EBU: “Diversity has to be lived fully and not just be a theory on paper”

The EBU Board in 2024. Back row, standing, from left to right - Dagmar Filgasova, David Aldwinckle, Jakob Rosin, Hubert Perfler, Andreas Havsberg, Anja Uršič, Sabine Stroem. Front row, seated, from left to right - Roland Studer, Kevin Kelly, Tytti Matsinen, Bárbara Martín Muñoz, Maria Thorstensson (absent, Sinan Tafaj). Photo credit: Terhi Korhonen

The European Blind Union (EBU), a non-profit NGO representing visually impaired people, brings together national independent associations and members with full legal status under the umbrella of the organisation. The background to this union was the recognition that together, they could have a much greater voice and impact with European decision-makers and institutions in drafting legislation and advocating on behalf of their community.

Last year, they celebrated an important date as an organisation – the 40th anniversary of their creation in 1984, testament to the EBU’s longevity and dynamism on an international scale. HQ spoke to Lars Bosselmann (pictured below), Executive Director of EBU, about working together to improve the rights of blind and partially sighted people across Europe.

1) How do you see this collective image of Europe as a more inclusive society for people with visual impairments? What are the great examples that you highlight in this race for progress?

In terms of achievements, we would have to highlight the European Accessibility Act, which was a great victory for our community.There has also been a lot of lobbying in favour of the single euro currency to make coins and banknotes more accessible to our community, with improvements planned for the next generation of euro banknotes. Another result is the Braille labelling of pharmaceutical products and medicines, which was due to our advocacy work and has become a standard over time.

Of course, things are changing; new technologies have great potential and bring with them many innovations. However, they also bring with them the challenge of accessibility, and if alternatives to other means of digital communication are not accessible, this can be a problem. If an online bank is not accessible and does not have a human alternative, this apparent progress can lead to exclusion, especially in areas where it is a question of financial data privacy and the independence of processes. In fact, it is an elimination of choice and that is our main message regarding these new technological resources. Technology has greatly opened up access to information for blind and partially sighted people, and it would be foolish for us to be conservative in rejecting it. However, we must fight for accessibility and inclusion, and be sure to take everyone with us on this journey.

2) It is estimated that more than 30 million people in Europe suffer from total blindness or partial visual impairment, a figure that not only reflects the enormous obstacles these people face in accessing employment or education, but also weighs heavily on other social groups such as women, the elderly and ethnic minorities. How is your work linked to the causes of other socially disadvantaged groups?

There is an internal and external response to this issue. I do not think any organisation can claim to be perfect when it comes to inclusion and diversity, because there are many aspects to consider and bringing them all together is a big challenge. We are working internally to speed up the creation of committees that take care of our own diversity in different positions, whether leadership or secretarial. As for the external component, I think we need to form alliances with other groups in the population because blind and partially sighted people share the same struggles and difficulties. Although we cannot completely say that women or the LGBTQ+ community face the same problems, there are common characteristics and reasons for this discrimination. At the end of the day, it is absolutely essential that society in general realises the benefits of planning accessibility for a blind or partially sighted person, as this will benefit not only disabled communities but society as a whole. It is not just about special needs, as part of our advocacy work is quite straightforward and includes cross-cutting aspects for various groups.
 

Annual Conference 2023

3) What do you expect from this next European executive and the budgetary framework to act towards a more inclusive Union? Do you feel that your voice and interests are represented in Brussels?

There is no black and white answer, because it depends on the subject and sometimes the legislation, as well as the type of institutional set-up we are talking about. Overall, I think there is a clear willingness on the part of the European Commission to involve and dialogue with NGOs like ours on topics that interest us. In addition, the European Parliament is usually an excellent ally for highlighting our legislative problems and legal barriers.

When it comes to the Member States, it is a little more difficult to balance the scales, as there is a fear that too much legislation will mean additional costs for businesses or that new laws could be restrictive to businesses. We have to convince them otherwise, not least because this agenda is not exclusive to our cause, but to many other minorities. In spite of the single market, conditions differ widely in European countries. Minimum standards need to be harmonised so as not to impose an additional burden on the implementation of accessibility laws. In my opinion, the only way to do this is using both a legal and voluntary framework. We should establish European rules that are comprehensive and easy to implement to give companies, individuals and organisations room to manoeuvre. As I said before, if websites and banking apps had accessible rules and universal measures today, then everything would already be in place.

4) In this sense, what is your assessment of the European Accessibility Act? What are your objections and praises to it?

The fact that we achieved this landmark victory doesn't mean it was easy, as there was opposition and reluctance to produce an EU-wide law in this field. The fact that it exists is an important achievement in itself, and in fact creates demands to make things accessible and to know how to technically do it. This wasn't the case a few years ago, so the accessibility law plays a very important role in boosting demand for accessibility. However, the criticism is that it still remains a law for online or web applications, where there is a separate directive that doesn't recognise the physical domain as much as it should, where accessibility is also important. We should always read them and think about them together to give them real-world functionality. In this plan, we would like to see more engagement and commitment and a possible expansion of the law. Both from the theoretical to the practical and from the virtual to the physical.

The virtual world now plays a big part in our daily lives, but the barrier also often occurs in your home, your town, your bank or your bus stop. We need both and the real world is a little less addressed by accessibility law these days. We've also put a foot in the door to go further within the agenda we plan to take forward for the next five years during the law review. Certainly looking to the future in terms of new technologies, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, which, again, holds plenty of potential but also potential risks in our claims to work in the real world.
 

"Braille has evolved effectively over time and is perfectly adapted to modern times and digital communication."

5) Tell me more about the three current campaigns the EBU is working on: The Marrakesh Treaty, lift accessibility and media funding for the film industry.

I'll start with the Marrakesh Treaty, where it's really about access to information. As we know, there has never been as much information out there as there is today and this includes printed media, books, educational material and so on. Now, much of this in the past was difficult for visually impaired people and others to access. Why was this? Because of high copyright restrictions, especially cross-border ones. So, this has led to the kind of absurd situation where a Braille book made in the UK can't easily be reproduced in Braille by a printer in the US. So, in order to remove some of these obstacles and share better access to information internationally, this Marrakesh Treaty was adopted. Now, the next step is to ensure that it is ratified and then implemented, so that the results of this agreement are not diverted to other formats.

On the subject of lifts, it may seem like a small and basic thing, but it's a real problem. When a partially sighted person gets into a hotel lift to go to the 26th floor, they often end up having no idea where they're landing. The buttons may not be in ascending order, you may not speak the local language, and the people you meet don't always speak English. How many times have I actually found myself on the wrong floor and there was no-one to ask. So, imposing standards so that there is Braille and voice audio in lifts, at least in Europe, is essential, since not all of this is replaced by touch screens, which is now the trend. The problem with these screens is that most of them are not actually accessible, and once installed, they become expensive to replace. To avoid this, this is one of our campaign efforts.

Finally, the idea behind the media and film industry is really to promote audio description and subtitling, which has become a little more popular. It has to be clearly stated that there is positive progress in this field, but we want the European Union, through its funding instruments, to only promote films that take into account and provide audio description and subtitles. So, this is very important to us, that there is no taxpayers' money spent on inaccessible films, to put it bluntly. That's something we're working on and trying to get the next European Parliament to consider for the next round of budget negotiations.

6) What recommendations and guidelines would you recommend for European associations to become more responsible? What can associations do to improve their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion culture?

Diversity has to be lived fully and not just be a theory on paper. It has to be visible and reflect the leadership of organisations, as it is important both for the credibility and power of the message as well as for its internal and external consistency. Of course, organisations need specific organisational policies – there must be defined rules and targets. I am not necessarily talking about quotas, which would take us to another discussion, but I think it is important to set targets for inclusion and diversity. The other thing I think organisations can do is work on the accessibility of their own procedures, IT infrastructure, communication tools, etc. A few years ago, this was hardly an issue, but we see more and more people interested in making their promotional videos accessible and inclusive, by inserting subtitles or audio descriptions or including alternative texts next to the images. All of these things are important and can be solved quickly. It is also important on the inclusion journey to get some quick wins to show off. This can be done by selecting a location where accessibility can influence the communications and IT infrastructure, a suitable in-house technical team, or an adapted meeting room.
 

7) What are the priorities and demands that the EBU raises when choosing a destination to host its conference? What special attention do you ask for your visually impaired delegates?

There are three dimensions to this question. One is the location to ensure that the hotel or congress centre has a sufficient level of physical accessibility – ideally with Braille labels and large print documentation so that our delegates can navigate the space quickly. This is a critical aspect that we try to safeguard with the host organisation by effectively training staff on the ground. How to guide a visually impaired person in the venue; where things need to be physically placed; how to organise the circulation and movement in the venue. Physical adaptations are necessary, but they are usually added as the team is trained. The second aspect is the journey from the airport/train station to the venue. Here, it is very important that people have the relevant information in advance. What is the best option for travelling; what are the costs, distance, and obstacles. If this is not provided in good time, it can cause significantly more stress for blind or visually impaired people than it would for sighted people. The third is about communication and the presentations expected at the conference. I would say, for example, that the use of PowerPoints is superfluous and does not add any value to a visually impaired audience. On the contrary, descriptive presentations and verbal information can work much better. It would also help to make digital material available in advance so that delegates can access it on the way to the conference, and do not necessarily have to print it out in Braille on the spot.

8) Finally, what major institutional events are you preparing at the moment?

The most important meeting for us took place in November in Brussels, where we brought together a large number of parliamentarians to discuss our demands for the next five years. We want to build some alliances to bring them over to our side, to ensure that when they vote, draft and comment on pieces of legislation, they can keep this inclusion perspective in mind. Then, a different activity for next year will be the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the invention of the Braille code. The invention of Braille means a lot of autonomy, access to information and education for blind and partially sighted people and, to mark this anniversary, we will be planning a series of physical events, but mainly online activities and celebrations in 2025.