ACCESSIBLE EU REPORT 01 - Acc Standards E.L.20230511 - Acc - 0

Accessible EU Report
Accessibility Standards at European

Level
Working together to build a more accessible European Union for persons with
disabilities
Consortium composed by:

Index
0. Executive summary ..................................................................................... 3
1. Scope .................................................................................................... 4
2. Abbreviations and acronyms ................................................................. 4
2.1. Standardisation bodies....................................................................... 4
2.2. Standardisation deliverables .............................................................. 5
2.3. Standardisation technical bodies ....................................................... 5
3. Standards and the standardisation system ........................................... 6
3.1. Why standards matter ........................................................................ 6
3.2. What is a standard ............................................................................. 7
3.3. The standardisation system ............................................................... 9
3.4. Voluntary standards and its relationship with public policies ............ 11
4. EU Regulation ..................................................................................... 11
5. International standardisation bodies .................................................... 12
6. European standardisation bodies ........................................................ 15
7. How to access the European published standardisation documents .. 24
7.1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 24
7.2. ETSI model ...................................................................................... 24
7.3. CEN-CENELEC model..................................................................... 24
8. How to participate in the European standardisation process ............... 26
8.1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 26
8.2. Participation in the standardisation technical bodies of ETSI ........... 26
8.3. Participation in the standardisation technical bodies of CEN and/or

CENELEC .................................................................................................. 27
AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 1

8.4. Participation in the standardisation technical bodies of the NSBs .... 28
9. Main standardisation Technical Bodies at European level related to

accessibility ................................................................................................... 30
9.1. EC Mandates M/376, M/420, M/473 and M/554 ............................... 30
9.2. EC and EFTA Standardisation Request M/587 ................................ 36
10. Further information .............................................................................. 63

0. Executive summary
This document provides information on why standards related to accessibility
matter, no matter if you are a person with disabilities, an expert on accessibility,
a legislator, a procurer, a manufacturer or a service provider. It explains what is
a standard and introduces the standardisation system, focusing on the European
one. The different models of the three European Standardisation Organisations
(ESOs) are explained, as well as the role of the National Standardisation Bodies
(NSBs).
It explains how to access the content of the European standardisation documents

and, most important, how to contribute actively to its development, either at
national or at European level.
In the framework of the current European policies on standardisation, the main

European standardisation technical bodies are described, their main documents
developed so far and the current challenges they are facing in order to support
the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
Practical information is given, for each EU country, on the NSBs member of CEN,
CENELEC and/or ETSI, or NSO related to ETSI. Focusing on the three main
standardisation technical bodies working on standards related to accessibility,
when relevant or available, information is given on the correspondent National
Mirror Committee in place, as well as on the contact person of the NSB and its
contact data (the personal data are only provided if they are publicly available in
the website of their organisations).

1. Scope
The purpose of this document is to provide clear and simple information on:
● why standardisation is a key element to ensure the accessibility in day-

to-day products and services in a broad spectrum of fields
● the standardisation system that supports the development of standards
● the main European policies on accessibility and its relation with
standardisation
● how to actively contribute to the drafting of standards, either at national
or at European level.
This document is focused on European standardisation and therefore tiptoes on

the international standardisation system, although it provides useful information
on the analogies with the European one.
2. Abbreviations and acronyms

2.1. Standardisation bodies
● CEN: European Committee for Standardization
● CENELEC (CLC): European Committee for Electrotechnical
Standardization
● ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute
● ESOs: European Standardisation Organisations (CEN, CENELEC and
ETSI)
● ISO: International Organization for Standardization
● IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission
● ITU: International Telecommunication Union
● NSB: National Standardisation Body

2.2. Standardisation deliverables
● CWA: CEN Workshop agreement
● EG: ETSI Guide
● EN: European Standard
● ES: ETSI Standard
● IS: International Standard
● IWA: International Workshop Agreement
● PAS: Publicly Available Specification
● GR: Group Report
● GS: Group Specification
● IWA: International Workshop Agreements
● TR: Technical Report
● TS: Technical Specification
● SR: Special Report
2.3. Standardisation technical bodies

● ISG: Industry Specification Group
● JTB: Joint Technical Body
● JTC: Joint Technical Committee
● JWG: Joint working group
● NMC: National Mirror Committee
● PC: Project committee
● TC: Technical committee
● SC: Subcommittee
● STF: Specialist Task Force
● WG: Working group
● WS: Workshop

3. Standards and the standardisation
system
3.1. Why standards matter
Standards influence the daily life of every citizen. Standards are, basically
speaking, a widely agreed way of doing something, of designing a product, of
building a process, of implementing a procedure or of delivering a service.
Standards are a key element to a wide range of areas, such as digital and
ecological transition, construction, food, toys, buildings, machinery, healthcare,
environment, services, etc.
The track width of trains, the thread of screws being able to use our mobile
devices once we are out of the reach of our operators’ networks are success
stories of how standards support our everyday life.
Standards also help us to ensure that products and services are accessible. The
built environment, ICT products and services, as well as the design, development
and provision of products, goods and services are fields where there are
standards in place that help manufacturers, providers, legislators, procurers,
users, and every stakeholder involved to know the consensus criteria on its
accessibility.
There are some elements that are key to legitimate standards: Do they contribute
to solve challenges of the society and of the market? Who participates in the
development process of the documents? Is this participation balanced? Are the
consensus building processes clear and robust? Which organisations approve
standards? Are those documents available?
The standardisation system has been designed, and is continuously evolving, to

meet those challenges and expectations and therefore to provide confidence in
the outcome of the standardisation process.

3.2. What is a standard
A standard is a technical document designed to be used as a rule, guideline or
definition. It is a consensus-built, repeatable way of doing something. Standards
are created by bringing together all interested parties such as manufacturers,
consumers, regulators and users of a particular material, product, process or
service. All parties benefit from standardization through increased safety and
quality as well as lower transaction costs and prices.
According to European Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 on European

standardisation, a standard is “a technical specification, adopted by a recognised
standardisation body, for repeated or continuous application, with which
compliance is not compulsory, and which is one of the following:
a. ‘international standard’ means a standard adopted by an

international standardisation body;
b. ‘European standard’ means a standard adopted by a European
standardisation organisation;
c. ‘harmonised standard’ means a European standard adopted on the
basis of a request made by the Commission for the application of
Union harmonisation legislation;
d. ‘national standard’ means a standard adopted by a national
standardisation body.”
The founding principles recognised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in

the field of standardisation are coherence, transparency, openness, consensus,
voluntary application, independence from special interests and efficiency. In this
framework, the WTO defines standard as a “document approved by a recognized
body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or
characteristics for products or related processes and production methods, with
which compliance is not mandatory (…)”.

The definitions of standard given by the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the
European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee
for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are quite similar. According to
ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004, a standard is a “document, established by consensus and
approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use,
rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the
achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context”. This definition
is accompanied by a note that states that “standards should be based on the
consolidated results of science, technology and experience, and aimed at the
promotion of optimum community benefits.”
The characteristics that give standards value is the fact that they are:
● Voluntary and driven by the needs and requests of the society and of
the market. Every interested party, every relevant stakeholder, can
participate in the making of a standard and provide comments when a
standard is submitted to public consultation.
● Consensus based. “All standards are subject to dialogue in order to
establish general agreement characterized by the absence of
sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the
concerned interests and by a process that involves seeking to take into
account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any
conflicting arguments” (definition of consensus from EN 45020).
Afterwards the standard goes through a formal vote procedure to get it
approved.
● Approved by a recognised body. This entails that a recognized
standards body national standards body has approved the document
and that the document has gone through the necessary procedures,
public consultations, etc.

