On 6 February, Professor Vanholder was invited to share the rationale for the Network Organ Donation and Transplantation, as well as intended outputs. The key points and research areas the Joint statement will include are: (1) Clustering of countries for implementation of strategic plans, depending on their strengths/weaknesses (one-size fits...
2019 presents exciting new opportunities. In late January, the EKHA Management Committee came together to prepare EHA’s initiatives for the upcoming year. In compliment to this year’s focus on Organ Donation and Transplantation (cluster 3 of our Recommendations for Sustainable Kidney Care), EKHA is leading a Thematic Network on...
Following on the theme and outcomes of the 2018 Kidney Forum, EKHA Chair, Prof Vanholder et al. have authored an article that examines the current status of kidney transplantation in Europe and offers recommendations for the improvement of transplantation rates. While considerable efforts have been made, evidence presented in this study illustrates the significant...
On 3 December the European Council announced its position on the regulation on Horizon Europe. The Horizon Europe package is expected to strengthen the EU's scientific and technological base in order to help tackle the major global challenges and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The programme will be based...
On 28 November The Lancet released its Countdown report, which tracks progress on health and climate change, providing an independent, global scanning of the health dimensions impacted climate change. The report details how present day heat waves threaten both lives and the viability of the national health systems, with the potential...
On 28 November the States of Guernsey voted to introduce an opt-out organ donation system. Adoption of an opt-out system follows on the trend sweeping the UK, with Wales introducing the "deemed consent" model in 2015, followed by Scotland where its government published the Human Tissue Bill in June of...
On 19–21 November, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus participated in a series of meetings with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other senior European Commission officials. Cooperation between the Commission and WHO, in the fields of antimicrobial resistance, strengthening health systems and preparedness for outbreaks of communicable diseases in developing...
On 22 November, a diverse group of EU lawmakers, NGOs, trade associations, and private companies beyond the health sector launched a new coalition during an event hosted by Belgian liberal MEP Lieve Wierinck in the European Parliament in Brussels. They call for a new Commission Vice-President who would be responsible for...
We are proud to announce that the European Kidney Health Alliance’s proposal to bring together stakeholders to advance the work of improving Organ Donation and Transplantation in the EU was selected by the European Commission as one of three Thematic Networks for 2019. The thematic network will bring together a broad...
As illustrated by priority being given to “open research” and “open innovations” in the European Commission new EU Research Framework Programme, “Horizon Europe” aims to ensure effective cooperation between science and society and pairing scientific excellence with social awareness and responsibility. With a proposed total budget of 100 Billion euros, Horizon...
European Kidney Health Alliance
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, regardless of circumstance and ability.
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 to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
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 disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
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
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, 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; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. 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 as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
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.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
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 via contact form.
