Digital accessibility, the main feature of the second edition of the m4social Day

On October 25 the m4Social initiative held the second edition of the #m4Socialday, “Digital Accessibility: ICT for everyone”, at the Imagina Audiovisual Centre of MediaPRO. Around ninety people attended the meeting to discuss digital accessibility and be given a practical catalogue with study cases to go further into designing mobile apps, webpages, apps and digital contents accessible for everyone. 

Toni Codina, Director General of the Table of the Third Social Sector, welcomed the attendees, explaining that “ICTs must be key elements in improving the quality of life of people, and this is why we work to reduce the social breach that causes a lack of digital accessibility”.

The Director General of the GSMA, Therese Jamaa, defended the sustainability of the projects they present and warned that “the digital world must design technical tools in an integrating manner in order to achieve true equal opportunities”.

In this sense, Lluís Torrens, Director of Planning and Innovation of the Social Rights area of Barcelona City Hall highlighted the need for “collaboration between the third sector and the administration in order to prioritise challenges if the idea is to have a cohesive society”.

What is the state of the current accessibility criteria?

At the first round table, Vanessa González, ONCE Catalonia Typhlotechnology and Braille instructor said that “thinking of universal accessibility from the design phase of the project reduces costs and broadens the target audience”. Ferran Gallego, CTO of Code Factory, highlighted that “today all companies that make applications keep this concept in mind, although there are not enough of them”.

Finally, Joan M. Gil, accessibility director at Agils Accessibilitat, stressed the lack of training in accessibility.

Digital accessibility in public services

The second round table considered the state of the services offered by the public administration for citizens to be able to access, regardless of their conditions. Carles Agustí, Director of Open Government at Barcelona Provincial Council, said that “a cultural change is needed between the administrations and the citizens, which passes through the technology of the digital sector”. Cira Pérez, Head of Foundational Projects of the Fundació puntCAT, explained that “technology must be used to empower citizens and to build bridges between players”.

Finally, the Secretary of Social Affairs and Family, Francesc Iglesias, closed the meeting thanking for the strategic alliances that have appeared between the government, the third sector and the technological players, and added that “it is worth organising these forums for the interaction of such a variety of people who come together with the aim of taking care of citizens more and better”.

To conclude, Marc Simón, Corporate Director of the Social Area of the “la Caixa” Banking Foundation warned that “digital transformation has the risk of not being within reach of everyone and creating social differences. Technology must be used to reach all groups and be a social driver”.

Check out the pictures of the meeting.