3.3. The standardisation system
Standards are voluntary technical documents. They are developed and defined
through a process of sharing knowledge and building consensus among technical
experts nominated by interested parties and other stakeholders - including
businesses, consumers and environmental groups, among others. These experts
are organized in Technical Committees (TCs), which are subdivided in
Subcommittees (SCs) or Working Groups (WGs). These TCs are included in the
structure of the Standardization Organizations (national, European and
international, with the respective mirror committees) and work following their
internal regulations.
The standardization bodies operate at national (AFNOR, BSI, DIN, UNE etc.),
Regional - in our case European - (CEN, CENELEC, ETSI) or International (ISO,
IEC, ITU) level. Sometimes there are different standardization bodies at the same
level but covering different fields. This is the case of ISO (general), IEC (electrical)
and ITU (telecommunications) at international level, or CEN, CENELEC and ETSI
at European level in the same way.
There are also different kinds of standardization documents. The most

widespread is the standard, which has a different code depending on the
organization under it was developed. e.g., EN for European Standards, ISO for
International standards. Other types of documents are Technical Specifications
(TS), Technical Reports (TR) and Workshop Agreements (CWA). Further
Amendments to the standards are identified by adding A1, A2, etc. at the end of
the standard code.
At European level, all the members of CEN or CENELEC shall adopt EN

standards as national standards and must withdraw any existing national
standard which could conflict with them. This is a key element to commerce within
Europe and to the harmonisation of the requirements of products and services in
the EU.

There is also an agreement established between European and international
Organizations (e.g., CEN and ISO) to avoid duplication of efforts and promote
global relevance of standards, which allows to adopt or develop in parallel each
other’s standards with the same content and code. National standards could also
be proposed as a base for new European or international standards. Figure 1
shows the possible tracks of the standards.
Figure 1. Possible tracks of standards adoption
Therefore, the code of any standard is the combination of the above mentioned
issues and could be explained as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2. Example of identification of elements in the code of a standard

3.4. Voluntary standards and its
relationship with public policies
On the voluntary character of standards, it should be highlighted that many
standards support the European or national legislation. In fact, it is common
practice that the European Commission (EC) and the National Governments ask
the standardisation bodies the development of documents, and this appliance
can also be accompanied by budgetary support to perform these works.
Sometimes the legislator indicates that it is compulsory to fulfil a standard or a
part of it. A usual situation in the EU is that the EC launches a Standardisation
Request to the European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs) to develop
standards that support the EU policies. Some of these standards are developed
to provide presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of a
European Directive. Those standards are called “harmonised standards”.
4. EU Regulation
The standardisation system relies on the openness to participation of all the
relevant stakeholders, on demanding, clear and transparent consensus building
rules and on the approval of the documents by a recognised standardisation
body. The international standardisation bodies ISO and IEC, as well as the three
ESOs (CEN, CENELEC and ETSI) and the National Standardisation Bodies
(NSBs) have clear and demanding Internal Directives and Regulations .
However, standardisation has such an impact in society that it is a highly

regulated activity. At European level, the three European Standardisation
Organisations (ESOs: CEN, CENELEC and ETSI), as well as the National
Standardisation Bodies (NSBs) operate according to the European Regulation
(EU) No 1025/2012 of 25 October 2012 on European standardisation. In
accordance with this Regulation:

● The ESOs and the NSBs establish a yearly work programme, publicly
available at their website.
● The NSBs ensure access to draft national standards in such a way that
all relevant parties have the opportunity to submit comments.
● The ESOs encourage and facilitate an appropriate representation and
effective participation of all relevant stakeholders, including SMEs,
consumer organisations and environmental and social stakeholders in
their standardisation activities.
● NSBs encourage and facilitate the access of SMEs to standards and
standards development processes.
5. International standardisation bodies

There are three international standardisation bodies:
● International Organization for Standardization (ISO), general.

● International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), focused on
electrotechnics.
● International Telecommunication Union (ITU), focused on
telecommunications.
ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a

membership of 168 national standards bodies.
IEC is also global, not-for-profit membership organization that brings together

more than 170 national standards bodies.
ISO and IEC work closely to ensure that standards don't overlap or result in
duplication. At the technical level work is coordinated through formal liaisons

between ISO and IEC technical committees and at the management level through
board consultations1.
ISO and IEC standards are developed by groups of experts called Technical
Committees (TCs). The experts that participate in these TCs are put forward by
the national members of ISO or IEC. In most cases they are chosen by the
relevant National Committee (NC) of the National Standardisation Body (NSB)
member of ISO or IEC. The NSBs represent ISO or IEC in each country. The
participation in the TCs of ISO/IEC is done following the national representation
principle, i.e., via the relevant NSB. Table 1 shows the NSBs member of ISO and
member of IEC of each of the EU countries, with a link to its website.
Table 1. EU NSBs of the member of ISO and IEC
Country ISO member (acronym) IEC member (acronym)
Austria ASI OVE
Belgium NBN CEB-BEC
Bulgaria BDS BDS
Croatia HZN HZN
Cyprus CYS CYS
Czech Republic UNMZ UNMZ
1ISO/IEC Directives and policies are available at https://www.iso.org/directives-and-policies.html

CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations are available at https://boss.cen.eu/reference-
material/refdocs/pages/

Denmark DS DS
Estonia EVS EVS
Finland SFS SESKO
France AFNOR AFNOR
Germany DIN DKE
Greece NQIS/ELOT NQIS/ELOT
Hungary MSZT MSZT
Ireland NSAI NSAI
Italy UNI CEI
Latvia LVS LVS
Lithuania LST LST
Luxembourg ILNAS ILNAS
Malta MCCAA MCCAA
Netherlands NEN NEN
Poland PKN PKN

Portugal IPQ IPQ
Romania ASRO ASRO
Slovakia UNMS SR UNMS SR
Slovenia SIST SIST
Spain UNE UNE
Sweden SIS SEK
ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication
technologies, and is governed by the Plenipotentiary Conference and the ITU
Council. The Study Groups of ITU’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector
(ITU-T) assemble experts from around the world to develop international
standards known as ITU-T Recommendations.
6. European standardisation bodies

There are three European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs):
● European Committee for Standardization (CEN), general.

● European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization
(CENELEC), focused on electrotechnics.
● European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), focused on
telecommunications.
CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, and CENELEC, the

European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization, are two associations.

Each of them brings together the National Standardization Bodies of 34
European countries. The countries represented in CEN and CENELEC are the
same ones: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom. However, some
countries are represented by different NSBs in CEN and CENELEC.
CEN and CENELEC are different organisations, but they have the same Director,
Ms. Elena Santiago, who is the head of the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre
(CCMC). The CCMC is in charge of the daily operations, coordination and
promotion of all CEN and CENELEC activities.
CEN and CENELEC can be assimilated, respectively, to ISO and IEC, and its
technical activity is also based on the principle of national representation. CEN
and CENELEC standards are developed by groups of experts called Technical
Committees (TCs). The experts that participate in these TCs are put forward by
the national members of CEN or CENELEC. In most cases they are chosen by
the relevant National Committee (NC) of the National Standardisation Body
(NSB) member of CEN or CENELEC. The NSBs represent ISO/IEC in each
country. The participation in the TCs of ISO or IEC is done following the national
representation principle, i.e., via the relevant NSB.
Although the field of activity of ETSI is very similar to the one of ITU, those two
organisations are of a very different nature. ETSI is the recognized ESO dealing
with telecommunications, broadcasting and other electronic communications
networks and services. ETSI is a not-for-profit association. It counts more than
900 member organizations worldwide, drawn from over 60 countries and five
continents. ETSI members are not only from the European environment. In fact,
67 ETSI members are based in the United States of America, 15 in China, 13 in
Canada, 9 in Japan, 8 in South Korea, 6 in Australia, 3 in South Africa and 2 in
India. Having said this, the European members outnumber the members from out

of this region. As an example, 139 members are based in Germany, 112 in the
United Kingdom, 101 in France, 44 in Belgium, 42 in Spain, 37 in Italy and 36 in
Sweden. ETSI members comprise a diversified pool of large and small private
companies, research entities, academia, government and public organizations.
Whereas CEN and CENELEC work under the national representation principle,
ETSI members have direct participation in the technical groups of ETSI
(Technical Committee, ETSI Project). This means that the consensus is not built
between the different national delegations, but by the experts of the organisations
that are members of ETSI (mainly private companies).
Table 2 shows the NSBs member of CEN and member of CENELEC of each of
the EU countries, as well as the NSBs member of ETSI or National
Standardisation Organisation (NSOs) related to ETSI, with a link to its website.

