The culture minister, Ángeles González-Sinde, met today at the Ministry with representatives of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (CERMI), which brings together nearly 5,000 institutions and associations of disabled persons and accounts for 9 per cent of the population.
The meeting was conducted under the consultation process that the Ministry of Culture is holding with organizations representing Internet users, consumers of cultural goods and services. The disabled are precisely one of the groups that use networks most, but are often impaired by their right to access goods and services, including cultural.
At the meeting, both sides have agreed on the need to expand the existing legal framework on access to all legal and valid cultural property, especially in the Internet.
In this field it is crucial that the contents of different websites and audiovisual works are accessible and use existing resources such as subtitles, sign language and audio descriptions. They have also agreed that it is a very good use of cultural works to increase the visibility of people with disabilities.
Finally, it became clear with reference to the status of disabled people not only as consumers and customers of cultural industries, that they are also very interested in having access, legal rights and insurance as authors and creators of cultural copntent, to the same extent as other citizens.
The meeting was conducted under the consultation process that the Ministry of Culture is holding with organizations representing Internet users, consumers of cultural goods and services. The disabled are precisely one of the groups that use networks most, but are often impaired by their right to access goods and services, including cultural.
At the meeting, both sides have agreed on the need to expand the existing legal framework on access to all legal and valid cultural property, especially in the Internet.
In this field it is crucial that the contents of different websites and audiovisual works are accessible and use existing resources such as subtitles, sign language and audio descriptions. They have also agreed that it is a very good use of cultural works to increase the visibility of people with disabilities.
Finally, it became clear with reference to the status of disabled people not only as consumers and customers of cultural industries, that they are also very interested in having access, legal rights and insurance as authors and creators of cultural copntent, to the same extent as other citizens.
Original press release in Spanish