100 points to know about...
Digital accessibility

We are coming to the end of this module on web accessibility.
Perhaps you are wondering about the link between the issue of web accessibility and the issue of eco-design of digital applications and services.

The CSR aproach

These topics both concern digital responsibility and more broadly corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSR).
In 2001, the European Union defined CSR as "a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis".
In other words, we choose to put people and the planet first by reflecting values in several key areas:

• Environment
• Ethical labor practices
• Philantropy
• Diversity and inclusion
• Global enrichment.

As digital technology becomes more and more important in the activities of organizations, the CSR approach naturally impacts all practices related to digital technology and the web.

Legal requirements

As we have seen earlier in this module (notion 9 in lesson 2), laws concerning web accessibility have been in place for several years.
As far as the environmental footprint of digital technology is concerned, these issues are more recent but legislative steps are underway.
For example, a first law aiming at reducing the environmental footprint of digital technology in France was enacted on November 15, 2021.

To sum up, adopting a global responsible digital approach is today a moral duty for all the actors of the society, which tends to become more and more a legal obligation to which it will be necessary to conform in the years to come.

As for the implementation of an accessible web, the design phase of a website or a digital application is crucial to limit its impact on the environment. Responsible digital practices must be thought upstream and in a global way. Fortunately, the main principles of accessible design and eco-design converge on many points.