Skopje, 14 March 2024 – Yesterday, a public presentation was held of the Draft-Rulebook on Media Services Accessibility, prepared under the project for “Protecting Freedom of Expression and of the Media in North Macedonia (PRO- FREX)” in the premises of Europe House, in Skopje.
In his opening address, Director of the Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services Zoran Trajchevski underlined that the drafting of the act had resulted from the amendments and supplements to the Law on Audio and Audiovisual Media Services of July 2023, which ensure mandatory accessibility to media services for persons with disabilities. “Persons with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive impairments, the elderly, the injured persons, come across obstacles on a daily basis, not only in the physical, but also in the digital world, as well as in the use of media content. We expect this Rulebook to contribute to overcoming some of the obstacles, and we shall remain actively committed to this goal in the future as well,” stressed Trajchevski.
Ms Deirdre Kevin, Council of Europe Consultant with whose help the AAAVMS had prepared the text for the Draft Rulebook, spoke at the event about implementing the obligations arising from the EU regulations, highlighting the experiences and practices of the EU countries in terms of providing content adapted to persons with hearing and vision impairments on the part of the providers of audio and audiovisual media services.
At the presentation of the Draft-Rulebook, Sasho Bogdanovski, MA, Head of the Human Rights and Media Literacy Unit at the AAAVMS, pointed out, among other things, the obligations that the radio and television stations and the on-demand media services should meet, and explained how the Agency could be contacted electronically regarding issues related to the media services accessibility.
A public debate has been opened concerning the text of the Draft Rulebook, which shall last until 10 June 2024. All interested parties may submit their viewpoints and proposals for improving the document in writing to the following e-mail address: contact@avmu.mk.