International Telecommunication Union Workshop
“Accessibility to ICTs”,
Shanghai, China, 23 July 2010
The work of ITU in promoting
ICT Standards for Accessibility
Wisit Atipakayoon,
Advisor,
Regional office for Asia and the Pacific, ITU
Alexandra Gaspari,
TSB Accessibility Coordinator Officer
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Agenda
ITU Overview
Accessibility and Standards and the Work of ITU-T
e-Accessibility and the Work of ITU-D
Planned Activities and Invite for Partnerships
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Overview of ITU
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Overview
Founded in 1865
Leading UN Special Agency for ICTs
HQs in Switzerland
Three sectors (ITU-T, ITU-D, and ITU-R)
4 Regional Offices & 7 Area Offices
192 Member States; and 750 Sector Members
ITU-D
Established to help spread
equitable, sustainable and
affordable access to ICT.
ITU-R
ITU-T
Managing the international
radio-frequency spectrum and
satellite orbit resources
ITU’s standards-making efforts
are its best-known – and oldest
– activity.
ITU TELECOM
Brings together the top names from across the ICT
industry & ministers and regulators for a major
exhibition, a high-level forum & a host of other
opportunities
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Asia-Pacific Region
ITU Asia-Pacific
Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific: Bangkok, Thailand
Area Office for South East Asia:
Jakarta, Indonesia
The offices serve for 38 Member
States and 68 Sector Members
Low-Income States (10)
LDCs (13)
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
Lao, PDR
Maldives
Nepal
Kiribati
Samoa
Solomon Is.
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Fiji
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Nauru
Tonga
D.P.R. Korea
PNG
India
Indonesia
Mongolia
Pakistan
Myanmar
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
Australia
Brunei
China/Hong Kong
Iran
Japan
Sri Lanka
Malaysia
New Zealand
R.O. Korea
Vietnam
Singapore
Timor Leste
Thailand
International
Philippines
SIDS (11)
The Rest (10)
Telecommunication
Union
Key Areas of work of ITU
Bridging the digital divide
Stewardship of the radio spectrum
Adopting international standards to ensure seamless
global communications and interoperability
Building confidence and security in the use of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
Use of ICTs to mitigate the detrimental effects of
climate change
Emergency communications
Accessibility
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Accessibility and Standards
and the Work of ITU-T
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Some numbers
Statistics Worldwide
More than 650 million people with disabilities
in the world (Source: UN)
80% of persons with disabilities live in low
income countries (Source: UNDP)
Low income countries, 90% of children with
disabilities do not have access to school
(Source: UNESCO)
Among people living below the poverty level, 1
out of 5 is a person with disability
(Source: World Bank)
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Accessibility and Standards
Standards describe how equipment interacts and
defines the quality necessary for media to be
usable for all. This is particularly relevant for
accessibility features
In accessibility, standards should also describe
suitable methods of media delivery for people
with disabilities, and are therefore essential for
the provision of services accessible for all
Standards are created wherever the critical mass
of participants can be assembled
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T and Accessibility
ITU first to start accessibility studies in 1991
Since then, many other standards (i.e. Recommendations) have
been written for accessibility and for mainstreaming accessibility
within telecommunication/ICT systems.
ITU-T has seen the work on accessibility increase over the
recent years. It should be noted that the ITU-T has been
promoting accessibility with the concept of “Total
Communication” and the principle of “Design for all” since 2000
– with its Recommendation ITU-T F.703.
These two elements promoted the concept of Universal Design
enshrined in the Convention, eight years before its adoption by
the UN.
The Standardization Sector of the International
Telecommunications Telecommunication Union - (ITU-T) has
been seeking to become accessible within itself in line with the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD).
