Transcript Information accessibility

BSIM0005
Information society issues
Information accessibility
Class 7
22 March, 2007
Peter Sidorko
[email protected]
Outline
1. Reviewing importance of information
2. Defining “accessibility”
3. Accessibility inequality
–
Digital divide
4. Limitations to accessibility
a. Disability
b. Economics
Infrastructure access, connectivity, etc
c. Literacy, information literacy, ICT literacy
d. Politics
Censorship
5. Libraries and accessibility
6. PAPA wrap up
1 Importance of information
Previously:
Importance of information:
organisationally
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Strategic planning
– Environmental scanning
– SWOT analysis
• Resource allocation
• Competitive advantage
• Outcome measurement
Previously:
Importance of information: individually
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Finance
Health
Career
Education
Entertainment
Travel
Lifestyle
Romance?
Importance of information: socially
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Improved work-life
Improved social life, entertainment etc
Better education
Greater social justice and equality
Greater empowerment
Democracy
2 Defining “accessibility”
Access to information as property
Control (private)
Access (public)
• Protect publishers’
interests (economic)
• Protect authors’ interests
(economic rights)
• Protect authors’ moral
(reputation) rights
• Proper control and
compensation will
encourage others
• Enhance access to new
knowledge
• New knowledge is built
upon old
• Publicly funded research
for the public
• Contributes to an
information society
• Narrows gap between
haves and have nots
• Value of IP lies in usage
and dissemination.
More information than ever before…
• On an average weekday the New York
Times contains more information than
any contemporary of Shakespeare's
would have acquired in a lifetime
—ANONYMOUS (and ubiquitous)
More books…
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
e.g, U.S. Book Production
1993
104,124
1995
113,589
1999
119,357
2000
122,108
2001
141,703
2002
147,120
2003
171,061
2004
190,078
2005
149,859
• http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire/decadebookproduction.html
More web sites…
• 108,810,358 distinct web sites with an
estimated 29.7 billion (that’s
29,700,000,000) pages on the World
Wide Web as of February 2007 http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/misc/sizeofweb.html
WWW Growth
More access…
But accessibility?
• The ease with which a person may enter a
library, gain access to its online systems, use its
resources, and obtain needed information
regardless of format. In a more general sense,
the quality of being able to be located and used
by a person. In the Web environment, the quality
of being usable by everyone regardless of
disability. See the Web Accessibility Initiative
(WAI).
– ODLIS http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm
3 Accessibility inequality:
The digital divide
• Information is a commodity, property
• Its value lies in its usage – ie the
frequency of use and the way it is used
• Control of access to information
(physically, financially or politically) denies
the full potential value of that information.
• Similarly, control of access to information
creates an “information rich” and an
“information poor” – those who “have” and
those who “have not”
• "When I took office, only high energy
physicists had ever heard of what is called
the World Wide Web ... Now even my cat
has it's own page."
– Bill Clinton, 1996
• “Everyone, everywhere should be enabled
to participate in and no one should
excluded from the benefits of the global
information society“
– Okinawa Charter on Global Information
Society G8 Summit 2000, Okinawa (Japan)
http://lacnet.unicttaskforce.org/Docs/Dot%20Force/Okinawa%20Charter%20on%
20Global%20Information%20Society.pdf
• The Digital Divide, or the digital split, is a
social issue referring to the differing
amount of information between those who
have access to the Internet (specially
broadband access) and those who do not
have access.
• Not one single gap – degrees of divide
(lower quality connections, price
variations, technical assistance,
affordability) etc
Digital divide in Hong Kong
• “As digital technologies become firmly
embedded in our daily affairs, they enable ITempowered people to lead more productive and
rewarding lives. At the same time, those who do
not have IT skills and knowledge or have fewer
opportunities to use IT become less and less
capable of participating in the economy of a
society that is increasingly technology
dependent.”
• Building a Digitally Inclusive Society
http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/digitaldivide/summary.ht
ml
4 Limitations to accessibility:
(a) Disability
• Accessibility problems concern specifically
Persons with disabilities and older People,
but also anybody in specific environmental
or social situations.
– http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/
accessibility/index_en.htm
In Hong Kong
• ICT creates the opportunity for the disabled to
achieve parity and independence in more areas
of their lives. There is a need to develop easy-touse tools and technologies to assist disabled
people. They also require support in acquiring
affordable assistive tools, such as screen
readers.
• Digital 21 Strategy (2006)
http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/strategy_consultation/D21Consu
ltationPaper(E).pdf
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
• “develops strategies, guidelines, and
resources to help make the Web
accessible to people with disabilities”
• Web accessibility means that people with
disabilities can perceive, understand,
navigate, and interact with the Web, and
that they can contribute to the Web.
• Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI/
• Web accessibility also benefits people
without disabilities:
– Those with a slow Internet connection
– people with "temporary disabilities" such as a
broken arm, and
– people with changing abilities due to aging
Making web sites accessible
1. Provide text equivalent for audio and visual contents
2. Ensure that contents can be easily accessed even
without the use of colour
3. Identify clearly changes in languages used and make
contents simple and easy to understand
4. Structure tables so that they can be read easily and for
complex tables, suitable markup or a linear
representation would greatly increase the accessibility
5. Avoid the use of flickering and blinking contents
6. Avoid the use of pop up windows or other windows
without telling the user
7. Avoid the use of complicated frames
8. Provide clear and consistent navigation mechanism
– http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/knowledge/access_tips.html
4 Limitations to accessibility:
(b) Economics
http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm
Population
Population
Internet Usage,
% Population
Usage
(Penetration)
% of
World
World
Regions
(2007 Est.)
% of World
Latest Data
933,448,292
14.20%
33,334,800
3.60%
3.00%
3,712,527,624
56.50%
398,709,065
10.70%
35.80%
Europe
809,624,686
12.30%
314,792,225
38.90%
28.30%
Middle
East
193,452,727
2.90%
19,424,700
10.00%
1.70%
North
America
334,538,018
5.10%
233,188,086
69.70%
20.90%
Latin
America/Ca
ribbean
556,606,627
8.50%
96,386,009
17.30%
8.70%
34,468,443
0.50%
18,439,541
53.50%
1.70%
6,574,666,417
100.00%
1,114,274,426
16.90%
100.00%
Africa
Asia
Oceania /
Australia
WORLD
TOTAL
Top 10 Internet penetration
http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm
#
Country or
Region
(% Pop)
Internet
Users
Population
(2005 est)
1
Sweden
73.60%
6,656,733
9,043,990
2
Hong Kong
70.70%
4,878,713
6,898,686
3
Denmark
68.70%
3,720,000
5,411,596
4
United States
68.50% 202,888,307
296,208,476
5
Norway
68.20%
3,140,000
4,606,363
6
Australia
67.20%
13,784,966
20,507,264
8
Netherlands
66.20%
10,806,328
16,322,583
7
Iceland
67.10%
198,000
294,947
10
Canada
63.80%
20,450,000
32,050,369
10
Korea, South
63.30%
31,600,000
49,929,293
TOP TEN Countries
68.00% 271,283,058
398,796,375
Rest of the World
11.10% 667,427,871
6,021,306,347
Total World Penetration
14.60% 938,710,929
6,420,102,722
A mobile Internet cafe in Uttar Pradesh, India.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,druck-419034,00.html
4 Limitations to accessibility:
(c) Literacy
• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st
century unable to read a book or sign their
names
• The State of the World’s Children 1999, UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/index.html
Literacy
• The ability to read and write with a minimal level
of proficiency. Illiteracy is the inability to read
and write. The literacy rate of a nation or other
geographic area is usually expressed as the
percentage of its adult citizens who know how to
read and write. In the United States, adult
literacy programs have been available for many
years, and public libraries have been heavily
involved in promoting literacy.
– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_l.cfm
Computer literacy
• The skills required to retrieve information
efficiently and communicate effectively using
computer hardware and software, based on a
conceptual understanding of computer
technology and how it can be used to
accomplish specific tasks, including an
awareness of its inherent limitations, as well as
its advantages. Because hardware and software
are progressively upgraded, an ongoing effort is
required of the user to remain computer literate.
– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm
Information literacy (IL)
• Skill in finding the information one needs, including
an understanding of how libraries are organized,
familiarity with the resources they provide (including
information formats and automated search tools),
and knowledge of commonly used research
techniques. The concept also includes the skills
required to critically evaluate information content
and employ it effectively, as well as an
understanding of the technological infrastructure on
which information transmission is based, including
its social, political, and cultural context and impact.
– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_i.cfm
4 Limitations to accessibility:
(d) Politics
• ''We are witnessing a historic transformation of
the traditional modes of power. Power today is
becoming less based on physical and material
parameters (territory, military forces) and more
on factors linked to the capability of storing,
managing, distributing, and creating
information.'‘
• ''recognition is spreading in governments around
the world that the new technologies may
profoundly alter the nature of political power,
sovereignty, and governance.''
