Skopje, October 28, 2022 – Today, the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services held the workshop “Urgent Accessibility” – the media needs of people with disabilities, as part of the Media Literacy Days 2022. The workshop aimed to help broadcasters and providers of on-demand audiovisual media services more easily cope with the obligations of the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive, according to which they will have to make their programs accessible to people with disabilities.
As the director of AVMU, Dr. Zoran Trajchevski pointed out, “the application of the paradigm of equality and equal participation in society for all social groups, especially rests on the work of the media. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations establishes that member states are obliged to take into account the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with various types of disabilities in all policies and programs and to undertake measures in the areas of economic , social and cultural rights, in accordance with the maximum available means and if necessary, within the framework of international cooperation, to achieve the gradual, complete realization of these rights”.
Sasho Bogdanovski from the Program Department of the Agency, in the role of moderator, discussed the Draft – the self-regulatory document for accessibility to audiovisual media content and indicated the Agency’s activities for ensuring accessibility to the media for people with sensory disabilities.
At the workshop, Kristijan Lazarev – author of the Macedonian reading assistant “Kiko” and project assistant of the “Open the Windows” Association, also spoke, who emphasized the benefits of implementing the “Kiko” reader, as well as the value of providing digital access to information on the web the pages of the media and institutions. Elena Kochoska – program manager for employment and education of persons with disabilities in “Polio Plus” was also a panelist at the event, who pointed out the real problems faced by persons with disabilities and shared her thoughts on how to contribute to overcoming.
The common conclusion of the present representatives of the media, organizations and associations of persons with disabilities is that the media should contribute to the fight against discrimination of persons with disabilities, by providing an equal basis to exercise their right to full and regular information, including accessibility of media content. in a format that is adapted for people with disabilities. At the same time, the media have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the development of human rights, inclusion and promotion of the idea of equality.
A translation into Macedonian sign language was provided by Marija Bashevska at the workshop.
