Areas of Opportunities for ICT accessibility

1. ICT ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Areas of Opportunities for ICT accessibility Axel Leblois Executive Director G3ict Kampala, Uganda 6 May 2010

2. Areas of Opportunities Wireless Services TV Broadcasting e-government web sites Internet cafés and community access Assistive Technologies in schools

3. Connectivity in Africa: Mobile Phones Leadership

4. Example of Mobile Phones AccessibilityFeatures for PersonswithDisabilities Accessible hardware and software is available addressing various types of impairments: visual, cognitive, hearing, speech, physical.  For example: • Blind and visually impaired people can adjust display settings such as font size or color contrast; • Persons unable to use a keypad can use voice recognition software • Blind or visually impaired people can use text to speech to access menus, receive audio feedback and have text, such as SMS, read aloud; • Pictorial address books (containing an image of the person beside their name and phone number) has considerably empowered persons with cognitive disabilities to use cell phones; • Deaf persons can use a range of services including: • SMS text messages • sign language via video calls (on 3G networks) • other services such a text message to Avatar for deaf illiterate persons • And many more!

5. Mobile Manufacturers Forum http://www.mobileaccessibility.info/

6. Wireless Services Accessibility Innovations • Basic accessibility features are easy to implement, exist today • New handset based technology includes: • Text to Speech, voice recognition • Scanner capability • GPS – triangulation positioning • Bone sound conduction • Remote services • Emergency services • Digital libraries • E-Government services • Blue tooth proximity services • A Glimpse into the Future Now… (Video)

7. Mobile Phones Accessibility Policy Making: Three Case Studies • Market driven operator strategy (Japan) • Consensus building among stakeholders (France) • Regulatory policy (Canada)

8. Market Driven Strategy: JapanThe RakuRaku Story 2001-2009 • NTT DoCoMo Market Situation in 2001 • Overall penetration of cell phones in Japan: 82.6% • NTT DoCoMo market share: 51% • Opportunity: rate of utilization decreases significantly with age (90+% aged 20 to 50; less than 30% above 70) • Decision to tackle issue across organization, products and services • Adoption of Universal Design principles • Cell phone handsets, stores & services

9. Source: NTT DoCoMo presentation at ITU – UNESCAP meeting in Bangkok, August 26, 2009

10. Example of “RakuRaku” Accessible and Assistive Features and Services A large screen with large characters Dedicated buttons to call certain pre-recorded numbers automatically “Read aloud” menus and text Voice input text messages and email Access to a network of talking books (Bibulio-net, 12,395 titles as of March 2009) with an integrated DAISY player An optional bone conductor receiver to transmit sound waves directly from bone to nerve

11. Initiative Launched September 2001 How many Raku-Raku phones have been sold by NTT DoCoMo in Japan since then?

12. Initiative Launched September 2001 How many Raku-Raku phones have been sold by NTT DoCoMo in Japan since then? 15 Million!

13. As African Market Matures, Operators May Benefit from a “RakuRaku” Strategy

14. 2 – Consensus building strategy Accessibility – France Case Study • Government, users, operators sign charter in 2005 • Voluntary program with milestones for implementing features with defined priorities: • Necessary features • Comfort features • Desirable new features and evolution • Comprehensive and detailed analysis • Marketing codification of accessibility features

15. Mobile Operators Association Drives National Campaign • Results: • Each operator offers between 10 and 20 accessible handsets in 2009 • Specialized point of sales with trained personnel • New services launched (News in sign language, accessible city and accessible tourism web sites etc.)

16. 3 – RegulatoryPath: Mandates – Canada Case Study

17. Regulatory Policy of Canadian RT Commission (21 July 2009): Initiates further investigation into possible improvements to emergency 9-1-1 service, including text messaging to 9-1-1. Requests that wireless service providers, in consultation with persons with disabilities, offer at least one type of wireless mobile handset to serve the needs of people who are blind and/or have moderate-to-severe mobility or cognitive disabilities, noting that it will consider imposing such a requirement in the future if necessary. Requires telecommunications service providers and broadcasting distribution undertakings to improve the accessibility of the information, service and support they offer to Canadians.

