e-Accessibility Toolkit for Policy Makers
Online Toolkit on e-Accessibility & Service Needs for Persons with Disabilities - A Joint ITU/G3ict Initiative
The Toolkit is made possible thanks to voluntary contributions by a faculty of multiple stakeholders.
TOOLKIT EDITORIAL TEAM
• Dónal Rice, NDA/CEUD, NUI-Galway (Editorial Coordinator)
• Asenath Mpatwa, ITU-D
• Ambassador Luis Gallegos, G3ict
• Axel Leblois, G3ict
• Clara Luz Alvarez
• Tamas Babinszki, Even Grounds
• Kevin Carey, RNIB/World Blind Union
• Anne-Rivers Forcke, IBM Corporation
• Rune Halvorsen, NOVA
• Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, European Commission
• Felicity Rawlins, IBM Corporation
• Andrea Saks, ITU
• Licia Sbattella, Politecnico di Milano
• Susan Schorr, ITU
• Andi Snow-Weaver, IBM Corporation
• James Thurston, Microsoft
• Cynthia Waddell, International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)
CONTRIBUTORS
• J. E. Baker, L. McArthur, J. Silva, Jutta Treviranus, Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto
• David Baylor, WBU
• Hardik Bhatt and Karen Tamley, City of Chicago
• Fernando Botelho, Literacy Bridge & Mais Diferenças
• Gerald Craddock, NDA/CEUD, Ireland
• Bob English, TecAccess
• Jonathan Freeman, WGBH
• Angela Garabagiu, Council of Europe
• Larry Goldberg, WGBH
• Bill Joley, International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)
• Mike Jones, Wireless RERC, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Hiroshi Kawamura, DAISY Consortium
• Ben Lippincott, Wireless RERC, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Mark Magennis, National Council for the Blind of Ireland - NCBI Centre for Inclusive Technologies (CFIT)
• Mike Paciello, The Paciello Group
• Helen Petrie, University of York
• David Sloan, University of Dundee
• Mike Starling, WBU
• Gregg Vanderheiden, University of Winsconsin-Madison
• Carlos Velasco, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technologies (FIT)
• Cynthia Waddell, International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)
• Chuck Wilsker, Telework Coalition
• Gottfried Zimmermann, Access Technologies
WHY A TOOLKIT?
Digital Accessibility is a key mandate of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Whereas the Convention mandates desired outcomes, it does not prescribe specific digital accessibility solutions or references. The Toolkit is therefore designed to:
- Support States parties to the Convention in identifying the requirements of Article 9 of the Convention and analyzing local gaps in digital accessibility programs and policies.
- Provide a framework for the development of policies and strategies for mainstreaming digital accessibility at national, regional and international levels.
- Serve as a global electronic repository of policies, international standards, good practices and technical references on digital accessibility.
- Facilitate the design of effective policy frameworks responding to the needs of e-inclusiveness principles covering Communication, Information & Services.
- Promote accessible and assistive ICT applications by fostering public-private cooperation in order to expand ICT usage by persons with disabilities.
- Provide specific guidance to adequately address key issues of particular relevance to developing country environments.
The Toolkit was announced jointly by G3ict and ITU on April 21, 2008 (see communiqué on Goals and Objectives here).
- UN Convention
- Who benefits?
- e-accessibility basics
- Technical resources
- Product development and design
- Procurement policies
- Promoting assistive technologies
- International cooperation
- Local government
- Developing policies (in cooperation with ITU-D for Study Group 1, Question 20)
METHODOLOGY
The Toolkit is developed for an audience of policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders active in disability issues including NGOs and parliamentarians depending on country specifics. Its framework, usability, contents and references is therefore tailored to this audience:
- The Toolkit's contents will be posted on a dedicated Web site, easy to update and to translate into practical and effective measures at the local level.
- It offers cross-reference technical solutions with application areas in order to match common structures of government agencies and facilitate policy making among them.
- It is solely based on existing proven good practices. Case studies with references are attached to each section and include both best practices as well as failed ones to serve as pitfalls to be avoided.
- It includes a checklist of the various items in the Convention for stakeholders to know which ones were mandatory (shall/must) and which ones were voluntary.
About ITU-D
The Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) is ITU's development arm. Its primary mission is to support its Member States to promote and extend ICT access and services to all its inhabitants particularly developing countries.
To achieve this objective, ITU-D develops Tools and Guidelines in collaboration with member states, industry and other interested stakeholders to support its technical cooperation activities and projects. These activities include ICT access centres/multi purpose community telecentres, capacity building for development of relevant policies and regulation including mobilization of resources for network development and related activities.
The ultimate goal of this catalytic role is to achieve ICTs 4 ALL and to ensure that the benefits of ICTs are deployed to improve living conditions of all the world's inhabitants including persons with disabilities.
About G3ict
G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information Communication Technologies is a flagship advocacy initiative of the UN-GAID, the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Initiated in Atlanta in December 2006 as a global support center for policy makers, G3ict is dedicated to facilitating the implementation around the world of the Digital Accessibility Agenda, defined by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, through on-line resources, educational seminars, toolkits, benchmarking and self-assessment tools for governments.