[Brussels, 11 December 2017] On the invitation of the All-China Women’s Federation, Annelies Pierrot Bults, EWL Executive member, Ludovica Bottarelli, Board member from Italy and Mary Collins, EWL Secretariat, attended the Second China-EU Symposium on Gender Equality under HPPD in Shanghai on 14-15 November 2017.
Boosting Employment and Entrepreneurship of Young Women and Work Life Balance were the two themes around which Chinese experts and the EWL discussed similarities on both sides with regards to the barriers that women face in accessing finance, juggling family and professional responsibilities, deep seated stereotypes on the roles and expectations of women and shifting cultural mind sets to engage men in caring responsibilities.
Welcome to the EWL in China
As part of the mission, the EWL delegation visited a number of Shanghai based initiatives providing support to women and young people to boost their digital skills and start-ups to equip them in a rapidly changing Chinese society. Lifting millions of women and men out of poverty, particularly in rural areas, remains a priority in China and these initiatives are part of that global vision. Support services for women professionals, including support networks and relaxation groups are provided free to women in different districts of Shanghai. These certainly provided inspiration for potential exchange programmes, including in the framework of Erasmus + regarding digital skills, between women and youth organisations in the EU and China.
The EU-China High Level People-to-People Dialogue (HPPD) started in 2012 to provide regular policy dialogues at government level. The HPPD has three pillars: High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue, High Level Strategic Dialogue and People-to-People Dialogue. Gender equality became a structural part of the latter in 2015, when the EWL held a seminar with the All-China Women’s Federation in Brussels.
As the head of the EWL delegation, Annelies Pierrot Bults, stressed the common agenda that women have all over the world, as gender equality is essential to the functioning of societies. Not one single country in the world has achieved gender equality. Read her keynote speech.
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Accessibility Statement
womenlobby.org
4 April 2025
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
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To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
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This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
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If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
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alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
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To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
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Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
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Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
