In response to the international movement for public sector privitisation in the 1980’s, policymakers began to exercise influence over the market to achieve social objectives. These policies (social regulations) have become an integral feature in many democratic states. These shared experiences in governance have had an interactive effect on the development of global social policy and human rights.
In the European Union (EU), the proposed European Accessibility Act (EAA) has demonstrated the continued expansion of social regulation in Europe. The objective of the EAA is to harmonize the market for accessible goods and services to promote national policy compliance. Enactment of the EAA was revitalized as a means to support the EU ratification of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which recognizes accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICT) as essential to persons with disabilities for full and equal participation in the information society. For the EU to achieve compliance with the directives of the CRPD, it will necessitate the examination and development of national policies for promoting the design of accessible ICT (E-Accessibility).
This paper will compare regulatory regimes in the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States, focusing particularly on the social regulation of ICT service providers. The discussion will include the impact of the economic crisis on policy implementation in terms of the choice of policy tools (legislative, incentive, or hortatory). Finally regulatory enforcement of web design will be discussed in terms of standard setting, monitoring, certification and compliance.
