The OW2 Open Source Accessibility Initiative, presented by Christian Paterson, highlights the importance of accessibility in software and services as a social and legal obligation across various countries. It emphasizes the substantial demographic changes impacting accessibility needs, the potential of ICT in economic transformation, and the business opportunities in the accessibility market. The initiative advocates for collaboration and innovation through open-source practices to address accessibility challenges effectively.

1. OW2 Open Source
Accessibility
initiative
Christian Paterson
22/09/2016
OW2CON’2016

2. 2
Quality
Sustainability
Independence
Economic
efficiency
Agility
Social
catalyst
Open source provides multiple benefits

3. 3
Accessibility is a broad range of concepts

4. 4
…and leads to enhanced usability

5. 5
Accessibility is a social and legal responsibility
§ EU : European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
§ France : SÉNAT PROJET DE LOI (21 octobre 2004)
§ UK : Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
§ USA : Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2004/august/travel-sites-
settle-new-york-accessibility-investigation/
Ramada.com and Priceline.com,
successfully sued in New York over the
accessibility of their websites.
http://www.webcredible.com/blog/disability-discrimination-act-dda-web-accessibility/
http://jimthatcher.com/book2/chapter16.html
WebAIM : http://webaim.org/articles/laws/world/
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0636:FIN:en:PDF
http://www.senat.fr/leg/tas04-018.html
… some examples
National Federation of the Blind won a
website accessibility lawsuit against the
Target Corporation for six million dollars
http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/whitepapers/accessibility-
business-case/

6. 6
Accessibility is huge numbers
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealt
h/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
http://www.who.int/disabilities/infographic_e
n_rev1_510.jpg?ua=1
= 63 million people

7. 7
Demographics are evolving
Median age of population EU
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing
§ By 2020, a quarter of Europeans will be over 60 years of age.
European Commission : https://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/policy_reviews/kina26426enc.pdf
§ In the last 20 years, people all over the world have, on average, gained 6
years of life expectancy.
§ Children born after 2011 have a 1 in 3 chance of reaching their 100th
birthday.

8. 8
… as is the importance of ICT*
http://www.theverge.com/2016/7/20/12234858/first-
click-real-wold-colonized-digital
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/digital-transformation-
world-turning-mobile-you-gina
*ICT (information and communication technology)

9. 9
Global ICT revenue 2005 to 2019 (in billion euros)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268584/wor
ldwide-ict-revenue-since-2005/
the ICT revolution holds the potential of transforming
economies and societies … this ICT revolution is well
under way … it is even accelerating.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_IT_Report_2015.pdf
*ICT (information and communication technology)
2019
4.4 trillion euros

10. 10
A clear business opportunity
“huge opportunities for Europe to think creatively and innovate in terms of new
technologies, improved services and new business models”
European Commission : https://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/pdf/policy_reviews/kina26426enc.pdf
ü Manage Legal Risk
ü Protect and Grow Public Sector Revenues
ü Access the Global Public Sector Marketplace
ü Increase Market Share
ü Protect Brand
In the USA
62 million disabled persons purchasing power 175 billion $
http://www.ssbbartgroup.com/whitepaper
s/accessibility-business-case/

11. 11
leveraging open source working modelscollaboration
innovation
meritocracy
within the framework of a recognized open source alliance
reduced CAPEX
open formats / open APIs
roadmap control
reduced lock-in
community
lobbying
events and out-reachrepresentation
experience and
skills sharing
mature tools
neutral forum

12. 12
OPEN
Projects
Domains
Steering
Committee
§ Strategy
§ Coordination
§ Meritocracy
ü from many contributions to few contributions
ü from code projects to guidelines
ü from developers to HR experts to evangelists
ü from multi-nationals to PME to SOHO
ü from corporates to governments
ü from academia to private individuals
§ Collaboration
§ Passion

13. 13
Co-construction started
participants
• France
• Italy
• USA
… and you ?
Direction interministérielle du
numérique etdu système
d'information et de communication
de l'État
DINSIC
French government support
founding
member
International reach
projects identified
domains of collaboration
§ Repositories
§ Testing
§ Training
§ Communication Resources
§ Development Tools
§ User Interface
§ Browsing & Localization
https://www.ow2.org/bin/view/OSAi/

14. thank you