Welcome to e-include, the e-journal of Inclusion Europe.

The Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities says how countries should protect the rights of people with disabilities. The European Union and most countries in Europe agreed to the Convention. This means they have to do what the Convention says. There is a website with information on what the countries in Europe do to make sure people with disabilities get their rights according to the Convention.

The Academic Network of European Disability Expertshas created a· disability online tool·of the European Commission·which records laws, policies, strategies and initiatives undertaken by the EU and national governments to comply with the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The online disability tool devised for the EU Commission is easy to use and offers·different possibilities. The information is·divided into records by country and theme. Each record contains a short summary and links to documents and resources from the country in question.

The information collected for this database comes from 34 different countries, comprising members of the European Union,·candidate countries·and other associated countries.

To make classifying and finding information easier, the following eight topics were selected:

1. UN Convention status: Ratification or conclusion of the UN Convention, Ratification or accession to the Optional Protocol, Declarations, Reservations and Objections, Comprehensive review, Focal point, Coordination mechanism, Independent mechanism, Official reporting, Shadow reporting
2. General legal framework: Anti-discrimination legislation, Recognition of legal capacity, Accessibility of voting and elections, Official recognition of sign language
3. Accessibility: Transport accessibility, Built environment accessibility, ICT and Web accessibility
4. Independent living: Choice of living arrangements, De-institutionalisation, Quality of social services, Provision of assistive devices at home, Availability of personal assistance schemes, Income maintenance, Additional costs, Retirement income
5. Education: Special schools, Mainstream schools, Sign language and Braille in school, Vocational training, Higher education
6. Employment:  Non-discrimination in employment, Public employment services, Workplace adaptations, Financial incentives
7. Statistics and data collection: Official research, Census data, Labour Force Survey, Disability equality indicators
8. Awareness and external action

When searching for the information, it is possible to select a specific country, make up a group of countries or select all. It is also possible to search only for a specific themes in the selected countries or more. Once the desired report is created it can be converted into PDF.

For more information and to access the online tool please go to http://www.disability-europe.net/dotcom.