• From Scott Crawford & Kekula Bray-Crawford SelfDetermination in the Information Age paper delivered at the
Internet Society 1995 International Networking Conference in
Honolulu on June 29, 1995 http://www.hawaiination.org/sdinfoage.html
Censorship
• Prohibition of the production, distribution,
circulation, or display of a work by a governing
authority on grounds that it contains
objectionable or dangerous material. The person
who decides what is to be prohibited is called a
censor. Commonly used methods include
decree and confiscation, legislation, repressive
taxation, and licensing to grant or restrict the
right to publish.
– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm
Censorship: an enduring concept
• The index of prohibited books, 1564, defined
what books and authors could be read by
Catholics.
• Nazi Germany,
• Stalin's
• Russia,
• Apartheid South Africa,
• and many states today, set up systematic control
of ideas as part of a wider ideological and social
control.
Public interest and censorship
• What interests (such as security and intelligence) must
be kept secret to safeguard national interests?
• What information (government, in particular), if any,
should be kept “secret”?
• Are there areas of government activity where complete
secrecy is essential?
• How would you define ``the public interest'' where
information is concerned?
• Is fear of government accountability merely an emotive
conspiracy theory?
– From Stuart Hannabuss and Mary Allard, Library Review Volume
50 . Number 2 . 2001 . pp. 81-89
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?Filename=ht
ml/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0350500203.pdf
Internet censorship
• Differing views of acceptable content – national
and regional
• Many countries routinely censor Internet sites,
see Internet Censorship Explorer
http://ice.citizenlab.org/
• Eg Australia:
– In March 2006, a spoof site of Australian Prime
Minister John Howard was shut down due to pressure
from the government. The domain registrar
suspended the site after a complaint from the Prime
Minister's office.
5 Libraries and accessibility
Access to libraries
•
•
•
•
•
Physical access
Digital access
Classification schemes
Libraries and collections – censorship?
Collection development – censorship?
IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000
http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf
IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000
http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf
IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000
http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf
Forum Exercise
• What role should libraries play in
improving information accessibility:
– Bridging the digital divide
– Facilitating access for those with a disability
– Economics, infrastructure access,
connectivity, etc
– Literacy, information literacy, ICT literacy
– Politics, censorship
• ??????????????????????????????????
6 PAPA* wrap up
Privacy, Accuracy, Property,
Accessibility
*Mason, R. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age,
MISQ 10(1), March 1986, 5-12
http://www.misq.org/archivist/vol/no10/issue1/vol10no1mason.html
Privacy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Privacy and the law
General privacy issues
Privacy and technology
Privacy and libraries
Freedom of information
Accuracy
1. Information accuracy: why is it
important?
2. A growing problem.
3. Changes in publishing and accuracy?
4. Misinformation and disinformation.
5. Accuracy and the Internet.
6. Assessing the accuracy of information.
7. Libraries and information accuracy.
Property
1. Intellectual property and intellectual property
rights (IPR)
2. Copyright
a. Copy rights
b. Moral rights
c. Economic rights
3. Private vs public “property”
a. Google and Microsoft case study
4. Ethical issues for librarians
5. Related issues: Plagiarism, DRM and
accessibility.
References
• Crawford S. & Bray-Crawford, K., Self-Determination in
the Information Age, paper delivered at the Internet
Society 1995 International Networking Conference in
Honolulu on June 29, 1995 http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sdinfoage.html
• European Commission. Europe’s Information Society
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/accessibility/index_en.htm
• Feather, J., The information society : a study of
continuity and change, London : Facet Publishing, 2004,
4th ed. http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b2928491
• Govt HKSAR. Digital 21 Strategy (2006)
http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/strategy_consultation/D21ConsultationPaper(E).p
df
• Govt HKSAR, Building a Digitally Inclusive Society
http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/digitaldivide/summary.html
• Hannabuss, S. & Allard, M. Library Review, Vol. 50, No
2, 2001, pp. 81-89
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?Filename=html/Output/Published/
EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0350500203.pdf
• IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000
http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf
• The Information Accessibility Initiative http://www.okfn.org/iai/
• Internet World Stats http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm
• Mason, R. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information
Age, MISQ 10(1), March 1986, 5-12
http://www.misq.org/archivist/vol/no10/issue1/vol10no1mason.html
• O’Hara, K. & Stevens, D., Inequality.com : power,
poverty and the digital divide Oxford, U.K. : Oneworld,
c2006. http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b3595383
• ODLIS http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm
• Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society, G8
Summit 2000, Okinawa (Japan)
http://lacnet.unicttaskforce.org/Docs/Dot%20Force/Okinawa%20Charter%20on%20G
lobal%20Information%20Society.pdf
• Technology and in/equality : questioning the information
society / edited by Sally Wyatt ... [et al.]. London ; New
York : Routledge, 2000 http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b2204247
• Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI/