Committee of the Regions, March 2003

The Committee of the Regions has revised its website to bring it into line with web accessibility guidelines in order to improve access for people with disabilities. The timing is appropriate as 2003 is the European Year of People with Disabilities. It is now possible to access the site using a voice or text-only browser. Though the top level pages now conform to level 1 of WAI standards, not all the lower level pages yet comply.

The TOAD database is one example where work on compliance is still in hand. Though not providing a comprehensive collection of CoR documents, the TOAD database at http://www.toad.cor.eu.int/ contains working documents such as draft opinions, agendas, and minutes of meetings. These are retained in the database for 90 days. Working documents relating to the Committee of the Regions plenary sessions and COM documents are the exceptions: they are held on the database for a period of two years. Final versions of opinions can be accessed by using the Opinions search engine at http://www.toad.cor.eu.int/cdropinions/scripts/opinions.asp?type=en but unfortunately it did not appear to be working on the dates visited.

One interesting link from the Committee of the Regions home page is to the Adobe site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html. The Committee of the Regions site notes that not all its documents made available in PDF are also available in HTML. The Adobe site offers the possibility of converting PDF documents quickly and easily into HTML following the instructions on screen, thus making them easier for people with visual impairment to read.