Transcript ITU accessibility Rappoteurs report Bamako, Mali 13th -15th October 2009 Opening ceremony • • Video Opening welcome speech by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary General Dr.

ITU accessibility
Rappoteurs report
Bamako, Mali 13th -15th October 2009
Opening ceremony
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Video Opening welcome speech by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Secretary
General Dr. Hamadoun Toure
In the presence of
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Minister of Communications and New Technologies, Government of Mali Madame Diarra Mariam Flalie
Diallo,
The Minister of Social Development, Solidarity and Aged, Government of Mali
Dr. Choguel Kokala Maiga, Director of Committee of Regulation of Telecommunications (CRT), Gov’t of mali
ITU-T Director, Mr. Malcolm Johnson,
Andrea Saks, Convener, ITU-T Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors, JCA-HF,
Abdoulaye Dembele, focal point between ITU-D, ITU-T and JCA-HF for persons with disabilities.
Introductions made by Mr. Oumar Sangho, Journalist in Mali
The issues highlighted at the opening ceremony included:–
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Commitment of Mali government to ICTs accessibility issues
Event part of the 15th edition of celebrations of the month of solidarity for elderly and persons with
disabilities in Mali;
Accessibility means autonomy and independence for Persons with disabilities including women and children
ITU’s commitment and initiative in Bridging the digital divide in developing countries
ICTs help equalise skills
Importance of the principles of universal design in standardisation work
Importance of Adoption of UN convention on rights of Persons with disabilities by UN assembly;
Session 1:Introduction to Accessibility; role
of ITU and international organisations
• ITU-T accessibility activities- Importance of International standards with
accessibility features
– Existing standards such as V.18, Accessibility check lists, IPTV with accessibility
features,
– New standards coming; H.325 and relay services for the deaf
– World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) 08 Resolution
70
– standards are voluntary, good business to include all accessibility features at
the early stage of design and development: universal design
– Importance of standards by enabling interoperability; example of the text
phones for deaf people that were not compatible country to country
– Disability communications should be regarded in the same way as rural
communications with industry using revenue populations to subside
– Technology and innovation often ahead of regulation
– New technology can create barriers; different techniques used in different
countries without standards and without universal design
Session 1:ITU accessibility activities
• ITU-D Special initiative for persons with
disabilities; Role is knowledge dissemination in
partnership with member states,
• Active participation of member states critical;
feedback needed on tools developed
• Activities include;
– ICT pilot projects for persons with disabilities in
Zambia, Senegal, Burkinafaso, Mali, Malawi
– New study areas to be tabled at next World
Telecommunications Development Conference(WTDC)
Session1: ITU accessibility activities
• Political will, ITU decisions or interventions and
regulatory measures essential in addressing
accessible ICTs
• Important for persons with disabilities to be
actors and not spectators
• Fellowships available for participation
• Important to involve universities and R&D
institutions
• Special office created within TSB to implement
WTSA -08 Resolution 70
Issues arising from session 1
• Accessibility for persons with hearing impairments
– Differences in sign language across countries and regions
– Real time text is important in addressing accessibility of ICTs for persons with
disabilities, the elderly and in emergency communications
– Relay services such as video text and voice should be available for deaf people
or people who cannot speak
• persons with disabilities concerns and needs
– Problem is not disability but access to technology
– persons with disabilities want to use ICTs like other people
– Need for training of persons with disabilities to be able to use these
technologies with the tools that they need
• Partnership between telecom companies and member states through
Ministries is important
Session 2:UN convention of Rights of
persons with disabilities and best
practices
for
ICTs
• Presentations by experts;
• Importance of UN convention and articles related to
accessible ICTs; Legally binding
– Digital accessibility new basic right
– Rights related to ICT accessibility now equivalent to rights to
access buildings and transport
– Importance of national laws and focal point for implementation
of UN convention accessibility ICTs provisions
– G3ict tool kit as addressing knowledge and capability building
for policy makers
• Advisory Work of IGF and DCAD and opportunity for
participation by ICT experts, persons with disabilities
experts and expert organizations
Session 2; technology and disability
• Research in latin America on technology and disability
by University of Washington, Seattle WA
– under reporting during census
– Discrimination and stigmatism
– Technology is a small piece of the problem. Other
problems are social, policy and non technology options
such as accessible spaces, the availability of sign language
and captioning need to be addressed
– In some instances assistive devices are not used
– Social networks, advocacy groups are important and grass
root approach is valuable
– persons with disabilities should be involved at design stage
instead of testing stage only
Issues arising out of session 2
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Participation
– Interest by participants to contribute to work of IGF and DCAD; ITU experts may be contacted
with details
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Research and statistics
– Similar research to that done in Latin America should be carried out but ensuring local
capacity building
– Census and survey questions are critical in getting right statistics on persons with disabilities
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Advocacy and lobby
– Need for find approaches to that suit local situation to advocate for rights of persons with
disabilities including radical approaches; well organised and lobby activists important
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Needs of persons with motor disabilities
