Council Resolution of 25 March 2002 on the eEurope Action Plan 2002: accessibility of public websites and their content
Date: 2002-03-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Internet, access to information, disabled person, elderly person

C 86/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10.4.2002

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 25 March 2002

on the eEurope Action Plan 2002: accessibility of public websites and their content

(2002/C 86/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

during the year 2003, the European Year of Disabled
People.

Having regard to the eEurope 2002 Action Plan adopted by the
Santa Maria da Feira European Council in June 2000 to enable
all citizens to participate in the opportunities provided by the
Information Society,

Whereas

(1) The Commission, in its communication of 25 September
2001, focused on one of the specific objectives of the
eEurope Action Plan 2002: improving access to the Web
for the 37 million people with disabilities in Europe and
for the growing number of older persons, who may be
unable to access the information and services offered by
the new media.

(2) The Web Accessibility Initiative by the World Wide Web
Consortium has developed a series of guidelines including
the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (1)
(hereinafter
referred to as ‘the Guidelines’) which have become a de
facto standard used worldwide for the creation of accessible
websites.

(3) The abovementioned Commission communication draws,

inter alia, the following conclusions:

(4) The Transport/Telecommunications Council of 15 October
2001 took note of the Commission communication.

(5) The Employment and Social Policy Council of 8 October
2001 adopted a resolution on e-inclusion — exploiting the
social
opportunities of
inclusion.

Information Society

the

for

(6) The conclusions drawn up by the Presidency regarding the
results of the informal conference on new technologies and
disability, which was held in Madrid on 6 and 7 February
2002,
to
encourage web accessibility in the Union.

the need for measures

stressed inter alia,

Bearing in mind:

(1) the European objective to integrate everyone, particularly
people with disabilities
into the
information society, as expressed in the eEurope 2002
Action Plan;

and older people

— national administrations

should seek constantly to
improve the accessibility of
their web pages and
explore new and better ways to deliver web content
and services as new technologies and new versions of
the Guidelines are developed,

(2) that lack of accessibility to the new communication media
is a major obstacle to be removed if progress is to be made
towards participation by everyone in the Information
Society;

— the eEurope website will present the progress towards
adoption and implementation of the Guidelines by the
European Institutions and the Member States,

(3) that there are examples of good practice in some Member
States as regards training and support for those responsible
for web pages and awareness-raising for
information
officers and managers, as well as for content creators,
regarding the Guidelines and their objectives;

— measures

for

dissemination,
awareness-raising,
education and especially training in Web accessibility
should be promoted in both the European institutions
and the Member States,

— within the framework of

the eEurope Action Plan,
Member States should encourage not only national
public websites but also local and regional public
websites to comply with the Guidelines,

— there should be a major initiative devoted to achieving
overall accessibility of both public and private websites

(1) Http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

(4) that, though progress has been made by the Member States
regarding the specific eEurope Action of adopting the
Guidelines, work should continue on the implementation
of those Guidelines in order to achieve the underlying
eEurope objective of ensuring that all public websites are
accessible;

(5) that accessibility to the Web is an integral part of public
information policy in some countries within and outside
the Union and, in such cases,
legislation or other policy
instruments can provide valuable incentives for websites to
be accessible;

10.4.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 86/3

(6) that

technological progress

to
implement the Guidelines and to validate the compliance
of websites with the Guidelines.

is making

easier

it

Therefore:

1. STRESSES the need to increase efforts to speed up accessi-

bility to the Web and the content it offers;

2. ENCOURAGES the Member States to implement specific and
adequately-resourced measures to achieve the underlying
objective of the eEurope 2002 Action Plan for accessibility
of public websites at all levels of government;

and comparable data so as to facilitate the evaluation of
progress;

4. ENCOURAGES the Member States and the Commission to
take account of the need for digital content to be accessible,
for example by, when funding development of websites,
requiring those websites to implement the Guidelines;

5. CALLS on the Member States and the Commission to
participate in the European Year of People with Disabilities
in 2003 and to improve Web accessibility, awareness and
training, and on the Commission to submit in the first half
of 2004 a report giving an overview of progress made;

3.

INVITES the High Level Group on the Employment and
to
Social Dimension of
monitor progress in the adoption and implementation of
the Guidelines and to develop common methodologies

the Information Society (ESDIS)

6. URGES the Member States and the Commission to further
develop a permanent dialogue with representative organi-
sations of people with disabilities and organisations repre-
senting older persons, so that
reactions to these
matters may be taken into account.

their

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

on the follow-up to the Green Paper on corporate social responsibility

(2002/C 86/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

RECALLING:

4. The Commission Green Paper on promotin a European
responsibility
corporate
a consultation on

framework
(COM(2001) 366), which launches
corporate social responsibility.

social

for

1. The appeal made by the European Council in Lisbon to
companies'
responsibility
sense
regarding best practices on lifelong learning, work organi-
sation, equal opportunities, social inclusion and sustainable
development.

corporate

social

of

2. The request made by the European Council in Nice, as part
of the implementation of the European social agenda, to
support initiatives relating to corporate social responsibility
and the management of change by means of a Commission
communication and, for the purpose of fighting poverty
and all forms of exclusion and discrimination in order to
promote social integration, to establish the conditions for
partners,
partnership with
an
non-governmental organisations,
and
bodies that manage social services, and to involve under-
takings in that partnership in order to strengthen their
social responsibility.

social
authorities

the
local

efficient

5. The Commission communications on quality, core labour

standards and governance (1),

CONVINCED that, corporate social responsibility can contribute
to objectives such as those defined in the Green Paper, and in
particular those:

6. of the Lisbon summit:

‘to become the most competitive
and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world,
capable of sustainable economic growth with more and
better jobs and greater social cohesion’;

7. of the European employment and social inclusion strategy,
and the elements aimed at anticipating and benefiting from
change in accordance with the social agenda approved at
Nice;

3. The favourable reception given by the European Council in
Stockholm to initiatives taken by businesses to encourage
corporate social responsibility.

(1) ‘Employment and social policies: a framework for investing in
quality’
(COM(2001) 313) and ‘Promoting core labour standards
and improving social governance in the context of globalisation’
(COM(2001) 416).