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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WTSA-08
In 2008, the World Standardization
Telecommunication Assembly
(WTSA-08) built on the momentum
for mainstreaming accessibility and
addressed
the need for advancement on standards for
accessibility and
the need to include persons with disabilities
in the standards making process
This milestone text is the Resolution 70
“Telecommunication/information and
communication technology accessibility for
persons with disabilities”
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T Resolution 70
to work collaboratively and cooperatively with other
standardization organizations and entities, in the
field of accessibility
to work collaboratively and cooperatively with
disability organizations in all regions to ensure that
the needs of the disabled community are taken into
account in all standardization matters
to consider the development of an internship
programme for people with disabilities who have
expertise in the field of ICTs, to build capacity
amongst people with disabilities in the standardsmaking process
to create a disability coordination point within ITUT to assist the Director of ITU-T in reporting the
findings of the review of ITU-T services and facilities
International
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T and the Joint Coordination Activity on
Accessibility and Human Factors (JCA-AHF)
Objectives:
to assist ITU-T Study Groups on how to provide accessibility
for persons with disabilities in standards
helping to increase awareness on accessibility and human
factors
The JCA-AHF invites recognized organizations and individuals
with experience in accessibility and human factors to share
best practices and join the work
How to participate:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/jca/ahf/index.html
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Study Groups & Questions
There are two specific Study Groups that have specific
Accessibility and Human Factors responsibilities.
The first one is: ITU-T Study Group 2 (Operational
aspects of service provision and telecommunications
management), parent study group of the JCA-AHF. Study
Group 2 has a specific Human Factors group, namely
Question 4/2, Human factors related issues for
improvement of the quality of life through
international telecommunications.
Question 4/2 covers more than just the needs of persons
with disabilities: usability for all covers the needs of
children, the elderly and persons who may or may not
have a disability.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T Study Group 16
(Multimedia coding, systems and applications)
lead study group on telecommunication/ICT accessibility for
persons with disabilities
Question 26/16 is the group specifically designated to deal with
Accessibility to Multimedia Systems and Services for persons
with disabilities.
Q26/16 is responsible for developing (or assisting in the
development of) multimedia technical standards addressing
accessibility needs of persons with disabilities.
It also reviews accessibility features included in telecom standards
developed in other Study groups.
ITU-T is launching this year under SG16 a Focus Group on
Accessibility, in order to group a standardization experts working on
how to make ICTs accessible. More information will be available at:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/studygroups/com16/index.asp/
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T Recommendation F.703
“Total conversation”
A Total Conversation service is an audiovisual
conversation service providing bidirectional symmetric
real-time transfer of motion video, text and voice
between users in two or more locations
This gives the user the feel of real-time
communication, just like voice or video systems that
transport streaming media over IP
It has uses for people who are not only deaf or
disabled but people who can’t communicate in either
of the two mediums or do not have the command of
the spoken language used
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Total Conversation puts the user in the
center of the communication society
Users with Total
Conversation or
Real-time text
Devices
user with
communication
disability
Voice
telephone
users
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
Emergency
services 112,
911,...
Text, Sign
& Caption
Relay Services
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Multimedia is essential for
people with disabilities
Real-time text, video, voice is desirable for all. Desirable
for everyday calls and in the workplace. Essential for
emergency calls
Example: A deaf-blind woman in a Total Conversation call,
producing sign-language and receiving text.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T Recommendation F.790
“Telecommunications accessibility guidelines
for older persons and persons with
disabilities”
It intends to provide general guidelines for
standardizing, planning, developing, designing
and distributing all forms of telecommunications
equipment
The goal is to ensure the accessibility for people
with the widest possible range of abilities
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Telecommunications Accessibility
Checklist
It is a living list/technical paper that should be
used at the beginning of the standardization
process
It provides a set of reminders for standards
writers in the area of ICTs and accessibility
It helps to ensures that services and features are
designed and are usable by as many individuals
as possible with different abilities
It should be applied to every work item before
the work commences, during the work and at the
completion of the work
http://www.itu.int/publ/T-TUT-FSTP-2006-TACL/en
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T, IGF and DCAD
Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability
Aim
The Internet Governance Forum’s Dynamic Coalition on
Accessibility and Disability, will facilitate interaction between
relevant bodies, and ensure that ICT accessibility is included
in the key debates around Internet Governance in order to
build a future where all sectors of the global community have
equal access to the Information Society.