18. TV Broadcasting

19. Television Accessibility Resourceswww.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org Closed captioning, sub-titling and sign language—Definitions / process—Features most desired by persons with disabilities—Applicable standards—Sample of regulations Video Description Services—Definitions / process—Features most desired by persons with disabilities—Applicable standards—Sample of regulations Transition to Digital Television: IPTV and Convergent Media —IPTV and Web video accessibility—DTV / IPTV equipment, interface and controls—IPTV and Web video accessibility standards—Sample of regulations

20. TV Broadcasting – U.S. • 1990 Television Decoder Act, in effect since 1993, requires all televisions 13 inches or larger manufactured for sale in the United States to have built-in decoder circuitry. • Captions now reach millions of viewers: • Deaf and hard-of-hearing • Persons learning to read or learning English as a second language • Educational benefits of captioned television are being realized as families "read" TV together. • Captions are visible in public places, such as airports or bars, where the audio is often difficult to hear. • Currently, all programs airing in prime time (daily 8-11pm) on the commercial networks and PBS are captioned • Some daytime, cable and syndicated programs remain uncaptioned.

21. Japan • NHK started closed-captioning and audio description services in the 1980s by developing teletext and sound-multiplex broadcast adapted to the analog TV system • Digital TV hasstandard slots for closed-captioning and audio description. • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan (MIC) guidelines: By the end of 2017, followings should be accomplished, • 100% of closed-caption including live programs (excluding technically impossible programs) • 10% of audio description for applicable programs

22. Japan: Innovative Processes • Large proportion of automated speech to text conversion • Speed Rate conversion offered: • Radio and TV receiver equipped with Speed Rate Conversion Chip • Listeners can slow down the rate of speech in a program. • Speeding up speech may be also useful for visually impaired person.

23. Canada: Regulatory Policy of CRT Commission (21 July 2009): Directs television broadcasters to improve and control the quality of closed captioning, including in digital formats. It intends to impose conditions of licence in these areas at the broadcasters' licence renewals. Intends to require additional television broadcasters to provide described video through conditions of licence imposed at their licence renewals. The Commission also sets out various measures designed to increase the awareness and accessibility of described video. Intends to require television broadcasters to provide high-quality audio description through conditions of licence to be imposed at the time of their licence renewals.

24. Australia – Outsourced Services The government of Australia provided seed funding in 1981 for the establishment of the Australian Caption Centre (ACC) and the purchase of equipment. Captioning by the ACC commenced in 1982 and a further grant from the Australian government enabled the ACC to achieve and maintain financial self-sufficiency. The ACC, now known as Media Access Australia, sold its commercial captioning division to Red Bee Media in December 2005. Red Bee Media continues to provide captioning services to Australia today.

25. e-Government Accessibility

26. E-Government Web Sites Policies & W3C – WAI Guidelines • W3C – WAI guidelines a solid foundation for e-government accessibility policies and programs • Benefits for Governments: • eliminating conflicting requirements • providing proven & free authoring tools • enabling sharing of training and implementation resources • enabling improved conformance testing

27. Considerations for Implementation • Accessible web sites are not more expensive to produce than inaccessible web sites • Large overlap (80%) of WAI Guidelines with Mobile Guidelines • Great benefits in Africa to pursue Mobile and e-Government accessibility strategies simultaneously • Important for governments to commit to web accessibility and to promote awareness of the W3C-WAI guidelines and tools among web masters at major government agencies • See Case Study of City of Chicago: http://www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org/toolkit/local_government

28. Tunisia All e-Government web sites to be accessible by the end of 2009 2007 Presidential Order Tunisian government issued RFP for consulting services funded by the World Bank High visibility of initiative

29. Korea: e-Government Web Accessibility Performance as Measured by Annual Survey Exhibit: Web accessibility Annual Survey(2008) Unit : 100 Scale ※ Source : Ministry of Public Administration and Security & Korea Agency for Digital Opportunity and promotion, 2008 Web Accessibility Annual Survey Presented at the 2009 ITU=UNESCAP Asia Pacific Workshop on ICT Accessibility

30. Making Community Centers and Internet Cafés Accessible

31. Internet Cafes and Community Centers: Market Driven e-Inclusion

32. Total number of connections at Internet Cafés greater than all other types of access combined in Brazil in 2007 Benchmark Country: Brazil

33. Benchmark: Socio-DemographicAnalysis of Internet Usage in Brazil % Source: Survey on the Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Brazil 2007, COMITÊ GESTOR DA INTERNET NO BRASIL

34. PromotingAccessibility of Internet Cafés and CommunityCenters • Physical access to centers • Computer accessibility • User support for assistive technologies • Few examples of programs and policies • Good potential for public-private cooperation to reach out to many users leveraging existing infrastructure