Table 2. EU NSBs member of CEN, CENELEC and ETSI, or NSO related to ETSI
ETSI member /
EU country NSB CEN member Webpage NSB CLC member Webpage NSB NSO related to Webpage
ETSI
Austrian Standards
Austrian
International - www.austrian-
Austria ASI OVE Electrotechnical www.ove.at ASI, OVE
Standardization standards.at
Association
and Innovation
Bureau de Bureau de
Belgian
Normalisation/Bure www.ceb- Normalisation/B
Belgium NBN www.nbn.be CEB-BEC Electrotechnical NBN www.nbn.be
au voor bec.be ureau voor
Committee
Normalisatie Normalisatie
Bulgarian
Bulgarian Institute www.bds- Bulgarian Institute www.bds- www.bds-
Bulgaria BDS BDS BDS Institute for
for Standardization bg.org for Standardization bg.org bg.org
Standardization
Croatian
Croatian Standards Croatian Standards
Croatia HZN www.hzn.hr HZN www.hzn.hr HZN Standards www.hzn.hr
Institute Institute
Institute
AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ 10, May 2023 18

ETSI member /
ETSI
Cyprus Cyprus Cyprus

www.cys.org.c www.cys.org.c www.cys.org.
Cyprus CYS Organization for CYS Organization for CYS Organization for
y y cy
Standardisation Standardisation Standardisation
Czech Office for Czech Office for Czech Office for

Czech Standards, Standards, Standards,
UNMZ www.unmz.cz UNMZ www.unmz.cz UNMZ www.unmz.cz
Republic Metrology and Metrology and Metrology and
Testing Testing Testing
Denmark DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk
Republic of
Non-profit Non-profit Estonia
Association Association Consumer
https://www.ttj
Estonia EVS Estonian Centre for www.evs.ee EVS Estonian Centre for www.evs.ee CPTRA Protection and
a.ee/en
Standardisation Standardisation Technical
and Accreditation and Accreditation Regulatory
Authority

ETSI member /
ETSI
Finnish
Suomen
Transport and https://www.tr
Finland SFS Standardisoimisliitt www.sfs.fi SESKO SESKO www.sesko.fi TRAFICOM
Communications aficom.fi/en
o r.y.
Agency
Association Association Association

AFNOR- www.afnor.or
France AFNOR Française de www.afnor.org Française de www.afnor.org AFNOR Française de
CEF g
Normalisation Normalisation Normalisation
Association for Association for

Electrical, Electrical,
Deutsches Institut
Germany DIN www.din.de DKE Electronic & www.dke.de DKE Electronic & www.dke.de
für Normung
Information Information
Technologies Technologies
National Quality National Quality National Quality

Greece NQIS/ELOT Infrastructure www.elot.gr NQIS/ELOT Infrastructure www.elot.gr NQIS/ELOT Infrastructure www.elot.gr
System System System
Hungarian Hungarian Hungarian

Hungary MSZT Standards www.mszt.hu MSZT Standards www.mszt.hu MSZT Standards www.mszt.hu
Institution Institution Institution

ETSI member /
ETSI
National
National Standards National Standards Standards
Ireland NSAI www.nsai.ie NSAI www.nsai.ie NSAI www.nsai.ie
Authority of Ireland Authority of Ireland Authority of
Ireland
Comitato https://www.u
Ente Italiano di www.ceinorm
Italy UNI www.uni.com CEI Elettrotecnico UNINFO UNINFO ninfo.it/index.
Normazione e.it
Italiano php
Latvian Standard Latvian Standard Latvian

Latvia LVS www.lvs.lv LVS www.lvs.lv LVS www.lvs.lv
Ltd. Ltd. Standard Ltd.
Lithuanian
Lithuanian Lithuanian
Lithuania LST www.lsd.lt LST www.lsd.lt LST Standards www.lsd.lt
Standards Board Standards Board
Board
Organisme
Organisme Organisme
www.portail- www.portail- Luxembourgeois www.portail-
Luxembourg ILNAS Luxembourgeois de ILNAS Luxembourgeois de ILNAS
qualite.lu qualite.lu de qualite.lu
Normalisation Normalisation
Normalisation

ETSI member /
ETSI
The Malta The Malta The Malta

Competition and www.mccaa.o Competition and www.mccaa.o Competition and www.mccaa.o
Malta MCCAA MCCAA MCCAA
Consumer Affairs rg.mt Consumer Affairs rg.mt Consumer rg.mt
Authority Authority Affairs Authority
Nederlands Nederlands Nederlands

Netherlands NEN Normalisatie- www.nen.nl NEC Normalisatie- www.nen.nl NEN Normalisatie- www.nen.nl
instituut instituut instituut
Polish
Polish Committee Polish Committee
Poland PKN www.pkn.pl PKN www.pkn.pl PKN Committee for www.pkn.pl
for Standardization for Standardization
Standardization
http://www1.ip http://www1.ip http://www1.ip

Instituto
Instituto Português q.pt/pt/pages/ Instituto Português q.pt/pt/pages/ q.pt/pt/pages/
Portugal IPQ IPQ IPQ Português da
da Qualidade Homepage.as da Qualidade Homepage.as Homepage.as
Qualidade
px px px
Romanian Romanian Romanian

Romania ASRO Standards www.asro.ro ASRO Standards www.asro.ro ASRO Standards www.asro.ro
Association Association Association

ETSI member /
ETSI
Slovak Office of Slovak Office of Slovak Office of

Standards Standards Standards
Slovakia UNMS SR www.unms.sk UNMS SR www.unms.sk UNMS SR www.unms.sk
Metrology and Metrology and Metrology and
Testing Testing Testing
Slovenian
Slovenian Institute Slovenian Institute
Slovenia SIST www.sist.si SIST www.sist.si SIST Institute for www.sist.si
for Standardization for Standardization
Standardization
Asociación Asociación Asociación

https://www.u https://www.u https://www.u
Spain UNE Española de UNE Española de UNE Española de
ne.org ne.org ne.org
Normalización Normalización Normalización
Swiss https://asut.ch
Swedish Institute Swedish Institute www.elstanda
Sweden SIS www.sis.se SEK ASUT Telecommunicat /asut/de/page
for Standards - SIS for Standards - SIS rd.se
ions Association /index.xhtml

7. How to access the European
published standardisation documents
7.1. Introduction
Standardisation documents are publicly available. This means that all
stakeholders are able to access its content. However, this does not mean that
standardisation documents are freely available.
All standardization documents are protected by copyright and associated

exploitation rights. Therefore, any reproduction, distribution, resale or
communication of standards in any medium, is forbidden without the formal
written authorization from the owner of the copyright and associated exploitation
rights.
Regarding the cost of access to standardisation documents in Europe, there are

basically two models: the ETSI model and the CEN-CENELEC model. Both
models coexist with international distributors around the world from which
European standards can be bought.
7.2. ETSI model

The ETSI model is based in direct participation. With more than 900 member
organizations, ETSI standardisation documents are freely available in pdf at its
website.
Besides, ETSI European Standards (ENs) can be bought from the National
Standards Organizations (NSOs) that assist ETSI in their making.
7.3. CEN-CENELEC model

The model of CEN and CENELEC is based in national representation. Both
organisations have 34 members each, which are National Standardisation
Bodies, each one from a different European country.
AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ 10, May 2023 24

The distribution of CEN and CENELEC standardisation documents is the
responsibility of the CEN and CENELEC Members, the NSBs. Consequently,
CEN and CENELEC have entrusted their NSBs with the protection of their
copyright interests, each in their respective territories. The CEN and CENELEC
Management Centre does not sell or distribute Standards or any other
deliverable. All CEN and/or CENELEC documents are directly available for
purchase from CEN NSBs, CENELEC NSBs, CEN Affiliates and CENELEC
Affiliates.
However, certain CEN and/or CENELEC Workshop Agreements (CWAs), mainly

in the ICT field, are available free of charge at the CWA download area under
special arrangements, for example, where industry has offset the loss of sales.
CEN and/or CENELEC members are obliged to adopt all CEN and/or CENELEC
standards, and to withdraw any diverging national standards.
NOTE The model of ISO and IEC is very similar to the one of CEN and CENELEC,
except that ISO and/or IEC members are not obliged to adopt international
standards nor to withdraw the national standards diverging with ISO and/or IEC
international standards.