ITU-T sponsors the IGF DCAD with:
website support.
a secretariat
a DCAD coordinator
Captioned conference calls
Organizes the workshops on Accessibility for IGF
with the expertise of DCAD members
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Standards are Free
Since beginning of 2007,
ITU-T Recommendations
are available without charge.
With only a small number of
exceptions all in-force ITU-T
Recommendations are available
in PDF form at:
www.itu.int/ITU-T/publications/recs.html
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-T Recommendations and References
V.18 - harmonization of text telephony
V.151 - text relay end-to-end connection of analogue PSTN text telephones over
IP
T.140 - the general presentation protocol for text conversation
T.134 - text conversation in the T.120 data conferencing environment
H.323 - Annex G for text conversation in H.323 packet multimedia environment
H.248.2 - gateway procedures between Text Telephony in PSTN and real-time
text in IP H Series Sup.1 - Video communication requirements for sign language
and lip reading
E.121 - Pictograms, symbols and icons to assist users of the telephone service
F.910 - Procedures for designing and selecting symbols, pictograms and icons
E.135 - Human factors aspects of public telecommunication terminals for
persons with disabilities
E.136 - Specification of a tactile identifier for use with telecommunication cards
Y.1901 IPTV requirements that include accessibility features mainstreamed in
the recommendation
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/accessibility
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/jca/ahf/index.html
http://www.itu.int/themes/accessibility/dc/index.html
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Conclusions
Bringing Accessibility into the standards work
requires efforts from ITU and its Membership
Standards are not enough because without
Implementation, we do not have Accessibility
Without Universal Design being used from the
very beginning of the standard making
process, Accessibility implementation becomes
expensive with retro refitting
ITU-T is opening and look forward to new
opportunities for academia, research bodies
and persons with disabilities to participate to
the accessibility standard work.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Accessibility Events in 2010
Joint WIPO-ITU Accessibility Workshop
Geneva, Switzerland, 2 - 5 February 2010
ITU workshop on Accessibility to ICTs
Expo-10, Shanghai, China, 23 July 2010
DCAD workshop on “From Athens to Vilnius: beyond the
UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities”
IGF, Vilnius, Lithuania, 14 – 17 September 2010
DCAD - EBU workshop on “Can mobile ‘Apps’ create a new
golden age of Accessibility?”,
IGF, Vilnius, Lithuania, 14 – 17 September 2010
Joint ITU-EBU Workshop “Media access to all”,
Geneva, Switzerland, 24 – 25 November 2010
World Standard Cooperation (ITU, ISO, IEC) Workshop on
Accessibility and ICTs,
Geneva, Switzerland, 3 – 5 November 2010
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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e-Accessibility and the Work of ITU-D
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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WTDC-10
World Telecommunication Development Conference
Serve as forums for free discussion by all concerned with the
Development Sector. Results are reported and new projects are launched.
Set the agenda and the guidelines for the following four-year cycle,
while the Regional Conferences review "work-in-progress" towards the
overall objectives and ensure that goals are met.
World Telecommunication Development Conference
2010 (WTDC-10)
ITU Fifth WTDC took place in Hyderabad, India from 24 May to
4 June 2010
Adopted Hyderabad Declaration and Hyderabad Action Plan
(HAP) for ITU-D activitied to be implemented in the coming 4
years i.e. 2011-2014
For outcomes of the WTDC-10, please visit:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/conferences/wtdc/index.html
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-D Objectives
• The Hyderabad Action Plan (HAP) for 2011 – 2014
identifies six (6) objectives of the Telecommunication
Development Bureau (ITU-D) for the next coming 4 years.
• One of the objectives relates to Persons with Disabilities
Objective 5
To build human and institutional capacity in order to improve
skills in the development and use of telecommunication/ICT
networks and applications, and to foster digital inclusion for
people with special needs, such as persons with disabilities,
through awareness raising, training activities, sharing
information and know-how and the production and
distribution of relevant publications.
