Accessibility and ICT in Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. Role of ICT in the Developmentof anInclusiveSociety for Persons with Disabilities Accessibility and ICTin Bosnia and Herzegovina SuadaHadžović Communications Regulatory Agency Bosnia and Herzegovina Belgrade, 8-9 October, 2015.

2. Agenda Introduction - ICT accessibility UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Legal instruments - Law on Communications Regulatory instruments Multistakeholder approach Conclusions

3. 1. Introduction - ICT accessibility • Accessibility is identified in Article 3(f) of the UN Convention as one of its eight general principles, and accessibility, including access to ICTs, is established therein as a condition that will enable persons with disabilities to exercise their fundamental freedoms and human rights. • Designing for accessibility means that the content of online forms, images, graphics, tables, charts or photos can be accessed by assistive computer technology, for example: • People who are blind can use software that reads web pages out loud. • People with dexterity problems, who cannot use a mouse, can use assistive devices to input commands onto a keyboard. • People who have difficulty with keyboards can use speech recognition software to write correspondence, pay bills, or work online. • People with hearing loss can understand what is being said by real-time captioning of video and audio content.

4. 2. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities • The purpose of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilitiesis to ensure that people with disabilities worldwide can enjoy the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. • There are significant provisions throughout the Convention that must have an impact on national policies and strategies for ICT and the future of the web.Article 9 of the Convention sets out general obligations for States Parties to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to ICT and systems. • Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) – Convention Ratification Date 12.03.2010. • In practice, the level of UN Convention implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovinais at low level.

5. 3. Legal instruments in BiH - Law on Communications • According to Article 7 of Law on Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina - The regulatory principles of telecommunicationsshall include: • That all users shall have access to telecommunications services on a transparent,objective and non-discriminatory basis which can be provided by a telecommunicationsoperator for a reasonable return; • That any user of telecommunications services shall have unrestricted access by meansof that service to any other such user; • That the interests of all users of telecommunications services shall be protected inrespect of the availability of such services, their quality and the prices charged for them.

6. 4. Regulatory instruments • The Communications Regulatory Agency of BiH (CRA) accomplished the tasks in accordance with its competencesfrom the Law on Communications and theTelecommunications Sector Policy which were created andadopted by the BiH Council of Ministers. Aggravating factor inthe implementation of regulatory activities lies in the fact thatthe BiH Council of Ministers has not adopted a Policy for theTelecommunications Sector for the period 2013-2017. • CRA rules • CRA 55/2011 Rule on Audio Visual Media Services includes provision that prescribes accessibility of programmes to the persons with disabilities and special needs. However, the provision is not obligatory. • CRA 68/2013 Rule on the conduct of the provider activity for public fixed telephone services includes provision that a service provider shallpublish the phonebook in electronic form on its website in a form to which “screen reader'' programs can be applied in order to facilitate access for blind and weak sighted persons.

7. 5. Multistakeholder approach 1/2 • CRA have started collecting informationsabout web accessibility from BiH telecom operators since 2013. • According to collected information, telecom operators started to work on improving web accessibility. • But, CRA still receive a number of complaints from alliances of blind people. • Bettersituation require the active involvement of all stakeholders. Team work, participants of 08.09.2015. meeting initiated by CRA: • Alliances of blind people, RepublikaSrpskaand Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina • Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina • Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina • Telecom operators, alternative operators, cable operators

8. 5. Multistakeholder approach 2/2 • The main contribution of meeting is improved awareness among key stakeholders. For example, participants from ministry, regulatory authority and operators got set of recommendations and book about web accessibility issued by alliance of blind peopleat the meeting. • All stakeholders express strong will to advocate for the improvement of the current status ofICT accessibility. • Some of meetings conclusions - actions needed: • Intensify efforts to propose binding legislation dedicated to web accessibility and eAccessibility in general (Draft of Telecommunications Sector Policy for next period). • Raise awareness and promote ICT accessibility; • Organize trainings for users, policy makersand service providers.

9. 6. Conclusions • Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with low level of implementation of ICT accessibility policy for persons with disabilities and specific needs. • Certain objectives of ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities and specific needs are achieved through regional initiatives (e-SEE). • The Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)between the EU and BiH which entered into force on 1st June2015 brings new responsibilities stemming from itsimplementation and for BiH authorities to deliver upon. • Team work of participants from alliances of blind people, ministry, regulatory authority and operators is a big step forward. • It is expected significantly improvement of the levelof ICT accessibility in the next two years.

10. Accessibility and ICTin Bosnia and Herzegovina Thank youwww.rak.ba