8. How to participate in the European
standardisation process
8.1. Introduction
European Standards are the result of extensive efforts performed by the market
players who provide the expertise and fund the infrastructure of standardization
in Europe. There is also a management and structure cost of the ESOs and of
the NSBs that needs to be covered to ensure the sustainability of the
standardisation system. Due to this, the participation in the standardisation
technical bodies might be subject to fees.
We could differentiate three different situations: ETSI; CEN and CENELEC; and
the NSBs.
8.2. Participation in the standardisation

technical bodies of ETSI
As explained before, the organisations can have direct participation in ETSI
technical bodies work.
ETSI has two basic kinds of technical bodies:
● Technical groups (Technical Committee, ETSI Project). The

participation in these groups is reserved to ETSI members.
● Other technical groups (ETSI Partnership Project, Industry
Specification Group, Open Source Group). Both ETSI members and
non-members can participate. However,
The running costs of these technical bodies are covered by the organisations
participating in them.
● For ETSI members, ETSI Membership contributions are calculated

depending on the type of membership:

o Members and associate members in general
o Not-for-profit user associations, universities, public research bodies
and Micro-Enterprises
o Governmental organizations
o Observer members
● For non-ETSI members, the usual situation is the one given in the
Industry Specification Groups (ISGs), where non-members pay a
participation fee.

technical bodies of CEN and/or
CENELEC
The participation in the technical bodies of CEN and/or CENELEC is mainly
structured according to the following groups:
● National delegations of the members of CEN and/or CENELEC. Those

are the experts designated by the NSBs members to represent the
national interests of their stakeholders. The total amount of NSBs
membership fees is allocated between all members based on a
financial contribution percentage calculated for each NSB
Individually. The national delegations have voting rights on the
decisions of the technical bodies.
● Liaisons with other CEN and/or CENELEC technical bodies. They are
representatives of other CEN and/or CENELEC technical bodies that
are deemed to participate to ensure coordination. They do not have
voting rights on the decisions of the technical bodies where they
participate representing another technical body.
● European Counsellors: Those are primarily the European Commission
and the EFTA Secretariat. European Counsellors do not have voting
rights on the decisions of the technical bodies.

● Societal stakeholders. According to the EU Regulation 1025/2012 on
European Standardization, societal interests are represented for:
o Consumers by ANEC - the European consumer voice in
standardisation
o Employees and workers by ETUC – European Trade Union
Confederation
o Environment by ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards
The societal stakeholders do not pay a participation fee. They do not
have voting rights on the decisions of the technical bodies.
● Partner organisations: These organisations pay a participation fee.
They do not have voting rights on the decisions of the technical bodies.
The main way of participating in the standardisation technical bodies of
CEN and/or CENELEC is being part of the national delegation of the
relevant National Standardisation Body member of CEN and/or
CENELEC. Therefore, if you are interested in participating in a CEN
and/or CENELEC technical body (TC, SC, WG, etc), you should
contact the NSB of the country where you develop your activity, see
table 2.

technical bodies of the NSBs
Standardisation relies on the participation of all the relevant stakeholders in the
process. This is why the default and preferred way of NSBs to contribute to the
standardisation works of CEN and/or CENELEC technical committee is the
assignation of the responsibility of defining the national position to an existing
national standardisation technical body or, if needed, the creation of a new one
with that task. That national standardisation technical body (TC, SC or WG) is
commonly known as National Mirror Committee (NMC). Therefore, when a
national expert wants to engage on the works of a European standard, that expert
should join the NMC. The NMC will be responsible to send the national comments

on the different drafts of the standard, and to cast the national vote on the formal
approval stages of the document. The relevant NSB can designate national
experts (usually from the ones participating in the NMC) to participate directly in
the CEN and/or CENELEC standardisation technical bodies (TC, SC or WG).
For example, the works on the revision of EN 17210:2021, “Accessibility and

usability of the built environment - Functional requirements”, are performed by
the CEN and CENELEC Joint Technical Committee CEN/CLC/JTC 11,
“Accessibility in the built environment”. The Spanish experts that want to
contribute to these works need to incorporate to the Spanish National Mirror
Committee, which is CTN-UNE 170/GT 2. The experts participating in the
Spanish technical body CTN-UNE 170/GTG 2 are responsible of helping to define
the national criteria on the relevant works and decisions of CEN/CLC/JTC 11.
Besides, the Spanish technical body CTN-UNE 170/GTG 2 has designated some
experts who make up the Spanish delegation. Those experts of the Spanish
delegation can attend to the meetings of the European Joint Technical Committee
CEN/CLC/JTC 11, and that way contribute, in dialog with the experts of the other
countries participating, to define the criteria on which are the requirements that
need to be fulfilled to consider a built environment as accessible.
The default situation is that each NSB has a NMC in place covering the activity
of the relevant European Technical Committee. Sometimes a NMC covers the
activity of several European TCs, and sometimes the scope of a European TC is
split into several National Technical Committees. The participation in the NMC
can be subjected to participation fees to cover its management costs. However,
the NSB are not obliged to put in place NMCs for each of the European TCs and,
if relevant, can use other ways to identify the national criteria of their relevant
stakeholders.
The participation in the standardisation technical bodies of the NSBs can be

subject to fees. In these cases, most the times there are special considerations
for specific stakeholders such as public institutions, societal stakeholders,
academics and SMEs. Each NSB has different participation conditions.

Sometimes those participation conditions are available on their website, but this
is not always the case.2
9. Main standardisation Technical

Bodies at European level related to
accessibility
9.1. EC Mandates M/376, M/420, M/473 and
M/554
The European Commission (EC) and the European Free Trade Association
(EFTA) are aware that common European accessibility standards help remove
barriers for persons with disabilities and others (e.g., the older people). Besides,
key EU legislative instruments (the directive on web accessibility, the European
accessibility act, the public procurement directives) refer to the possible use of
accessibility standards. Hence, European accessibility standards have been put
in place to support implementation of accessibility in the built environment and
ICT and for organisations to adopt a ‘Design for All’ approach. When applied
across Member States, these standards also improve the functioning of the
internal market, by removing barriers to free movement of goods and services.
The EC and EFTA have promoted with Mandates M/376, M/420 and M/473 the
development of key European standardisation documents to support European
policies on accessibility. Those were developed upon specific appliance of the
EC, who launched Mandates aimed at the three ESOs to develop them. The first
edition of all these documents were funded by the EC and EFTA.
The Web Accessibility Directive (WAD), i.e., Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility
2 The model for the participation in ISO and/or IEC technical Bodies, is very similar to the
one for the participation in CEN and/or CENELEC technical bodies.

of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, was published in
October 2016. The EC identified EN 301549:2015, “Accessibility requirements
suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe”, as a
suitable document to make public sector websites and mobile applications more
accessible, and to harmonise varying standards within the European Union (EU),
reducing barriers for developers of accessibility-related products and services.
Therefore, the EC launched a new Mandate, M/554, funded by the EC and EFTA,
to review it. Its final outcome, EN 301549:2018, “Accessibility requirements for
ICT products and services” (V2.1.2), was a harmonised standard supporting the
WAD. This means that its compliance with harmonised standard EN
301549:2018 conferred a presumption of conformity with the essential
requirements of Directive (EU) 2016/2102. This standard has been revised twice
since, and the current harmonised standard is EN 301549:2021. Accessibility
requirements for ICT products and services. (V3.2.1).
Table 3 relates the EC and EFTA standardisation Mandates prior to 2022 with its
outcomes.
Besides, under M/473, CEN and CENELEC developed the “CEN-CENELEC

Protocol on accessibility following a Design for All approach in standardization”.
The CEN/BT/Working Group 213 ‘Strategic Advisory Group on Accessibility’
(SAGA), is the Working Group of the Technical Board of CEN responsible of this
document. It outlines the procedure to help technical bodies decide whether
accessibility, with a Design for All approach, should be addressed when
developing or revising a standardization deliverable. Besides, all EN and
CENELEC technical bodies are obliged to assess, when they start a new
standardisation deliverable, if accessibility aspects need to be addressed in the
new deliverable.

