Digital Society for All

ZAGREB, October 11, 2019 - The third gathering "people with disabilities in Digital Society" was held in Osijek in the City District of Gornji Grad on Thursday, October 10. The gathering was organized by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb (FER) and Croatian  Regulatory Authority for Network Industries (HAKOM). The event brought together representatives of organizations for people with disabilities from all over Croatia, telecommunications operators, the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society, Office of Commissioner for people with Disabilities and many others with the aim of raising society's awareness of the challenges facing people in the digital age today with disabilities as well as to offer some solutions that can make everyday life easier.

FER and HAKOM have presented their joint project "Accessible Web Site" that not only fully meets the standard prescribed by the "Accessibility Law", which regulates it for all public sector by September 23, 2020  but it also represents a useful functionality as a result of research of real needs of persons with disabilities from Croatia. The project will end with the public announcement of a methodology for creating accessible websites, which will be used by all those urging to make their sites as accessible as possible, taking into account the knowledge and needs of persons with disabilities during the research. "HAKOM, as a regulator paying  special attention to the vulnerable groups of beneficiaries, from children, the elderly to  the people with disabilities, always wants to add value to their projects and to make them with their partners, in this case with FER as useful as possible to the whole society, not just HAKOM", said Miran Gosta, HAKOM's Executive Director.

The meeting was also a place to exchange experiences of representatives of the Association of Persons with Disabilities and Operators in order to make continuous progress in the dialogue in accessing services of the digital society, and the State Secretary, Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society Bernard Gršić, held a presentation on the Website Accessibility Act and software solutions for mobile devices of public sector bodies, covering approximately 2,300 different websites in the Republic of Croatia and providing clear deadlines by which they must be accessible to all, including people with disabilities and difficulties if it is possible to have digital content on the Internet.

ABOUT HAKOM: HAKOM (www.hakom.hr) - Croatian Regulatory Authority for Network Industries – ensures preconditions for a fair market competition, stable growth and environment for innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market. HAKOM protects users’ interests and the possibility of choice among various communications and postal services at affordable prices, defines sustainable competitive conditions for operators and service providers under fair conditions for return on investment, and provides support to economic growth, public services and the quality of life in the Republic of Croatia by using modern technologies. HAKOM’ strategic goals are: to promote regulation of the electronic communications and postal services market, to support growth of investments and innovations in the electronic communications and postal services market, to provide efficient use of limited resources, to accelerate the growth of broadband products and services, to provide affordable offers of communications and postal services, to provide protection and informing of users, to build an efficient and comprehensive information system, to define and implement efficient processes, and to acquire multi-disciplinary