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Development Programs (2011-14)
Programme 1
Programme 2
Programme 3
Programme 4
Information and communication infrastructure
and technology development
Cybersecurity, ICT Applications and IP-based
network-related issues
Enabling Environment
Capacity Building and digital inclusion
Least developed countries, countries in special need,
Programme 5 emergency telecommunications and climate change adaptation
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ITU Development Programs (2011-14)
Programme 4: Capacity Building and Digital Inclusion
• To assist the membership in developing and implementing national
strategies, plans, policies and practices to achieve digital inclusion for
people with special needs, including fostering accessible
telecommunications/ICTs, such as making assistive technologies
available for PwDs, and ensuring basic ICT literacy training and use of
telecommunications/ICTs for economic and social development,
poverty reduction and wealth creation
• To support the membership in providing greater availability,
development and usage of local content, languages and
corresponding websites for people with special needs, taking into
account accessibility for persons with disabilities
• To raise awareness among governmental and private-sector decisionmakers on the importance of digital inclusion for people with
International
disabilities
Telecommunication
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
Union
ITU-D Study Group 1: 2011-2014
WTDC-10 maintained two study
groups and determined the
Questions to be studied by them.
Among Questions adopted at the
conference, one Question is
related to Persons with Disabilities
Study Group 1
Chairman
Roxanne McElvane (USA)
Vice-Chairmen
Regina Fleur Assoumou (Cote d’Ivorie)
Blanca Gonzales (Spain)
Muwaffaq Abu Aqola (Jordan)
Kirill Balov (Uzbekistan)
Nguyen Quy Quyen (Viet Nam)
Study Group 1
• Question 20-1/1 – Access to telecommunication services and
information and communication technologies (ICTs) by persons
with disabilities
International
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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WTDC Resolution 58 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010)
Access to ICT by Persons with Disabilities, including persons
with age-related disabilities
Invites Member States to:
•
Ratify the Convention on the Rights of PwDs and to take the relevant measures to
effectively make ICT services, equipment and software accessible to PwDs;
•
Develop national laws, regulations, policies, guidelines or other mechanisms for
ICT accessibility for PwDs under the principles of equal access, functional equivalence,
affordability and universal design, by taking full advantage of available tools, guidelines
and standards;
•
Collect data on ICT accessibility by PwDs, in a disaggregated manner, aimed at
creating e-accessibility statistics and – in the near future – relevant indicators that
contribute to the policy-making process;
•
Consider introducing ICT accessible services for PwDs such as
telecommunications/relay services (hearing and speech disabilities), accessible
websites, public phones with accessibility features (e.g. volume control, information in
Braille), public schools, institutions and community centres with various accessible
equipment including screen readers, Braille printers, hearing aids, among others
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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WTDC Resolution 58 (Rev. Hyderabad, 2010)
Access to ICT by Persons with Disabilities, including persons with age-related
disabilities
Invites Member States to (cont’d):
•
Encourage and enable active participation by PwDs, both as individuals and as
organizations, in the policy-making process for ICTs and related areas where ICTs have an
impact, by ensuring that the consultation process, meetings and/or surveys are accessible
to participation by persons with disabilities;
•
Promote and undertake research and development of ICT accessible equipment, services
and software, with emphasis on open-source software and affordable equipment and
services;
•
Envisage establishing a programme that considers ICT accessibility priorities, to be
periodically reviewed in order to ensure its relevance to the specific local conditions of a
country/region, with a view to progressive implementation;
•
Mainstream ICT accessibility for PwDs, which involves taking into consideration
accessibility principles in a cross-cutting manner;
•
Consider exemption from taxes and customs duties on ICT devices and assistive