Table 3. EC and EFTA standardisation Mandates related to standardisation prior to 2022
ESO
ESOs that
TC that leading the
Date of the accepted Standard
Mandate Field developed the Deliverables developme Remarks
mandate the status
mandate nt of the
mandate
deliverable
EN 301549:2014. Accessibility
requirements suitable for public Works funded by
Withdrawn ETSI
procurement of ICT products the EC and EFTA.
and services in Europe. (V1.1.1)
requirements suitable for public
M/376. Standardisation Withdrawn ETSI
procurement of ICT products
mandate to CEN, CENELEC and services in Europe. (V1.1.2)
and ETSI in support of CEN, CEN/CLC/ETSI/
ICT CEN/CLC/ETSI TR
European Accessibility 07/10/2005 CENELEC JTB eAcc.
accessibility 101550:2014. Documents
requirements for public and ETSI eAccessibility
relevant to EN 301 549
procurement of products and Works funded by
"Accessibility requirements Withdrawn ETSI
services in the ICT domain. the EC and EFTA.
suitable for public procurement
of ICT products and services in
Europe".
CEN/CLC/ETSI TR No revision
101550:2022. Documents envisaged in the
relevant to EN 301 549 (V1.1.1) short term.
"Accessibility requirements Published ETSI Document relevant
suitable for public procurement only to the 1st
of ICT products and services in edition of EN
Europe". 301549.

ESO
ESOs that
TC that leading the
mandate the status
mandate nt of the
mandate
deliverable
CEN/CLC/ETSI TR Works funded by
101551:2014. Guidelines on the the EC and EFTA.
use of accessibility award Will be revised
Published ETSI
criteria suitable for public shortly. The works
procurement of ICT products on its revision still
and services in Europe. have not started.
CEN/CLC/ETSI/TR 101
Works funded by
552:2014. Guidance for the
the EC and EFTA.
application of conformity
Will be revised
assessment to accessibility Published CEN
shortly. The works
requirements for public
on its revision still
have not started.
and services in Europe.
M/554. Commission
implementing decision of
27.4.2017 on a
Works funded by
standardisation request to EN 301549:2018. Accessibility
the EC and EFTA.
the European standardisation requirements for ICT products Withdrawn ETSI
CEN, CEN/CLC/ETSI/ Also relevant to
organisations in support of ICT and services (V2.1.2)
27/04/2017 CENELEC JTB eAcc. M/376.
Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of accessibility
and ETSI eAccessibility
the European Parliament and
of the Council on the
accessibility of the websites
and mobile applications of
public sector bodies. EN 301549:2019. Accessibility
Also relevant to
requirements for ICT products Withdrawn ETSI
M/376.
and services. (V3.1.1)

ESO
ESOs that
TC that leading the
mandate the status
mandate nt of the
mandate
deliverable
Also relevant to
M/376.
Harmonised
standard. Confers
a presumption of
conformity with the
corresponding
essential
requirements set
out in Directive
requirements for ICT products Published CEN
(EU) 2016/2102 on
and services. (V3.2.1)
the accessibility of
the websites and
mobile
applications of
public sector
bodies.
The works on its
revision have
already started.
M/420. Standardisation
Mandate to CEN, CENELEC
CEN/CLC/JTC EN 17210:2021. Accessibility
and ETSI in support of The works on its
Built CEN and 11. Accessibility and usability of the built
European Accessibility 21/12/2007 Published CEN revision have
environment CENELEC in the built environment - Functional
requirements for public already started.
environment. requirements.
procurements in the built
environment.

ESO
ESOs that
TC that leading the
mandate the status
mandate nt of the
mandate
deliverable
CEN/TR 17621:2021.
Accessibility and usability of the No revision
built environment - Technical Published CEN envisaged in the
performance criteria and short term.
specifications.
CEN/TR 17622:2021.
No revision
Accessibility and usability of the
Published CEN envisaged in the
built environment - Conformity
short term.
assessment.
M/473. Standardisation EN 17161:2019. Design for All -

Mandate to CEN, CENELEC CEN/CLC/JTC Accessibility following a Design The works on its
CEN and
and ETSI to include “Design Design for all 01/09/2010 12. Design for for All approach in products, Published CEN revision have
CENELEC
for All” in relevant All. goods and services - Extending already started.
standardisation initiatives. the range of users.

9.2. EC and EFTA Standardisation
Request M/587
Directive (EU) 2019/882, on the accessibility requirements for products and
services, so called the European Accessibility Act (EAA), has been a game
changer. The purpose of this Directive is to contribute to the proper functioning
of the internal market by approximating laws, regulations and administrative
provisions of the Member States as regards accessibility requirements for certain
products and services by, in particular, eliminating and preventing barriers to the
free movement of certain accessible products and services arising from divergent
accessibility requirements in the Member States. This would increase the
availability of accessible products and services in the internal market and improve
the accessibility of relevant information. Article 15 of the EAA considered the
need of drafting harmonised standards for the accessibility requirements of the
products and services covered by the Directive, to facilitate the assessment of
conformity with the applicable accessibility requirements.
On 2022-09-14 the EC and EFTA launched a new Standardisation Request,

M/587 to the three ESOs. This Standardisation Request asked the three ESOs
for the drafting of three new harmonised standards, for the revision of three
existing European standards, with the objective of turning them into harmonised
standards, and for the revision of two Technical Reports that supported one of
this European Standards.
Table 4 relates the new harmonised standards to be developed according to

M/587 with the European technical committee responsible of the works and the
relevant deadline set by the EC.
Table 5 relates the standardisation deliverables to be revised according to M/587

with the European technical committee responsible of the works and the relevant
deadline set by the EC.

Organisations and experts willing to participate in the development of these new
standardisation works shall contact its relevant NSO (national representation
principle) or the relevant ESO (direct participation). Tables 6, 7 and 8 relate the
main European standardisation technical bodies on accessibility (CEN/CLC/JTC
12, CEN/CLC/JTC 11 and CEN/CLC/ETSI/JTB eAcc) with the relevant National
Standardisation Body and, when available, the relevant National Mirror
Committee and contact data.

Table 4. New harmonised standards to be developed according to M/587
Technical Body in ESO leading the Deadline for the

charge of the development of the adoption by the
Reference Expected outcome project deliverable ESOs
Shall describe the technical solutions for accessibility to ensure CEN/CLC/JTC 12 CEN 15/03/2026
conformity with the following requirements set out in Annex I of
Directive 2019/882:
- Annex I section I point 1 (a) and (b) and Annex I section II
- Also covering Annex I section III (a) and (b)
- Also covering Section IV (c) and (d) transport
Harmonised - Also covering Section IV (e) (ii) banking information
standard(s) setting up - Excluding Section IV (f) e-books
requirements on the
accessibility of non- The harmonised standards shall maximise the level of
digital information accessibility and ensure interoperability including with assistive
related to products devices in such a way as to maximise their foreseeable use by
and services persons with disabilities. Standards shall reflect the generally
acknowledged state of the art.

Shall describe the technical solutions for accessibility and CEN/CLC/JTC 12 CEN 15/03/2026
interoperability as well as provide information about the
accessibility of the respective products and services, their
compatibility with assistive technologies, and how to ensure that
the information is provided in accessible modes of
Harmonised standard communication and to ensure conformity with the following
for the accessibility of requirement set in Annex I of Directive 2019/882:
support services - Section I.3 for products and Section III (d) for services.
related to products
and services (help The harmonised standards shall maximise the level of
desks, call centres, accessibility and ensure interoperability including with assistive
technical support, devices in such a way as to maximise their foreseeable use by
relay services and persons with disabilities. Standards shall reflect the generally
training services) acknowledged state of the art.

