The hurdles faced by disabled citizens every day are not just infrastructure-related. Despite the disabled being the most frequent users of media, just 5% of websites in Europe are accessible to the blind and an even smaller proportion of TV programmes are deaf-friendly.

The Commission is currently studying new measures to establish industrial standards which should pave the way to easier access to new technologies with high potential spin-offs. The measures are being introduced in the face of what some describe as a "failure of the market" to guarantee accessibility.