[Chapter-delegates] ITU Resolution 175- Resolution for the Rights of Disabled Persons

[Chester Soong]

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+1

Chester

On 11/12/2014 9:36 AM, Gunela Astbrink wrote:
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> In this field, I have to remain an eternal optimist.
>
> I wrote that Issues Paper for ISOC back in 2012
> http://www.internetsociety.org/doc/internet-accessibility-internet-use-persons-disabilities-moving-forward
>
> and suggested a number of specific activities for ISOC to move on.
>
> Unfortunately, apart from support from the Asia Pacific Bureau to run
> disability workshops as part of PacINET, nothing has happened. BTW,
> these workshops were very successful with participation of
> representatives of five different government ministries as well as
> community organisations resulting in concrete outcomes and actions.
>
> I am hopeful that ISOC will include accessibility for people with
> disability in its 2015 work plan. This is an organisation-wide issue and
> broader than web accessibility.
>
> Gunela Astbrink
> Director, ISOC-Australia
>
> Klaus Birkenbihl said the following on 12/11/14 01:21 :
>> Sofie Maddens wrote on 10.11.2014 08:05:
>>> Yes, it was good to see such outcomes. Copying Nicolas and Karen.
>>>
>>> Sofie
>>
>> Indeed. After all the good news from ITUs I wonder about ourselves.
>> Me and a few others made some noise wrt to accessibility issues on
>> our own precious website back in 2011. Beside an article where
>> we educate the world upon it (maybe it was read by the ITU folks
>> ;-) ) not much follow-up.
>>
>> Various folks in management agreed that this topic should have
>> more attention ... but neither did we introduce tools that would
>> help us to track issues nor did I see much action except
>> an external study that confirmed the issues and some announcements
>> of plans. If there was a real plan or even fulfillment I missed it
>> - or it was -modest guys we are- not communicated. (I admit I
>> stopped polling the web site myself finding more or less
>> the same issues again and again with no option to get them
>> acknowledged or even fixed).
>>
>> But maybe with ITU as an example ...
>>
>> Lets dream on, Klaus
>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>>> On Nov 10, 2014, at 7:07 AM, Gunela Astbrink
>>>>> <g.astbrink at gsa.com.au> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> It's great to see that Andrea Saks continues to achieve much for
>>>>> accessibility for people with disability particularly in the ITU
>>>>> and IGF.
>>>>>
>>>>> Resolution 175 (revised in Busan) has a large number of actions for
>>>>> ITU to do or continue to do.
>>>>>
>>>>> One of these was the adoption of an ITU accessibility policy in
>>>>> 2013 to work on its own internal practices to make them more
>>>>> accessible. These actions are outlined at:
>>>>> http://www.itu.int/en/action/accessibility/Pages/makingITUaccessible.aspx
>>>>>
>>>>> and are listed below:
>>>>>         provide basic training in disability awareness for all staff;
>>>>>         incorporate a reference to reasonable accommodation in
>>>>> registration forms and invitation letters to ITU events and
>>>>> conferences;
>>>>>         assess the opportunity for improving the efficiency of ITU
>>>>> internal processes regarding the provision of captioning services;
>>>>>         improving the accessibility of Word documents used in ITU
>>>>> meetings and conferences;
>>>>>         defining an action plan for the provision of reasonable
>>>>> accommodation during PP14;
>>>>>         organizing a side-event during PP14 to inform ITU
>>>>> Membership on the implementation of the ITU Accessibility Policy
>>>>>         organizing a showcase-demos on specific areas related to
>>>>> accessibility;
>>>>>         setting a process to systematically collect information on
>>>>> needs and preferences of meeting and conference participants
>>>>> concerning accessibility;
>>>>>         inviting ITU Member States to allocate a budget line for
>>>>> the implementation of the Accessibility Policy in the Union's budget
>>>>>         conducting an assessment of the level of accessibility of
>>>>> ITU recruitment process;
>>>>>         adjusting ITU procurement processes to incorporate the
>>>>> accessibility requirements (focus on IT equipment);
>>>>>         mainstreaming accessibility in ITU programmatic activities.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> These are practical actions. ITU also works on integrating
>>>>> accessibility in policy and general standards development.
>>>>>
>>>>> ICANN is also developing its accessibility practice through the
>>>>> At-Large Accessibility Taskforce.
>>>>>
>>>>> It's worthwhile revisiting ISOC's Accessibility Issues Paper and
>>>>> its suggested actions:
>>>>> http://www.internetsociety.org/doc/internet-accessibility-internet-use-persons-disabilities-moving-forward
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> The more people who highlight accessibility issues the better. We
>>>>> can all contribute to helping ISOC become a more accessible
>>>>> organisation and to work on integrating accessibility into policy
>>>>> and practice. While Chapters have a significant role to play in
>>>>> furthering accessibility, the Internet Society head office could
>>>>> provide significant leadership in this area. Disability awareness
>>>>> training is a good start....
>>>>>
>>>>> Gunela Astbrink
>>>>> Director, ISOC Australia
>>>>>
>>
>>
>>
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>