Should support the implementation of Article 109 of Directive ETSI TC EMTEL ETSI 15/01/2027
(EU) 2018/1972 and shall describe the technical solutions for
accessibility and interoperability, including when using roaming
Harmonised standard services, to ensure conformity with the following requirements
for the accessibility set out in Annex I of Directive 2019/882:
and interoperability of - Section III, Section IV and Section V.
emergency
communications and The harmonised standards shall maximise the level of
for the answering of accessibility and ensure interoperability including with assistive
emergency devices in such a way as to maximise their foreseeable use by
communications by persons with disabilities. Standards shall reflect the generally
the public safety acknowledged state of the art.
answering point
(PSAPs) (including to
the single European
Emergency number
112)
Table 5. Standardisation deliverables to be revised according to M/587

ESO leading
Technical Body in Deadline for
the
Deliverable to be revised Expected outcome charge of the the adoption
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
The harmonised standards shall maximise the level of accessibility and
ensure interoperability including with assistive devices in such a way as
to maximise their foreseeable use by persons with disabilities.
Standards shall reflect the generally acknowledged state of the art.
Shall be revised to describe the technical solutions for accessibility to
ensure conformity with the accessibility requirements of Annex I and III
of Directive 2019/882 and Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2016/2102.
The harmonised standard shall describe the technical solutions for
accessibility to ensure conformity with the accessibility requirements of
Annex I section I, II, III, IV, excluding point (f) of section IV on e-books
EN 301549:2021. of Directive 2019/882, except for those included in part B of this annex,
Accessibility requirements for namely those covered by new standards. It should be complementary CEN/CLC/ETSI/JTB
ETSI 15/09/2025
ICT products and services. with the new standards referred to in section B for example by eAcc
(V3.2.1) addressing relay service requirements for accessibility, and consumer
terminal accessibility to be used with and be applicable to emergency
communications. It shall also ensure conformity with the accessibility
requirements of article 4 of Directive (EU) 2016/2102.
Shall address:
- accessibility requirements of ICT devices (including e-books readers
as dedicated or included in other devices such as PCs or smartphones)
- generic accessibility requirements for ICT-based service provision
- accessibility requirements for electronic communication services with
regards to real-time text (RTT) and Total Conversation (TC) including
for number based interpersonal communications services and including

ESO leading
the
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
when using roaming services. These requirements should also refer to
the enablement of these services in the core of the communication
networks on which these services are being provided. Work should take
account of already available work and deliverables (including on
infrastructure) and in particular in view of technical specifications related
to packet switched emergency communication infrastructure. It should
also contain functional and service requirements for (interoperable)
Total Conversation services (TC) including RTT.
- accessibility requirements for ICT-based application-specific services
included in the scope of the European Accessibility Act. These
requirements may also include QoS (Quality of Service) requirements.
In the case of RTT and TC a reference terminal should be defined for
conformity tests.
Shall include relevant existing or revised provisions of ETSI technical
reports or other relevant guidelines and documents.
The requirements set out in EN 17210 and EN 301 549 should be
aligned avoiding contradictions.
Shall cover accessibility specifications to be followed when designing,
constructing, maintaining and updating websites and mobile
applications. They shall provide generally applicable accessibility
specifications. Those specifications in support of the implementation of
Article 4 of Directive (EU) 2016/2102 shall ensure at least the level of
accessibility already established by clauses 9, 10 and 11 of EN 301
549: v3.2.1 2021.

ESO leading
the
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
In order to satisfy the accessibility requirements of the Directive, such
harmonised standard(s) shall provide the detailed technical
specifications of those requirements, especially regarding the
perceivability, operability, understandability and robustness.
The established accessibility specifications shall be coordinated and
aligned with the relevant industry specifications in particular, the
specifications established or under development by the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C) in its Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and,
when relevant, shall be aligned with other globally relevant
specifications (e.g., US Access Board’s Section 508 Standards).
The requested harmonised standard shall ensure that information and
user interface components are presentable to users in ways they can
perceive. This means that users must be able to perceive the
information being presented (it cannot be imperceptible to all their
senses).
The requested harmonised standard shall ensure that user interface
components and navigation are operable. This means that users must
be able to operate the interface (the interface should not require
interaction that a user cannot perform).
Information and the operation of user interface shall be understandable.
This means that users must be able to understand the information as
well as the operation of the user interface (the content or operation
should not be beyond their understanding).
Content shall be robust enough to be interpreted in a reliable manner by

ESO leading
the
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This
means that users must be able to access the content as technologies
advance (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content has to
remain accessible).
The requirements and their description coincide with the Four Principles
of Accessibility defined in W3C Web Contents Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.1. If any of these requirements are not met, users with
disabilities may not be able to use the Web.
The requested harmonised standard shall further detail the accessibility
provisions established in EN 301 549: v3.2.1 2021 to cover all
specificities of mobile applications.
The conceptual and technical specificities of mobile devices shall be
duly considered when establishing accessibility specifications for mobile
applications.

ESO leading
the
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
EN 17161:2019. Design for
Standards shall reflect the generally acknowledged state of the art.
All - Accessibility following a
Shall be revised to describe the technical solutions for accessibility to
Design for All approach in
ensure conformity with the accessibility requirements of Annex I and III CEN/CLC/JTC 12 CEN 15/09/2025
products, goods and services
of Directive 2019/882.
- Extending the range of
The harmonised standard shall describe process-related and
users.
procedural solutions for the design, development and provision of
services that fulfil the accessibility requirements set out in Annex I to
Directive 2019/882 in accordance with Section VI thereof.

EN 17210:2021. Accessibility Standards shall reflect the generally acknowledged state of the art.
and usability of the built Shall be revised to describe the technical solutions for accessibility to
CEN/CLC/JTC 11 CEN 15/09/2025
environment - Functional ensure conformity with the accessibility requirements of Annex I and III
requirements. of Directive 2019/882.
The harmonised standard shall describe where needed in more detail
the functional solutions linking where feasible to technical solution for
accessibility to ensure conformity with Annex III of Directive 2019/882.

ESO leading
the
development of
project by the ESOs
the deliverable
CEN/CLC/ETSI TR
101551:2014. Guidelines on
the use of accessibility award CEN/CLC/ETSI TR 101551:2014 and CEN/CLC/ETSI/TR 101 552:2014 CEN/CLC/ETSI/JTB
CEN 15/01/2026
criteria suitable for public could be combined in their revision eAcc
CEN/CLC/ETSI/TR 101
552:2014. Guidance for the
application of conformity
CEN/CLC/ETSI TR 101551:2014 and CEN/CLC/ETSI/TR 101 552:2014 CEN/CLC/ETSI/JTB
assessment to accessibility CEN 15/01/2026
could be combined in their revision eAcc
requirements for public

Table 6. National Mirror Committees of CEN/CLC JTC 12 and contact data
NMCs
Contact
EU country NSB CEN member Webpage CEN/CLC/JTC Title Link e-mail/contact
person
12
Austrian Standards
International - www.austrian- Assistive products for DGKS Andrea a.redelsteiner@austrian-
Austria ASI KOMITEE 196 Link
Standardization and standards.at persons with disability Redelsteiner standards.at
Innovation
Bureau de
Belgium NBN Normalisation/Bureau www.nbn.be NBN/CCLC012 Not public. info@nbn.be
voor Normalisatie
Bulgarian Institute for Galina

Bulgaria BDS www.bds-bg.org ТК-59 Ergonomics Link galina.argirova@bds-bg.org
Standardization Argirova
Croatian Standards
Croatia HZN www.hzn.hr msp@hzn.hr
Institute
Cyprus Organization
Cyprus CYS www.cys.org.cy cystandards@cys.org.cy
for Standardisation

