16.12.10

1. 16.12.10 Technology and Standards Creation Promoting Accessible Communication and ITCs in the ITU T Action Line C3: Access Internet Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Tuesday 11 May 2010 14:30-16:00Room K Andrea J . Saks Convener (JCA-AHF) ITU-T Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors

2. ITU-T activities addressingrequirements in fostering Internet accessibility • ITU first to start accessibility studies in 1991 with V.18 for Text Telephones • Since then, many standards or “Recommendations” have been written for accessibility as stand alone Accessibility recommendations. “Accessibility Features” have also been written within many telecommunication/ICT recommendations for the purpose of mainstreaming Accessibility. • ITU-T has been promoting accessibility with the concept of “Total Communication” and the principle of “Universal Design” since 2000 – with its Recommendation ITU-T F.703. Video content • ITU-T first to Introduce Real Time Captioning and Accessibility workshops with both captioning ( we did both French and English captioning in Mali) and sign language at the ITU.

3. Total Conversation puts the user in the center of the communication society Text, Sign & CaptionRelay Services Users with Total Conversation or Real-time text Devices user with communicationdisability Voicetelephoneusers Emergency services 112, 911,...

4. Calling with multi-media 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.

5. ITU-T WTSA 2008 passed Resolution 70 Created special questions in Study groups and formed the JCA-AHF • “Resolution 70: Telecommunication/information and communication technology accessibility for persons with disabilities” It mandates the standardization sector to document best practices in the field of accessibility and to aim at encouraging participation by persons with disabilities in the standardization work of ITU • Question 26 of SG16 “Accessibility to Multimedia Systems and Services“ pioneered in the 1990s with Rec. V.18 on a multi-function text telephone • Question 4 of SG2 “Human Factors issues on international telecommunication services” aims at increasing usage and therefore revenues derived from international telecommunications services by improving ease of use and usability • Joint Coordination Activity on Accessibility and Human Factors (JCA-AHF) coordinates related standardization activities and act as a single point of contact within ITU on accessibility matters standards, good practices and technical references on digital accessibility.

6. Other ITU Accessibility Achievements ITU-T Recommendations • 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

7. 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: • with website support. • a secretariat: Dr. Alexandra Gaspari • a coordinator: Andrea J Saks • Captioned conference calls • Organizes the workshops on Accessibility for IGFwith the expertise of DCAD members

8. The message • Standards are not enough because without Implementation we do not have Accessibility • Without Universal Design being used from the very beginning of the standard writing process or Accessibility implementation becomes expensive with retro refitting • HELP stop the new barriers that are being created by new technology by using universal design from the beginning • HELPdiscourage the use proprietary Standards (example: Instant messaging). It causes Exclusion and thwarts interoperability. This prevents accessibility for Persons with Disability and Older Persons with Age Related Disabilities.

9. Thank You More information: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/accessibilityhttp://www.itu.int/ITU-T/jca/ahf/index.html http://www.itu.int/themes/accessibility/dc/index.html Email: andrea.saks@ties.itu.int convener alexandra.gaspari@itu.int secretariat