ITU Workshop on Accessibility/Atelier UIT sur l’accessibilité
Bamako, Mali 13 – 15 October 2009
The Importance of IGF for Scalable
Low-Cost Internet Access for Persons
with Disabilities
Fernando H. F. Botelho,
Director of Product
Development
Literacy Bridge
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
IGF is a response to the WSIS
“A new forum for a multi-stakeholder
dialogue”.
The mandate of the IGF is to discuss
the main public policy issues related
to Internet governance in order to
foster the Internet’s sustainability,
robustness, security, stability and
development.
Source: Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society: http://www.itu.int/wsis
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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IGF's Participants are as Diverse as
Internet Users
Governments, the private sector, civil
society, the academic and technical
communities
as
well
as
intergovernmental organizations are
represented.
The Internet evolved from a platform
for scientific and academic work to
one which permeates society and its
very diverse groups.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Persons with Disabilities are Part of
Every Group
Everything the IGF is designed to assist
stakeholders in reaching a consensus about: from
basic principles to technical standards, legal
framework,
and
environmental
impact
to
language diversity; are also matters persons with
disabilities care about.
Persons with disabilities are a group that is as
diverse as society and one which cares about all
that the IGF is designed to discuss and resolve
plus disability-specific matters.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Taking a Holistic Approach
The Internet requires and the IGF delivers a
holistic model for thinking of problems and how
we may address them.
Persons with disabilities and their needs with
regards to the Internet also require a holistic
approach.
The ability of a blind or deaf person, for example,
to use the Internet efficiently and effectively does
not depend purely on HTML guidelines, but on the
technical configuration of the entire digital
ecosystem. Persons with disabilities have specific
needs from the desktop software to the
communication protocols they use.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Fernando Botelho's Interpretation
The Accessibility Pyramid
Assistive Technology:
Screen reading or magnification software,
augmentative
communications
software,
virtual keyboards, etc.
Software Applications:
E-mail and instant messaging client, word
processor or spreadsheet software, web
browser, etc.
Fundamental Standards for Accessibility:
Communication protocols, file standards, and
interfaces.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
The E-mail Versus Instant Messaging
Case Study
Why did we not have controversy
regarding the ability of blind persons
to access electronic mail but we did
face conflict between blind citizens
and a company that developed and
distributed an inaccessible instant
messaging software in the late
1990s?
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Every Sector of Society Has Its
Limitations
Private corporations have failed
again and again to take into account
the design needs of persons with
disabilities:
They often have huge competitive
pressures, little or no legal requirements
regarding software design, and little
understanding of the needs of minority
groups such as persons with disabilities.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
Every Sector of Society Has Its
Limitations
Governments have failed again and again to
understand and regulate effectively the digital
realm:
Governments can be slow to react to
innovation since many of them are democratic
in nature or simply slow to move, most do not
understand that treating the digital realm
using models developed for industrial products
will result in little competition or monopolies,
they also have to balance the need to allow as
much freedom as possible to innovators while
regulating established businesses.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
Every Sector of Society Has Its
Limitations
Civil societies have failed to understand
and effectively communicate to society the
challenges
presented
by
digital
ecosystems.
Civil society organizations usually have
very limited funding relative to the
challenges they face and they typically
cannot act on emerging issues with the
needed impact and speed.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Each Sector of Society Also Brings
With It Great Strengths
The unparalleled efficiency of the private sector,
the large scale impact of the public sector, and
the values and morality of civil society
organizations are some of these strengths.
However, neither the strengths nor weaknesses of
the various sectors of society change significantly
between the wide-spread adoption of e-mail and
that of instant messaging.
Why were these technologies so different in their
levels of accessibility for persons with disabilities?
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
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The Difference an Open Standard
Makes
The answer is of course: Open
Standards.
The fundamental difference was that
the open protocol used in e-mail
allowed
for
competition
and
consumer choice.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Focus on the Base of the Accessibility
Pyramid
When the base of the digital
ecosystem
pyramid
is
sound,
society's government, businesses, or
organizations need not have all the
answers all the time.
It is essential though that the base of
the pyramid be built on the sound
foundation of open standards.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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File Standards - Different Story with
the Same Plot
Open file standards function as open
communication protocols, they allow
diversity in the software used to create
and edit them.
No person with a disability (or no person
with any special need), will depend on the
corporation, government agency, or NGO
that created the software to understand
perfectly his or her needs.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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Interfaces - Software and Hardware
Specifications
In the software realm we need applications or
operating systems to have what are sometimes
called hooks that assistive technologies can use
to interact effectively.
In the hardware realm we need telephones and
other devices to conform to certain standards so
that plugs can be connected and devices such as
TTY can be used widely.
Once again agreement on standards that are
open for everyone to implement enable
competition, higher levels of accessibility and
usability, and generally better access for
everyone.
International
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
Telecommunication
Union
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Why Has It Not Been That Easy?
Society needs to define concepts such as:
Open standards;
Significant social and economic
activities;
Mature technologies; and much more.
How does this discussion relate to cost?
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
Low Cost Assistive Technologies - Why
are they important?
2/3 of unemployed persons with disabilities in the
United States would like to work but cannot find
jobs.
90% of children who are blind or visually
impaired in developing countries have no access
to education.
99% of women with disabilities in developing
countries are illiterate.
Clear signs that the current strategies are failing
miserably.
Sources:
ILO: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/ability/.../wwd.pdf
UN: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=18
International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI); "Strategic Goals 2002-2005"; 2002.
International
Telecommunication
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Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
Current Assistive Technology Model
Developing countries try to purchase or get
donations of technologies being used in wealthy
countries.
Persons with disabilities in developed economies
cannot afford assistive technologies and most of
it is purchased by government agencies.
While open communication protocols, file
standards, and interfaces could help persons with
disabilities in wealthy economies by increasing
competition, they are absolutely essential in
developing countries.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
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IGF - A Forum for Dialog, a Forum
for Answers
The complexities of defining:
What can be considered an open standard, be
it a communication protocol, file, or interface;
When new technologies should be regulated;
Which technologies should be regulated;
What government support if any should
industry receive;
What role persons with disabilities should play
in the process of reaching a balance between
the freedom to innovate and the rights of
citizens to use new technologies;
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
Union
IGF - A Forum for Dialog, a Forum
for Answers
The complexities of defining:
Are some of the questions that can only be
answered through a dialog between the many
stakeholders participating at the IGF.
While each one of us will have our own
answers to many of these questions, the only
way we can advance in a scale that is large
enough to meet the needs of our citizens,
including those with disabilities, is by including
all major sectors of society.
This is why the IGF is important in our quest
for low and no cost assistive technologies and
Internet access.
International
ITU Workshop on Accessibility
Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
Telecommunication
Union
Thank you!
Fernando H. F. Botelho
Fernando.Botelho@F123.org
Botelho & Paula Consultoria
Solutions that scale.
http://www.F123.org/
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Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009
International
Telecommunication
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