Italian accessibility law: what's going on

Hello everybody,

After the meeting I had with government rapresentatives (with Roberto Scano
too), I can confirm that Italian accessibility will be based on testable
WCAG 1.0 guidelines, and that Roberto Scano and myself will keep working on
the implementing rules of the law. I have to admit that, this time, I've
found people who was really interested in making a good job, and in creating
a really good working law.

Moreover, the law will need the creation of groups of testers (teams of web
professionals and people with disabilities from various enterprises and
organizations); those groups will control all the public administration and
government web sites accessibility and usability (we're going to develop the
guidelins about it), and there will be two levels of control: instrumental
and human (we will find out later the software tools the control teams will
use for instrumental check).

The important is that the WCAG 1.0 will be considered as the starting point,
and that the actual (and definitive) text of the law doesn't refers
explicitally to WCAG 1.0, but talks about international and European
Community standards and guidelines (in june 2003 the European Parliament has
sent a raccomandation - which has the effort of a real eurpean law - to all
members to follow WCAG 1.0 and to try and get double A level in public and
government Web sites); so, when WCAG 2.0 will finally see the light, Italy
won't have to make a new law, but only new implementing rules (like the one
we're working on now). I do believe it's a very good news for us who care
about accessibility.

I'll keep on keeping the whole group informed.

My best regards,

Roberto Castaldo
-----------------------------------
www.Webaccessibile.Org Coordinator
IWA/HWG Member
rcastaldo@webaccessibile.org
r.castaldo@iol.it
Cell 348 3700161
Icq 178709294
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Received on Sunday, 29 February 2004 14:44:32 UTC