9th Meeting of the Web accessibility Directive Expert group

The 9th WADEX meeting took place online due to the COVID-19 restrictions still in place in 2021. This page includes a summary of the topics discussed and lists all relevant documents.

Words "online meeting" over a keyboard — Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The agenda included a short series of 2 webinars based on the preferences collected during the 8th WADEX meeting.

The sessions took place respectively in October and November 2021.

Please find below the calendar of webinars, the minutes of each session and the relevant material (presentations, links, and documents).

9th WADEX Meeting - Webinars calendar Autumn 2022 (.pdf)

The recordings of the sessions are available in Futurium for WADEX members only.

Webinar 1: 5 October 2021

1. Cognitive accessibility – the next focus area

European Commission / Funka / Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology / MAC

The speakers from Funka shared the preliminary findings from an EC-funded pilot study on Inclusive Web Accessibility for Persons with Cognitive Disabilities. The study will: 1) present an overview of existing research/studies on the topic; 2) identify gaps in research and in the web accessibility requirements for cognitive disabilities and 3) present proposals on how to improve independent and inclusive access to online content and services for persons with cognitive disabilities.

2. WADcher: an integrated environment to support the public sector in Europe by the WAD implementation and monitoring

The WADcher project (funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme) ended in June 2021. WADcher is now available as a validated cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) prototype integrated system that greatly reduces the costs of WAD compliance adherence, including designing and testing, assessing and on-going monitoring and maintenance. The project consortium is actively seeking a sustainable operation of these resources in cooperation with different actors in Europe. The presentation demonstrated the infrastructure and the services of the platform, the results of the pilot tests and the different exploitation activities that the consortium partners would be following in the next months.

Relevant documents for this meeting:

Webinar 2: 9 November 2021

1. Consultation activities supporting the review of the WAD

Intellera Consulting / Open Evidence

The Open Public Consultation on the WAD review closed on 25 October. The consortium in charge of the Review study will present an overview of the results and replies collected.

2. Overlays

Funka / DIAS / AnySurfer

This presentation/discussion aimed to providing a balanced view on the topic, inviting the WADEX members to hear other voices. This presentation included a short intro describing how overlays look, and the current situation with examples from Greece and France. It also provided a comparison between overlays and support tools and an analysis from different angles: user, technical, and standards.

3. Accessibility statements: the tools developed in the Netherlands

Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands

The Speaker, from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands, presented a tool commissioned by the Dutch government to help public sector bodies prepare valid accessibility statements and maximize the consistency of such statements across public Sector bodies. The online tool leads a user through a number of steps and determines the compliance status based on the data entered during the steps.