 use it for interaction with public sector authorities specifically. However, the push towards e-government also has unintended consequences and there is a digital divide between those who can use them and those who cannot take advantage of them and therefore fall further behind in terms of socio-economic opportunities.

Improving digital inclusion is therefore more important than ever in creating an inclusive society and to reap the economic and social benefits thereof. This is of particular concern to people with disabilities. Despite progress in the supply of e-government information and services, only 10% of Europe’s government websites are fully accessible to people with disabilities today, according to a recent study carried out for the European Commission (EC).

This session reviews the challenges of digital inclusion broadly with a focus on the web accessibility divide more specifically. Given a lack of existing legislation combined with uneven adoption of web accessibility guidelines, third-parties such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are filling a void by setting standards and promoting implementation. In this regard, the session discusses the efforts of the European Internet Inclusion Initiative (EIII), which is building a website that contains a new combination of existing and evolving evaluation tools and aims to support user testing of websites through crowd-sourcing in order to support greater digital inclusion more broadly.

Speakers / panellists

Mr Kim Andreasson, Managing Director, DAKA advisory AB, Sweden

Ms Elsa Estevez, Senior Academic Program Officer, United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance

Mr Jeroen Pastoor, Projectmanager, Kwaliteitsinstituut Nederlandse Gemeenten (KING), Netherlands

Mr Mikael Snaprud, CEO of Tingtun AS, Norway, and co-ordinator of the European Internet Inclusion Initiative

Session's link to WSIS Action Lines
  • C3. Access to information and knowledge
  • C4. Capacity building
  • C6. Enabling environment
  • C7. ICT Applications: E-government
Session's link to the Sustainable Development Process

The session aims to promote digital inclusion and in extension access to informational and knowledge and capacity building, which can lead to greater socio-economic inclusion more broadly.


Session 223
  • Monday 25 May,
  • Room L1, ITU Montbrillant
  • Thematic Workshop

WSIS Forum 2015 | Innovating Together: Enabling ICTs for Sustainable Development
25–29 May 2015, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Place des Nations, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland