January 2019

Campaign updates including Marrakesh Treaty, European Accessibility Act, Silent Cars, Accessibility of Lifts and the perspective of the European Parliament elections.

Welcome to the 7th EBU Access Cast, the first episode for 2019. We decided to make some changes and refresh our team with new people. Therefore from now on we have a new person who will bring girl power into our team. We wish a warm welcome to Tanja Kleut who is an accessibility specialist at the European parliament, and who joined Mario and Jakob in this episode.

Fairy tales have been passed along for centuries and have become part of our cultural heritage. In a way, we are united by the stories that we grew up with.

People from different countries have created an interesting publication, a collection of short fairy tales. This is an exciting new story that collects and highlights elements that are part of our world today and that are linked to the global challenges we face.

EBU’s member in the UK, RNIB, has recently published a new version of the Sight Loss Data Tool with some new indicators and in a new format.

In 2019, Portugal will have three electoral acts, in two of which Portuguese citizens with visual impairment will, for the first time, be able to vote autonomously and secretly, thanks to the creation of a Braille voting stencil. However, ACAPO argues that "a true independent vote is an informed vote".

The idea of starting an alliance to increase the international mobility of students with disabilities in ERASMUS+ became a reality during a meeting at the European Parliament in connection with the 2017 European Day of Persons with Disabilities, in which the involved stakeholders agreed to bring it into existence.

A speech presented by Francesca Sbianchi of UICI, EBU’s Italian member, on the occasion of the European Day of Persons with Disabilities.

On 10 January, the EBU Project Group on accessible voting awareness (AVA) met for the third time.