A short study of digital accessibility legislation and standards diversity and trends in Australia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa, and implications on global organisational policy. Presented at W4A 2014, Seoul, 7th April.

1. David Sloan (@sloandr) and Sarah Horton (@gradualclearning)
The PacielloGroup
W4A 2014, Seoul, Korea Rep.,April 7th 2014

3. 7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 3
 Different types of digital product and service
o Growth by acquisition
 Different processes
 Scattered expertise and awareness of accessibility
 Different territories, different local/market
requirements

4.  The UN Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities (UN CRPD, 2008)
o Including access to digital content of cultural and
educational significance
 The MarrakeshTreaty to Facilitate Access to
PublishedWorks for Persons Who Are Blind,Visually
Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (2013)
o Provides for people with print disabilities to receive
accessible versions of copyrighted content
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 4

5.  Four economically significant territories:
Brazil, China, India, South Africa
 Australia as a baseline of a mature legislative
environment for digital accessibility
 We looked at:
o Ratification of UN CRPD and MarrakeshTreaty
o Existence, availability and nature of legislation, standards
and digital accessibility
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 5

6.  All territories have ratified the UN CRPD
 But status and evolution of disability rights
legislation and supporting documentation is
inconsistent
 Digital accessibility advocacy and outreach efforts in
all territories – evidence particularly in Brazil and
India
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 6

7. Standard Scope Notes
AUS WCAG 2 AA Govt and
non-gov
Specified in DDA guidance from
Human Rights Commission
BRA eMAG 3.0 Gov (similar to WCAG 2 AA, but with some
differences)
CHN None found n/a
IND Guidelines for Indian
GovtWeb sites
Gov Accessibility requirements equivalent
toWCAG 2 A
Also a National Policy on Electronic
Accessibility (2013)
RSA None found n/a
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 7

8.  Australia, Brazil, China have signed the Marrakesh
Treaty – no ratification yet
 All territories have copyright legislation
o Brazil and India have some provisions for the rights of
people with disabilities to receive accessible versions
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 8

9.  Slow convergence, much vagueness still exists
 Increasing focus on print disability
 Prominence of WCAG 2 (and absence of otherWAI
guidelines…)
 Dominance of HTML as output format; limitations of
relying on PDF as digital content format
 Organizational capacity (legal and technical) to
monitor global trends and events in legislation and
standards
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 9

10.  We thank Pearson Global for their support in funding
this research study.
7April 2014 #W4A14. Seoul, Korea Rep. Sloan, Horton 10