For the "Hoe bereikt u iedereen" campaign (how to reach everyone) two non-profit organisations in the Netherlands work together with the industry to create awareness about eAccessibility for people with disabilities, people with low literacy and the elderly. They have organised 12 meetings throughout the country focusing on awarenes, where local policy makers discover ways to achieve fast results in eInclusion and to make organisations more aware of the possibilities and requirements.

Description of target users and groups

Local policy makers and communication managers.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

Three organisations work together with the mayors of several small Dutch towns. The meetings are organized by the local policy makers and have no cost for organizers and visitors. Local policy makers are invited to a top level presention in which they are explained: - What can they do to improve eAccessibility of their website (including eProcurement tips). - How can they easily provide accessible versions of their documents. - How can eAccessibility be anchored in an organisation. The presentations and discussion shows that a sudden move towards accessibility is not an easy thing to do and requires structural changes in the organisation.

Main results, benefits and impacts

One of the results we expect and see from the first meetings: Regional and local policy makers include eAccessibility in their procurement rules and political choices. They also influence neighbours to do the same and compare the results.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Visit local policy makers close to where they live. It is sometimes difficult to reach them. They are not always willing to go to national meetings and it is difficult to get them all in one place at the same time. Visiting them close to home increases the audience and their enthousiasm significantly. Lesson 2 - eAccessibility is not something you just do by building an accessible website or organising an accessibility event for the people in your organisation. There is more to it than meets the eye. The complete organisation, methods and thinking has to change. Lesson 3 - When adressing local policy makers, time is limited. They want the full solution indication within 90 minutes. Scope: National, Regional (sub-national)