– Education and capacity building needed for persons with motor disabilites to be able to utilize
existing technologies and to participate in various initiatives
– User friendly technology for persons with motor disabilities; Friendly technologies(open
source software applications in addition to international standards) to persons with disabilities
due to leprosy exist, head movement tech. options etc
Session 3: Assistive Technologies for
persons with disabilities
• Case studies of AT deployed and used by persons with disabilities by
experts
– Demo by Qualilife
• AT developed to enable person with severe motor disabilities to communicate using
standard technologies; head movement being used to control computer; voice and video
calls made over the internet
• Took 5 years to develop software; No need to reinvent the wheel. This can be avoided by
ensuring accessibility features are included at beginning of product cycle
– Research Center for Advanced Science and Technologies initiatives
• Concept; device and activity accessibility
• Focus on difficulty instead of disability; recording device can cover all disabilities using
mainstream technologies; mobile phones etc
• Text instructions better than oral instructions for Austic boy
• Use of mobile phones as a tool in special education
• Text book on how mobile phones can be used for persons with disabilities
• Existing technologies such as Windows OS (supports text to speech engine) already have
accessibility features
• Need for training and information on existing technologies and accessibility features can
be explored
• Development of minority language screen readers project for Nepal
Issues arising out of session 3
• Existing technologies and Assistive technologies
– Assistive technologies have been developed to help persons with
disabilities access ICTs, work along side existing technologies
– Important to have accessibility features at early stage of production of
technology
– Existing technologies can be used as AT; as some of the technologies
already have accessibility features
• Training and information on available technologies and accessibility
features important
• Language diversity in accessible ICTs needs to be addressed
• Involvement of persons with disabilities in technology development
– Important to work with persons with disabilities in designing assistive
technologies
Session 4:Social and economic issues
• Factual Information on needs of mentally challenged
persons limited ;
– mentally challenged persons usually not included in
discussions on persons with disabilities
– Brain development different and need patience
– Best people to train are mothers because they are
inherently looking for solutions for their children
– Requirements of children with autism; facts, reduce
sensory load, reduce content to essential information
• Problem is not hardware but the software-SKID
software with different modules developed for use by
children with Autism
Session 4:social and economic issues
• Concept of accessibility as a pyramid
– AT or user software at the top; screen readers
– Applications in the middle; email, word processors
– Fundamental standards-file, communications and interface
protocols
• Proprietary exclusion: Case study of email application being
accessible and not instant messaging
• Strengths and weaknesses of govt, private companies and
civil society in addressing accessibility of ICTs
• Low cost internet access for persons with disabilities critical
because of need for scalability, continuity of availability of
technology or solution, affordability issues
Issues arising from session 4
• Training needed for persons handling children mentally challenged;
with autism, mothers best to train
• Women with persons with disabilities face greater challenges
related to accessing ICTs;99% of women with persons with
disabilities in developing countries. Women are often excluded
from education and this compounds the problem
• Important to have open protocols, international standards and
open source within the concept of accessibility pyramid;
• Solutions that are large scale, can be replicated and adapted to local
situations is critical
• Balance between proprietary standards and open standards
• There is no need to regulate every facet of accessibility features
focus should be on file, compatible accessible communications and
international standards with implemented accessibility features
Session 5: Issues regarding e-health,
e-education and employment
• Case studies of e-health technological
solutions deployed by Qualilife in hospitals
and rural communities; voice recognition,
touch screens etc. The impact is improved
health care and satisfaction by patient
– Challenge of appreciation and use of ICTs by
health experts
– Capacity building for medical experts needed
– Localization of solutions important
Session5:
• Education and employment challenge for persons with
disabilities; no single factor can be applied because
includes a series of many issues
• Better to equip persons with disabilities to develop their
own technologies; project on teaching blind programming
• Multisectoral approach/strategy needed;
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Labor laws and tax incentives
Community based health care
Shareable training materials
Opportunities for persons with disabilities to work through
internships
– Technological options that can be controlled and are free and
open source are desirable
Session 6:Sharing best practices for
e-accessibility and ICTs
• Case study from burkinafaso and Mali
– Burkinafaso
• Training centre(AVH and ITU) in adapted computer science
to promote professionalism for the blind; equipment like
screen readers, scanners and Braille printers
• 13 trained, 10 completed so far
• Centre used by neighboring countries
• Participation in ICT exhibition by blind persons to
demonstrate professionalism
– Mali; training centre funded by UNESCO Norway, role
of gov’t, association of persons with disabilities and
M&E important
Session 6: sharing best practices for eaccessibility and ICTs
• Kyrgyzstan; Goal to develop Human Capacity and
potential of each country;
– Digital TV project for children with various needs
(education, remote areas, discrimination and
disabilities, women being kept at home, children
working during the day.)-user interfaces; keyboard,
setup box, TV set
– ITU in collaboration with Ministry of ICT and DIMTV;
application of latest technology
– Set up box software compatible with LINUX or open
