SOCIAL AUDIT OF ACCESSIBILITY AS A FACTOR IN INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF SELECTION IN NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PROJECT COMPETITIONS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of social audit of accessibility technology in the process of selecting projects financed from state and local budgets. The purpose of the study is to analyze the possibilities of using social audit of accessibility technology as a factor in increasing the efficiency of selection in national and regional project competitions.The research methodology includes a complex of general scientific and special scientific (in particular, the project method) methods. The scientific novelty of the work is of the work is determined by the justification of the applicability of social audit of accessibility (as a technology that allows assessing compliance with the principle of inclusion in the functioning of any socio-economic subject) for optimizing the selection in competitions of projects that apply for budget funding. Conclucions. Holding national and regional competitions contributes to increasing the capacity of civil society.The use of this innovative technology is a factor in increasing the level of trust and improving communication in the system "community – local government – state". This technology also contributes to the involvement of civil society representatives and organizations in decision-making processes, protection of the rights of vulnerable categories of the population. There is an obvious need to conduct a social audit of accessibility during such project selections in Ukraine. However, the requirements of these competitions do not provide for such a procedure. However, the analysis of the requirements for the design of competitive projects allows us to make proposals for an expanded interpretation of individual components of such requirements. Such an approach will allow for a basic social audit of accessibility and will contribute to increasing the efficiency of selection in national and regional project competitions. An important aspect of a social audit of accessibility is the analysis of a website's accessibility, which is used to inform all stakeholders of a project, including people with visual and hearing disabilities. It is also important for project authors to obtain a Conclusion on the inclusiveness of buildings and premises in which the project will be implemented (if the project beneficiaries are expected to stay there). Such a conclusion based on an analysis of compliance with state building standards B.2.2-40:2018 "Inclusiveness of buildings and structures" is provided by certified experts.