equipment for PwDs, in accordance with the national regulations on this matter; and,
•
Establish ongoing and permanent collaboration between developed and developing
countries in order to exchange information, technology and best practices related to ICT
International
accessibility for PwDs
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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e-Accessibility Toolkit
ITU/G3ict launched “e-accessibility Policy Toolkit for Persons with
Disabilities - http://www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org/
ITU jointly with ESCAP and various
partners organized the “Asia-Pacific
Regional Forum on Mainstreaming ICT
Accessibility for Persons with
Disabilities” on 25-27 Aug 2009 in
Bangkok, Thailand
The event welcomed some 140
participants from 21 countries,
including policy makers, regulators, operators, industry representatives, NGOs and
disabled persons organizations, as well as experts and ICT professionals including
disabled persons from across the region and beyond
International
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Planned Activities and Invite for Partnerships
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU-D Invites Partners to …
•
Develop and update tools and guidelines for use/reference by Member
States in mainstreaming ICT accessibility issues in their
national/regional policies and regulations, and provide the necessary
capacity building;
•
Identify and document examples of best practice for accessibility in
the field of telecommunications/ICT for dissemination, sharing of
experiences and provision of information among ITU Member States
and Sector Members;
•
Hold seminars, symposiums or forums for policy-makers,
telecommunications regulators and Sector Members at which ICT
accessibility policies are presented and discussed, and also to
promote the elaboration of books, reports or literature that address
ICT accessibility for PwDs;
•
Collaborate and cooperate with relevant United Nations entities and
disability organizations in all regions in order to generate awareness
of the need for the design and implementation of policies or selfregulatory approaches that will make ICTs accessible for PwDsInternational
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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ITU Asia-Pacific Planned Events in 2011
No
Title
Partners
Host Country
(potential )
1
Digital Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities and
Ageing Societies
MCDYS/IDA, UNESCAP
Singapore
2
Regional Training/Workshop on the Use of Telecommunications/ICTs
for Emergency Communications
UNESCAP, CTO, TSF, PITA/SPC,
APT, UNDP, ISDR
Mongolia
3
Joint Cross-sectoral Ministerial Forum for the Pacific
SPC / PITA / USP / PIFS /
ESCAP / WB
4
Regional Event for Cyber-security e.g. for prosecutors & judiciary
UNODC / IMPACT
Thailand / Korea R.O.
5
Regional Symposium for Digital Broadcasting
ABU/AIBD
Singapore / Malaysia
6
Regional Workshop on workshop on Developing a National Cybersecurity Framework
IMPACT / APT
7
Joint ITU/PITA/USP Training Programme for the Pacific
USP / PITA / SPC
8
BDT/TSB Joint Meeting (e.g. standardization matters; IPv6)
CTO
9
[BDT/TSB/BR] Study Group Meeting
10
ITU/MIIT Seminar (CIS)
MIIT
China
11
Asia Media Summit
AIBD
Viet Nam
12
Cross-regional Broadband Access Seminar
CIS / ADB
Russia
13
Partnership Platform for Private Sector
AIFI / COAI / PITA / ITU-AJ
India
14
ITU[/UNESCO] Training Workshop on ICT Applications
[UNESCO /] telecentre.org
15
Sub-regional Telecommunication Meeting for CLMV
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
New Caledonia /
Marshall Islands
Malaysia
Fiji Islands
tbc
tbc
ADB
Thailand
International
Telecommunication
tbc
Union
ITU Accessibility websites
More information:
ITU-T accessibility portal
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/accessibility
Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human
Factors (JCA-AHF)
http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/jca/ahf/index.html
Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability
(DCAD)
http://www.itu.int/themes/accessibility/dc/index.html
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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Thank you!
For more information, please contact:
Wisit Atipakayoon, Advisor,
ITU office for the Asia and the Pacific
Email: wisit.atipakayoon@itu.int
Tel.: +662 574 8565
Alexandra Gaspari
TSB Accessibility Coordinator Officer
Email: alexandra.gaspari@itu.int
Tel.:+41 22 730 5158
ITU Workshop on Accessibility to ICTs, 23 July 2010, Shanghai, China
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