NMCs
Contact
person
12
Czech Office for

Czech Votrubcová
UNMZ Standards, Metrology www.unmz.cz votrubcova@unmz.cz
Republic Marta
and Testing
Denmark DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk S-437 IT-tilgængelighed Link Berit Aadal baa@ds.dk
Non-profit
Association Estonian
Estonia EVS Centre for www.evs.ee standard@evs.ee
Standardisation and
Accreditation
Suomen
METSA SR Tommi
Finland SFS Standardisoimisliitto www.sfs.fi Ergonomia Link etunimi.sukunimi@metsta.fi
122 Carlson
r.y.
Association
Accessibilité dans Ursula Viltart
France AFNOR Française de www.afnor.org AFNOR/P96A Link Link
l'environnement bâti Baquero
Normalisation
Deutsches Institut für NA 023-00-02 Joint working Batbayar

Germany DIN www.din.de Link Link
Normung GA committee of Ganbaatar

NMCs
Contact
person
12
Ergonomics
Standards
Committee/Information
Technology and
selected IT
Applications
Standards
Committee/German
Commission for
Electrical, Electronic &
Information
Technologies:
Accessible
design/Accessibility
National Quality
Greece NQIS/ELOT www.elot.gr info@esyp.eu
Infrastructure System
Hungarian Standards Építészet és Csaba

Hungary MSZT www.mszt.hu MSZT/MB 443 Link cs.bernath@mszt.hu
Institution műemlékvédelem Bernáth

NMCs
Contact
person
12
Products and
National Standards NSAI/TC
Ireland NSAI www.nsai.ie services. Range of Link info@nsai.ie
Authority of Ireland 23/SC 5
users
Ente Italiano di
Italy UNI www.uni.com UNI/CT 015 Ergonomia Link normazione@uni.com
Normazione
Latvia LVS Latvian Standard Ltd. www.lvs.lv Link Link
Lithuanian Standards
Lithuania LST www.lsd.lt Link lstboard@lsd.lt
Board
Organisme
www.portail-
Luxembourg ILNAS Luxembourgeois de Link normalisation@ilnas.etat.lu
qualite.lu
Normalisation
The Malta
Competition and
Malta MCCAA www.mccaa.org.mt Link Link
Consumer Affairs
Authority
Nederlands
Netherlands NEN www.nen.nl Link klantenservice@nen.nl
Normalisatie-instituut

NMCs
Contact
person
12
Polish Committee for Osób Urszula

Poland PKN www.pkn.pl KT 1 Link urszula.banaszkiewicz@pkn.pl
Standardization Niepełnosprawnych Banaszkiewicz
Instituto Português Acessibilidade e Luís Filipe

Portugal IPQ Link CT 177 Link geral@abimota.pt
da Qualidade Design Inclusivo Pires Da Silva
Managementul
Romanian Standards Cristina
Romania ASRO https://www.asro.ro/ 365 facilităților și al Link vanzari@asro.ro
Association Chirea
lucrărilor de construcții
Slovak Office of
Bezpečnosť strojov a Jana
Slovakia UNMS SR Standards Metrology www.unms.sk TK 29 Link jana.michalcova@normoff.gov.sk
ergonómia Michalcová
and Testing
Slovenian Institute for

Slovenia SIST www.sist.si Link sist@sist.si
Standardization
Asociación Española Fernando

Spain UNE https://www.une.org CTN 170/GT 3 Diseño para todos Link fmachicado@une.org
de Normalización Machicado
Swedish Institute for Samordningsgrupp för Alexandra

Sweden SIS www.sis.se SIS/TK 536 Link alexandra.antoni@sis.se
Standards - SIS tillgänglighet Antoni

Table 7. National Mirror Committees of CEN/CLC JTC 11 and contact data
EU country NSB CEN member Webpage CEN/CLC/JTC 11 Title Link Contact e-mail
person
Austria ASI Austrian www.austrian- KOMITEE 011 Building construction Link DIPL.-ING. a.reiter@austrian-
Standards standards.at AG 011 05 Barrierefreies Planen und (FH) standards.at
International - Bauen (Spiegelgremium zu ANITA
Standardization CEN/CLS JTC 011 REITER,
and Innovation Accessibility in the built MA
environment; ISO/TC 059/SC
16 Accessibility and usability
of the built environment)
Belgium NBN Bureau de www.nbn.be NBN/CCLC011 Accessibility in the built Not public. info@nbn.be
Normalisation/B environment
ureau voor
Normalisatie
Bulgaria BDS Bulgarian www.bds-bg.org ТК-0/ПС-35 Building structures and Link Tsvetelin tsvetelin.zahariev@bds-
Institute for elements Zahariev bg.org
Standardization

person
Croatia HZN Croatian www.hzn.hr msp@hzn.hr

Standards
Institute
Cyprus CYS Cyprus www.cys.org.cy cystandards@cys.org.cy

Organization for
Standardisation
Czech UNMZ Czech Office for www.unmz.cz Votrubcová votrubcova@unmz.cz

Republic Standards, Marta
Metrology and
Testing
Denmark DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk dansk.standard@ds.dk
Estonia EVS Non-profit www.evs.ee standard@evs.ee

Association
Estonian Centre
for
Standardisation
and
Accreditation

person
Finland SFS Suomen www.sfs.fi Rakennustuoteteol Esteettömyys rakennetussa Link Pekka pekka.vuorinen@rt.fi
Standardisoimisl lisuus RTT ry; SR ympäristössä CEN/CLC TC Vuorinen
iitto r.y. 31 11 -standardointiryhmä
France AFNOR Association www.afnor.org AFNOR/P96A Accessibilité dans Link Ursula Link
Française de l'environnement bâti Viltart
Normalisation Baquero
Germany DIN Deutsches www.din.de NA 005-01-11 AA Accessibility in the built Link Daniel Link
Institut für environment (national mirror Reinhard
Normung committee for ISO/TC 59/SC
16 and CEN/BT/WG 207)
Greece NQIS/EL National Quality www.elot.gr info@esyp.eu

OT Infrastructure
System
Hungary MSZT Hungarian www.mszt.hu MSZT/MB 443 Építészet és Link Csaba cs.bernath@mszt.hu
Standards műemlékvédelem Bernáth
Institution

person
Ireland NSAI National www.nsai.ie NSAI /TC023/SC1 Accessibility of the built Link info@nsai.ie
Standards environment
Authority of
Ireland
Italy UNI Ente Italiano di www.uni.com UNI/CT 033/GL 32 Accessibilità e fruibilità Link normazione@uni.com
Normazione dell’ambiente costruito
Latvia LVS Latvian www.lvs.lv Link Link

Standard Ltd.
Lithuania LST Lithuanian www.lsd.lt Link lstboard@lsd.lt

Standards
Board
Luxembourg ILNAS Organisme www.portail-qualite.lu Link normalisation@ilnas.etat.l

Luxembourgeois u
de
Normalisation
Malta MCCAA The Malta www.mccaa.org.mt Link Link

Competition and
Consumer
Affairs Authority

person
Netherlands NEN Nederlands www.nen.nl Link Emma de bouw@nen.nl

Normalisatie- Sandick
instituut
Poland PKN Polish www.pkn.pl KT 1 Osób Niepełnosprawnych Link Urszula urszula.banaszkiewicz@p

Committee for Banaszkie kn.pl
Standardization wicz
Portugal IPQ Instituto http://www1.ipq.pt/pt/pa CT 177 Acessibilidade e Design Link Luís Filipe geral@abimota.pt
Português da ges/Homepage.aspx Inclusivo Pires Da
Qualidade Silva
Romania ASRO Romanian https://www.asro.ro/ 365 Managementul facilităților și al Link Cristina vanzari@asro.ro
Standards lucrărilor de construcții Chirea
Association
Slovakia UNMS Slovak Office of www.unms.sk TK 112 Trvalá udržateľnosť výstavby Link Jozef jozef.valach@normoff.gov.
SR Standards Valach sk
Metrology and
Testing
Slovenia SIST Slovenian www.sist.si Link sist@sist.si

