Report finds parliament websites of the 28 EU member states are overwhelmingly inaccessible

89% of EU member states fail to meet Web Accessibility Directive requirements.

Copenhagen, DENMARK – February 19, 2019 – The European Disability Forum (EDF) and Siteimprove today announce the release of their report ‘Democracy, Accessibility and the European Union’ that assesses the accessibility of EU parliament websites using Siteimprove’s Digital Certainty Index® (DCI).

Of the 28 countries assessed, 25 scored poorly, with only Denmark and the Netherlands found to be providing a good accessibility experience. The official European Parliament website was also reviewed, and with a DCI score of just 55.8, is the most inaccessible of all.

The EDF, an umbrella organization of persons with disabilities that defends the interests of 80 million people with disabilities in Europe, says lack of accessible information on the websites of national parliaments seriously hinders the possibility of persons with disabilities to fully and effectively exercise their political rights.

“National parliaments have a decisive and representative role in modern democracy. The importance of having fully accessible websites is clear: it is not only a legal obligation, it is essential to assure that persons with disabilities enjoy their right to participation in public and political life” said Yannis Vardakastanis, EDF President.

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Jessica O’Sullivan-Munck
Global Public Affairs & Relations Manager, Siteimprove
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