Catherine Easton

The web content accessibility guidelines 2.0: an analysis of industry self-regulation

While national and international disability-discrimination provisions lay down a duty to design accessible websites, the actual standards by which accessibility is gauged is an area in which self-regulation and the lack of a definitive international standard prevails. This article presents an analysis of a key self-regulatory standardisation body, the World Wide Web Consortium, in order to determine how its composition, processes and standards themselves impact upon this international, technical arena. This analysis is placed in the context of increased calls for the participation of disabled people in the creation of provisions and the difficulty in reaching a consensus in areas such as access to technology for people with cognitive difficulties.

An examination of the Internet's development as a disabling environment in the context of the social model of disability and anti-discrimination legislation in the UK and USA

Research indicates that inaccessible website design persists despite the existence of anti-discrimination legislation and the influence of the social model of disability on policy development. In this paper, the concept of universal access is examined in the light of the social model of disability in relation to both the physical and virtual environments. The manner in which disability is often deemed a design afterthought is highlighted. The need for universal access is then placed alongside a discussion of access to the Internet in relation to an ageing population and people with cognitive difficulties. Subsequently, anti-discrimination provisions are analysed in relation to how they support designers’ focus on an accepted normality to which reasonable adjustments need to be made, rather than the acquisition of full universal access.

Website accessibility and the European Union: citizenship, procurement and the proposed Accessibility Act

Websites can be accessible to all if they are designed according to certain principles. Website accessibility has long been a European Union policy priority, particularly with the growth of egovernment services and the related impact on citizenship. A number of studies, while showing some improvement in accessibility, indicate the need for accessibility improvement in relation to egovernment services. This article outlines the European Unions policies on accessible websites and the related legislation. A theme in the development of disability related Directives is fragmentation and the lack of harmonising principles. Public procurement has been used as an extremely effective tool to increase accessibility in the United States, and it is this approach that lies at the heart of the proposed Accessibility Act. This initiative seeks to harmonise standards and policies on accessibility to harness fully the power of the internal market and the commercial impetus in order to increase access. While the Accessibility Act is currently being drafted after recent public consultation, this article evaluates the potential impact it could have on the accessibility of European Union public, and ultimately, private websites.

Revisiting the law on website accessibility in the light of the UK's Equality Act 2010 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Use of the Internet has been proven to provide significant, wide-ranging benefits for disabled people research, however, such as a large scale global study commissioned by the United Nations, has determined a low level of accessibility. These findings have been supported by further multi-disciplinary work. While in other jurisdictions there have been definitive rulings on the need for the provision of accessible websites, a UK court has yet to lay down such a duty in relation to a website. It is accepted that there are a number of wide ranging issues interacting in this multi-faceted area, such as standardisation, industry self-regulation and the determination of an international consensus on what constitutes accessible design. However, this paper will focus upon the Equality Act 2010 and the changes it makes which could impact upon the creation of a definitive precedent. The Equality Act 2010 amended and combined pre-existing anti-discrimination provisions into one overarching piece of legislation. An analysis can be undertaken of how this legislation through its reasonable adjustment duty, public sector duty and the potential to validate regulations may be able to bring clarification in the area of website accessibility. Furthermore, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its Article Nine specifically applies to access to the Internet. Given the international nature of website accessibility and the innovative provisions contained in the Convention, its impact on website design and inclusion could potentially be far-reaching. This article analyses the area of website design in the light of these recent legislative developments.

European Union information law and the sharing economy

The sharing or collaborative economy, including prominent platform-based businesses such as Uber and Airbnb, harnesses online technology to match service providers and users. The EU has identified this sector as providing wide-ranging opportunities for growth, while acknowledging its potential to disrupt existing regulatory frameworks and, in this way, create risks for service providers and users alike. This chapter focuses specifically on the information law-related aspects of the sharing economy. In a move to support certainty in the area and to clarify its own position, the EU has recently published its agenda on the collaborative economy. This policy document is analysed in the light of its implications for EU information technology law and policy. Areas such as intermediary liability, data protection, ratings systems and the use of algorithms are analysed to draw conclusions on the effectiveness of the EU’s regulatory approach and to make predictions for the future development of law and policy.

Analysing the role of privacy impact assessments in technological development for crisis management

The ability to harness technology in crisis management has enabled an increase in wide-scale interagency collaboration. This development has occurred alongside a move to accumulate and analyse crowdsourced responses. Given the scale and the nature of the information accessed and collected, there is a pressing need to ensure that technology is developed in a way that protects the interests of end-users and stakeholders. Privacy impact assessments (PIAs) are increasingly used, in certain jurisdictions legally mandated, in projects to foresee risks to privacy and to plan strategies to avoid these. Once implemented, the EUs General Data Protection Regulation will, in certain circumstances, require the need for a PIA. This study focuses upon the PIA process in an EU-funded project with the aim of developing cloud-based disaster response technology. It introduces the project and then gives a background to the PIA process. Insights and observations are then made relating to how the PIA operates, with the aim of drawing conclusions that can both improve the current project and be transferable to other crisis management-focused projects.

Conceptualising the rights and responsibilities of internet intermediaries in relation to user-generated content: an analysis of European Union law

In an age of increasing media convergence, the issue of intermediary liability for user-generated content is an area of growing legal and ethical concern. The European Unions key liability limiting principles in relation to intermediaries are found in the European E-Commerce Directive and cover not only those providing the means of online transmission but also content supporting platforms, such as social networking websites and mobile content providers. The European Commissions proposed Data Protection Regulation includes the continuation of self-certified safe harbour status in relation to EU/US data transfers. Its potential impact upon the liability of a platform provider in relation to a third partys infringing use of data is as yet unclear. This articles overarching aim is to conceptualise the role of the intermediary and analyse whether the European Unions initial framing of liability principles has survived the pace of technological change and increasing media convergence.