source
• Accessibility tool kit for policy makers
Session 6: issues arising
• Training centre common practice within region
– Need to train staff in use and maintenance of computer
equipment
– Need for continued research in applicable technologies
• Need for policy advocacy on issues of standardisation
of products and software
• Need to assess and review impact of such workshops
especially regarding knowledge and information
dissemination
• Projects funded by ITU or UN agencies
• Issues of affordability and scalability for advanced
technology projects such as digital TV
Session 7:Experiences and challenges
in promoting accessible ICTs
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Panel discussion; Uganda, Mali, Zambia, Gambia, Senegal, Burkinafaso, DRC Congo
Issues arising
– Some countries yet to ratify UN convention on rights of persons with disabilities
– Projects on ICT accessibility for persons with disabilities implemented with support of ITU-D as
pilot projects;
– Explore use of Universal access funds for sustainability, ITU funding limited
– Political will important in advancing the needs of persons with disabilities related to persons
with disabilities
– Key stakeholders involved; education, social development and ICT and regulators, associations
for persons with disabilities
– Role of telecommunications companies needs to be emphasized
– persons with disabilities should be mainstreamed and not necessarily having special initiatives
in seclusion
– Workshop good platform for knowledge sharing and learning
– Avenues available for participation in work of ITU and DCAD and IGF
– Exploring increased funding from ITU council for Accessibility projects for developing
countries
Session 8: Issuing regarding Training
session on ITU toolkit for policy makers
• Raku Raku story; Docomo project
• Market need for elderly and persons with disabilities- increase in
penetration over 5 year period
• Statistics from census /surveys
– Disparity in results due to nature of questions asked during
survey,
– Ask questions on what people can do, capacity to
participate in activities and not the disease or disability;,
• South Africa and Tanzania applied activity based methods in
collecting stats as recommended by UN.
• Important to have reliable statistics; Apply UN recommendations for
best methods of collecting statistics but applied to your local situation
Session 8: Issuing regarding Training
session on ITU toolkit for policy makers
• Business; case study of window users in US who use accessibility
features
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Good for marketing and competitiveness
Basic need to understand needs of population including need of persons with
disabilities and therefore should be addressed
• Role of disabled people in policy making
– Participation of disabled people basic principle of convention and
critical
– Important to fund associations of persons with disabilities in order to
effectively participate
– Businesses should not view support for persons with disabilities as
charity but as basic need and right
Examples of initiatives; online book project by persons with disabilities
for persons with disabilities; book share.org, Tiflo-Libros, AT&T has
special council of persons with disabilities contributing to product
development within the company
Session 8: Issuing regarding Training
session on ITU toolkit for policy makers
• Setting priorities;
– many government institutions concerned due to the
diversity of issues concerned; ICT, socio economic issues,
human rights etc
• Ownership of programs; at minimum have good
coordination at ministerial level; that is inter ministerial
coordination
• Standards important to effectively used limited
resources
– Regulatory authorities because of understanding of
standardization good position to play a big role in setting
priorities
Session 8: Issuing regarding Training
session on ITU toolkit for policy makers
• Policy implementation tools; awareness,
voluntary charters, legislation and regulation,
public procurement;
– Legislative/regulation approach necessary sometimes
for businesses to implement accessibility features
– Public procurement –
• Government should not spend tax payers' money on
projects, products and services that are not accessible;
• Imposing procurement of accessible products increases level
of production of accessible products and skills of eaccessibility
Session 8: Issuing regarding Training
session on ITU toolkit for policy makers
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Funding;
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inclusion of accessibility features can be at no cost but in some instances additional costs are incurred
The avenues of funding; Government budgets, Universal Access and Disability funds, Civil society
Operators can agree on specific requirements ; no technical obstacle for using mobile devices with
accessible features
Persons with disabilities need to be involved in determining accessibility criteria. Consultative
advisory committees can be instituted to address needs of persons with disabilities
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There are a number of criteria and case studies of implementation of accessibility features for
wireless services, TV broadcasting , e-government websites, community centres that can be
adapted for local situations
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Different regulators for broadcasting and telecommunications sectors, presents challenge in
implementing cross cutting ICT accessibility features; Regulators should share knowledge of criteria
of digital accessibility applicable to their situations at regional level
Policies country per country and level of implementation of UN convention to be included on the
tool Kit
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Session 8:Conclusions
• Good statistics important to develop good
policies
• Participation of persons with disabilities in all
processes for policy making important; nothing
about us without us
• Proper funding for organizations for persons with
disabilities important
• Each country to set priorities related to making
ICTs accessible in line with basic criteria for
implementation of accessible ICTs
Session 8: Conclusions
• Policies should be inclusive for successful
implementation
• Tools to be used in implementing accessible
ICTs; easiest tool change of behaviour
• Programs to implement should be agreed by
all stakeholders
• Collaboration and partnerships key in
addressing accessible ICTs