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ITU Workshop on Accessibility/Atelier UIT sur l’accessibilité Bamako, Mali 13 – 15 October 2009. Globalization of Standardization and Making the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Accessible. Andrea J Saks, Accessibility Advisor, ITU-TSB. Overview By Andrea Saks.
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ITU Workshop on Accessibility/Atelier UIT sur l’accessibilitéBamako, Mali 13 – 15 October 2009 Globalization of Standardization and Making the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Accessible Andrea J Saks, Accessibility Advisor, ITU-TSB
Overview By Andrea Saks • The beginning of Globalization • A Historical View of events • Beginning with the UK • First Transatlantic Call • They broke it! What Now??? • No Compatibility without Standards • The beginning at ITU 1991
The Beginning Robert WeitbrechtAndrew SaksJames C Marsters with the first successful deaf telecommunications system called ”Phonetype”
The beginning in the UK • 1972 arrived Oct 14th with two Phonetypes but no printing device • Meeting with Government Post Office • Predecessor of British Telecom • OFTEL (Office of Telecommunications) • Sir Brian Carsburg Head of OFTEL 1970’s: “Disability communication should be regarded in the same way as rural communication”
First TTY Transatlantic Call • Due to regulation, data was not allowed across the transatlantic voice network. FCC waived the rule for this call for one day only. • What it meant to USA and UK Deaf people: We could talk over the trans- Atlantic voice telephone network. • Faxing (an ITU standard) across the transatlantic voice network became legal because of the Deaf.
They Broke it • UK decides it wants to go with Telecom Gold? and CCITT 300 baud • UK tried to dismantle the Baudot TTY network and tries to impose the new. • Ireland does not conform. Also the unrecognized Baudot TTY network continues to live on in the UK in spite of UK denial • France does Minitel; Italy and Germany use EDT; Holland uses DTMF Textphones
Father of V.18, Dick Brandt • Wrote most of ITU.T V.18 • Kept Baudot protocolwithin ITU-T V.18 • Was rapporteur for the Disability question in ITU-T • Invited AJS to ITU to help
The beginning at ITU 1991 Gary Fereno, US State Department, & me
ITU Technical Achievements • Dick Brandt / USA • The First Deaf Accessibility Recommendation: ITU-T V.18 • Gunnar Hellstrom / Sweden • Total Conversation / Real Time Text, Voice, Video • Accessibility checklist for Standard Writers • IPTV Requirements and Accessibility Features • WTSA-08 Res 70 and ITU-TSB Director’s Implementation
Gunnar Hellstrom Total Conversation creator • What is Total Conversation ? • Real Time Text:if we don’t use it we’ll lose it! • Rapporteur after Dick Brandt • Improved ITU-T V.18 • Wrote the Accessibility Checklist • Relay Services • Implemented in Sweden Total Conversation forEmergency Services
Malcolm Johnson, ITU-TSB Director • Malcolm Johnson Accessibility Advocate • WTSA-08 1st Accessibility Resolution 70 Malcolm Johnson, in accordance with Resolution 70, reorganized the Telecommunications Standardization Bureau (TSB) to include a Project for Accessibility so that Persons with Disabilities could Participate
IPTV • Focus Group on IPTV began the work Established 2006-04; Terminated 2008-01 • Created a requirements document that became Recommendation ITU-T Y.1901 • Accessibility features mainstreamed • Many accessibility features mandatory, i.e. captions, voice description and recordability etc. • Public Service, Accessibility sections • Accessibility Appendix for ease in locating mainstreamed Accessibility features
Implementation By Industry?The Problems • International Standards are Voluntary • No one has to implement all or any part of international standards • Many national standards bodies compete • Market forces still rule • Regulation is still the best incentive but patchy • Partial implementation of accessibility features may cause more problems than access • Moving from the PSTN analogue to VoIP digital • Real Time Text over IP is not truly Globally standardized and implemented • Relay Services, same problem
New Standards Need Persons with Disabilities • Engineers need Disability scenarios from the very people who require the accessibility Features to write good Standards • Persons with disabilities can now participate in ITU because of Resolution 70. • New Standards being developed need your assistance
New Standards being created now! • Relay Services need a strong non - proprietary International Standard • ITU-T has plans to do this in Q26/SG16 • An example of this not being done is Instant Messaging • It must be Global and not limited or dictated by commercial interests industry or national boundaries • Persons with Disabilities can now participate due to WTSA-08 Res. 70
New Standards being created now! • They are as follows • H325 will enable, not only voice, text and video, but also file sharing, application sharing, screen sharing and from device to device • The networked Car it is a possible speech interactive controls, and for emergency communication and telecommunicate, IP and navigational properties that need to be accessed by everyone.
Without International Standards there can be no Accessibility Without International Standards there will be no compatibility or interoperability and no accessible global convergence Without International Standards, there will be no effective means for policy Makers to create regulations for the inclusion of Persons With disabilities in all forms of Information communication technology ( ICTs)
Without International Standards there can be no Accessibility • Without the involvement of Persons with Disabilities in the standardization process, it will be more difficult to create good International Standards • Without International Standards there can not be effective regulation to make industry comply and implement fully the accessible Standards.
Without International Standards there can be no Accessibility • Without Universal Design being used from the very beginning of the standard writing process, implementation becomes expensive with retro refitting. • Important to stop new barriers being created by new technology. • ITU-T Accessibility Checklist
The Message With Resolution 70 ITU has opened up its doors to Persons with Disabilities to participate in Standards. If we all participate then it is possible to conceive that Globalized Accessible ICTs & Telecommunications could in fact become a reality with International Standardization, Regulation and Cooperation.
Contact Andrea J. Saks • Convener, ITU-T Joint Coordinating Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors, (ITU-T JCA-AHF) • Coordinator, Internet Governance Forum Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability(IGF DCAD) • Accessibility Advisor to USA delegations attending many different ITU Study Groups. asaks@waitrose.comandrea.saks@ties.itu.int