35. Promoting Assistive TechnologiesIn Education

36. Assistive Technology: It’s All About Individual Needs “An assistive device opens doors to learning, employment and social participation. There is always a possibility of viewing people with disabilities as a homogeneous group, all requiring the same kind of intervention and the same type of device. The reality is that people with disabilities are as diverse as society itself, each with their own unique contributions and requirements” Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Minister of Health, South Africa

37. Assistive Technologies, Key Steps • Identification of need • Evaluation and testing solutions • User training • Environment accommodation (family, school, workplace) • Continuous assessment

38. Assistive Technology: a Continuum of Tools, Strategies, and Services Example: how educators match a student’s needs, abilities and tasks with a variety of tools Low Tech Tools Pencil grips Color coding Highlighters Slanted surfaces Reading and writing guides Enlarged worksheets Mid Tech Tools Books on tape Talking spell checker, dictionary Word processor Tape recorder Adaptive eating utensils Switch controlled toy, light, blender High Tech Tools Text readers Voice recognition Environmental control devices Augmentative communication device Software for manipulation of objects Electronic books Example cited by Michigan Department of Education report on AT

39. Assistive Technologies in Education Assistive Technologies require training and support Education ministries best organized to implement such programs Successful case studies emerging from around the world Opportunity to support transition to the work place

40. PUBLICATIONS SPONSORS CO-HOSTS Thank You www.e-accessibilitytoolkit.org www.g3ict.com Request for information: axel_leblois@g3ict.org +1 (404) 641 5661

41. Annexes Resources for Assistive Technologies

42. ICT Tools: Computer Based Assistive Technologies Common computer based solutions for education, workplace and home applications by types of impairments: • Visual • Auditory • Motor • Cognitive

43. Visual Impairments: Solutions for Computer Interaction • Severe visual impairments, including complete blindness • Screen reader software, with either voice or braille output or a combination of the two. • Free Solutions: Fire Vox, Thunder, System Access To Go, NVDA • Low vision • Possible use of screen readers, screen magnification, high-contrast settings, in-browser/program font enlarging. • Free Solutions: CLC STAR, iZoom Web, System Access To Go • Forms of color blindness/color vision deficiencies (red-green being the most common (5% of males)) • Need for information to not be conveyed solely by color differences. • Free Solutions: Users of Windows or Mac may alter contrast. For the web, CLC STAR may be useful. Source: Ohio State University

44. Auditory Impairments: Solutions for Interaction with Computers • Typical accommodations: • On the web or with video content, synchronized captioning of audio and video • Text transcripts for audio-only presentations/podcasts. • Text messaging systems • TTY devices and software for text communication via telephone Source: Ohio State University

45. Motor Impairments: Solutions for Interaction with Computers • Mobility and motor control disabilities caused by injury (nerve, nerve stress, or loss of limbs) • Switches, pointing devices, such as head-mounted or eye-controlled pointers, or trackballs that do not require fine limb movement • Mobility and motor control disabilities caused by disease or genetic conditions • Issue: tremors and loss of ability to control hand movement • Track balls, switches, tremor-compensating mice, etc. • Voice recognition software to perform input, including scrolling, clicking, and moving the mouse. • Free Solution: • Click-n-Type

47. Cognitive Impairments: Solutions for Interaction with Computers • Conditions ranging from reading and linguistic disabilities to attention deficits to problem-solving and memory conditions to various forms of learning disabilities • Largest category of disability affecting the most people. • Solutions: • Programs that offer word prediction when writing and that can read aloud and highlight text are useful for mild to moderate cognitive disabilities. • Visual markup, word lookup, and electronic bookmarking facilities offered by high end programs such as Freedom Scientific WYNN and TextHELP Read and Write Gold • Free Solutions:CLiCk, Speak, WordTalk, LetMeType, Power Talk Source: Ohio State University

48. Control Panel in Windows includes both Voice Recognition and Text to Speech settings, which, combined with free or inexpensive software, allows for effective, inexpensive solutions

49. Basic Hearing Accessibility Features Visual alerts to notify the user of incoming calls/messages Adjustable volume control Display of missed, received or dialed calls through call logs Visual or tactile indicators showing what has been pressed on the keypad, and visual display of text Text based messaging options SMS to Avatar translation for deaf illiterate (Tunisia) One on one video for sign language communications

50. Vision – Basic Accessibility Features Tactile markers to help orient fingers on the keypad Audible or tactile feedback to confirm a button has been pressed Adjustable font sizes Audible cues for low battery, caller waiting or ending a call and volume level Adjustable brightness/contrast controls for the display The size of the main display Backlit display