Institute for
Standardization

person
Spain UNE Asociación https://www.une.org CTN 170/GT 2 Link Fernando fmachicado@une.org

Española de Accesibilidad en las compras Machicado
Normalización públicas en el entorno
construido (M/420)
Sweden SIS Swedish www.sis.se SIS/TK 453 Tillgänglighet och Link Viveka viveka.odlen@sis.se
Institute for användbarhet i byggd miljö Odlen
Standards - SIS

Table 8. National Mirror Committees of CEN/CLC/ETSI JTB
NMC
Contact
EU country NSB CEN member Webpage CEN/CLC/ETSI/ Title Link e-mail
person
JTB eAcc
Austrian Standards INFORMATIONS

International - www.austrian- TECHNOLOGIE, office@austrian-
Austria ASI KOMITEE IT-EG Link
Standardization and standards.at TELEKOMMUNIKATION standards.at
Innovation UND ELEKTRONIK
Bureau de
Belgium NBN Normalisation/Bureau www.nbn.be No NMC info@nbn.be
voor Normalisatie
Information and
Bulgarian Institute for Angel Angel.Spasov@bds-
Bulgaria BDS www.bds-bg.org ТК-57 communication Link
Standardization Spasov bg.org
technology
Croatian Standards
Croatia HZN www.hzn.hr msp@hzn.hr
Institute
Cyprus Organization for cystandards@cys.org.c

Cyprus CYS www.cys.org.cy
Standardisation y

NMC
Contact
person
JTB eAcc
Czech Office for

Czech Votrubcová
UNMZ Standards, Metrology www.unmz.cz votrubcova@unmz.cz
Republic Marta
and Testing
Denmark DS Dansk Standard www.ds.dk S-437 IT-tilgængelighed Link Berit Aadal baa@ds.dk
Non-profit Association
Estonian Centre for
Estonia EVS www.evs.ee standard@evs.ee
Standardisation and
Accreditation
Suomen
Finland SFS www.sfs.fi Traficom Link Sari Hulmi sari.hulmi@traficom.fi
Standardisoimisliitto r.y.
Association Française Mélissa

France AFNOR www.afnor.org AFNOR/CN 35 Interfaces utilisateur Link Link
de Normalisation JEAN

NMC
Contact
person
JTB eAcc
Joint working committee

of Ergonomics Standards
Committee/Information
Technology and selected
Deutsches Institut für NA 023-00-02 IT Applications Standards Batbayar
Germany DIN www.din.de Link Link
Normung GA Committee/German Ganbaatar
Commission for Electrical,
Electronic & Information
Technologies: Accessible
design/Accessibility
NQIS/E National Quality

Greece www.elot.gr info@esyp.eu
LOT Infrastructure System
Hungarian Standards Nagy

Hungary MSZT www.mszt.hu MSZT/MB 850 Multimédia és távközlés Link g.nagy@mszt.hu
Institution Gábor

NMC
Contact
person
JTB eAcc
National Standards NSAI/TC 23/SC

Ireland NSAI www.nsai.ie ICT Technology Link info@nsai.ie
Authority of Ireland 3
Ente Italiano di UNINFO UNI/CT

Italy UNI www.uni.com eAccessibility Link uninfo@uninfo.it
Normazione 531
Latvia LVS Latvian Standard Ltd. www.lvs.lv Link Link
Lithuanian Standards Linas

Lithuania LST www.lsd.lt TK 18 Telekomunikacijos Link linas.bielickas@lsd.lt
Board Bielickas
Organisme
normalisation@ilnas.eta
Luxembourg ILNAS Luxembourgeois de www.portail-qualite.lu Link
t.lu
Normalisation
The Malta Competition

Malta MCCAA and Consumer Affairs www.mccaa.org.mt Link Link
Authority
Nederlands
Netherlands NEN www.nen.nl Link klantenservice@nen.nl
Normalisatie-instituut
Polish Committee for krystyna krystyna.adamowicz@p

Poland PKN www.pkn.pl KT 11 Telekomunikacji Link
Standardization adamowicz kn.pl

NMC
Contact
person
JTB eAcc
Tecnologias da
Instituto Português da http://www1.ipq.pt/pt/p
Portugal IPQ CS/03 Informação e Link ipq@ipq.pt
Qualidade ages/Homepage.aspx
Comunicações
Romanian Standards Radiocomunicaţii, Adrian

Romania ASRO https://www.asro.ro/ 6 Link vanzari@asro.ro
Association telecomunicaţii Colgiu
Slovak Office of
UNMS Jozef jozef.valach@normoff.g
Slovakia Standards Metrology www.unms.sk TNK 37 Informačné technológie Link
SR Valach ov.sk
and Testing
Strokovni svet SIST za

Slovenian Institute for področja elektrotehnike,
Slovenia SIST www.sist.si SS EIT Link sist@sist.si
Standardization informacijske tehnologije
in telekomunikacij
Accesibilidad en las
Asociación Española de Fernando
Spain UNE https://www.une.org CTN 170/GT 1 compras públicas TIC Link fmachicado@une.org
Normalización Machicado
(M/376)
Swedish Institute for Jolanta jolanta.wallstrom@sis.s

Sweden SIS www.sis.se SIS/TK 504 e-Tillgänglighet Link
Standards - SIS Wallström e

10. Further information
On the main standards relevant to accessibility.
On what is a European standard and on the European standardisation system:

Link (CEN) Link (ETSI)
On the Technical Bodies of the ESOs: Link (CEN) Link (CENELEC) Link (ETSI)
On the members of the three ESOs: Link (CEN) Link (CENELEC) Link (ETSI)
Frequently asked questions of CEN and CENELEC: Link
Learning material on standardisation: Link (ETSI)

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Accessible EU Report

Accessibility Standards at European

Consortium composed by:

2. Abbreviations and acronyms ................................................................. 4

2.1. Standardisation bodies....................................................................... 4

2.2. Standardisation deliverables .............................................................. 5

2.3. Standardisation technical bodies ....................................................... 5

3. Standards and the standardisation system ........................................... 6

3.1. Why standards matter ........................................................................ 6

3.2. What is a standard ............................................................................. 7

3.3. The standardisation system ............................................................... 9

5. International standardisation bodies .................................................... 12

6. European standardisation bodies ........................................................ 15

7. How to access the European published standardisation documents .. 24

7.1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 24

7.2. ETSI model ...................................................................................... 24

7.3. CEN-CENELEC model..................................................................... 24

8. How to participate in the European standardisation process ............... 26

8.1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 26

8.2. Participation in the standardisation technical bodies of ETSI ........... 26

8.3. Participation in the standardisation technical bodies of CEN and/or

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 1

9. Main standardisation Technical Bodies at European level related to

9.1. EC Mandates M/376, M/420, M/473 and M/554 ............................... 30

9.2. EC and EFTA Standardisation Request M/587 ................................ 36

10. Further information .............................................................................. 63

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 2

It explains how to access the content of the European standardisation documents

In the framework of the current European policies on standardisation, the main

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 3

● why standardisation is a key element to ensure the accessibility in day-

This document is focused on European standardisation and therefore tiptoes on

2. Abbreviations and acronyms

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 4

2.3. Standardisation technical bodies

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 5

The standardisation system has been designed, and is continuously evolving, to

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 6

According to European Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 on European

a. ‘international standard’ means a standard adopted by an

The founding principles recognised by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 7

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 8

There are also different kinds of standardization documents. The most

At European level, all the members of CEN or CENELEC shall adopt EN

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 9

Figure 1. Possible tracks of standards adoption

Figure 2. Example of identification of elements in the code of a standard

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 10

However, standardisation has such an impact in society that it is a highly

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 11

5. International standardisation bodies

● International Organization for Standardization (ISO), general.

ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a

IEC is also global, not-for-profit membership organization that brings together

AccessibleEU Report 1_ Accessibility Standards at E.L._ May 11th, 2023 12

Table 1. EU NSBs of the member of ISO and IEC

Country ISO member (acronym) IEC member (acronym)

Austria ASI OVE