Slide 1 DIGITAL SMART FOCUS IN SUPPORT OF OVERCOMING DISABILITIES 12 December 2013 at 14:30 h - 17:00 h, Conference room V at the Palais des Nations By Axel Leblois, President and Executive Director, G3ict United Nations Office in Geneva Digital Smart Working Group

Slide 2 G3ict – Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs: Background  Launched with the support of UNDESA in December 2006  To Facilitate the Implementation of the ICT Accessibility dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities among States Parties  Activities funded by the private sector:  AT&T, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe, Time Warner, Telstra, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, Deque, Hans Foundation, Mozilla Foundation, Dominic Foundation, Telecom Italia  Works with UN agencies in advancing policies and good practices around the world

Slide 3 What is at Stake? 1 billion people live with some form of disability, 15% of the World Population

Slide 4 A Large Growing Population at Risk of Being Excluded from Digital Access  Out of the one billion persons living with a disability*:  80% live in the developing world  Over half of persons aged 65+ live with a disability, fast growing population segment worldwide  Disability affects all age groups: 13% of all public school students K to 12 in the United States live with a disability (Source: U.S. DOE) *Source: WHO World Bank Report on Disability 2010

Slide 5 Recognizing the Issue: A Challenge for Policy Makers and National Census Organizations “People with disabilities are often invisible in official statistics” Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2006, UNESCO And they are mostly invisible in daily life as well

Slide 6 Being Digital Smart Means Eliminating Barriers Caused by Society Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 6

Slide 7 Overcoming Disabilities: Digital Smart Opportunities  Deafness/hard of hearing  Blindness/low vision  Limited motion/reduced dexterity  Impaired cognition

Slide 8 Common Barriers Which a Digital Smart Focus Can Eliminate  A television program or emergency announcement is not signed or captioned for a deaf person  A web site is not be accessible to a blind person using a screen reader or to a paralyzed person using alternative data input devices  A mobile phone does not offer alternative user interfaces for a person with dexterity issues, low vision or cognitive challenges  An ATM is too high for a wheelchair user or does not have a text to speech output for a visually impaired person

Slide 9 Are those Digital Barriers Widespread? July 20, 2013 “NEW DELHI: In a first such exercise of its kind, the government has found that only two of its over 200 websites are disabled-friendly… The government found that websites of only two ministries - ministry of external affairs and ministry of social justice and empowerment - were compliant to Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW), which is essential for making websites accessible to the disabled.” Why the e-participation of persons with disabilities matters

Slide 10 Are those Digital Barriers Widespread? (Cont’d) 39% of non adopters of broadband in the U.S. * and 50% in the UK have some type of disability 65% of Senior citizens (over the age of 65) do not have broadband-at-home in the United States Mobile phones adoption closely related to age and disability ** *Source: FCC Report by John Horrigan, February 2010 **Pew Charitable Trust Research on mobile phone usage, 2013

Slide 11 Digital Smart Empowers Persons with Disabilities to:  Work  Learn  Be Safe  Enjoy Culture  Communicate  Exercise their Political Rights  Be active in commerce

Slide 12 “If anybody asks me what the Internet means to me… “If anybody asks me what the Internet means to me… …I will tell him without hesitation: To me (a quadriplegic) the Internet occupies the most important part in my life. It is my feet that can take me to any part of the world; it is my hands which help me to accomplish my work; it is my best friend – it gives my life meaning.” Dr. Zhang Xu, Founder and Director of Bethesda Rehabilitation Ministry of Anshan, China

Slide 13 The Good News: Digital Smart Solutions Are Available Today for:  Web sites  e-books  Television  Computer interfaces  Mobile and fixed phones  ATMs and electronic kiosks  e-government electronic services  Public displays and messaging  Digital interfaces for consumer products Why the e-participation of persons with disabilities matters

Slide 14 Example of Alternative Modes of Communication for Mobile  Visual  Text-to-Speech  Hearing  Video Relay Service with sign language  Speech  Peer-to-peer video for sign language  Dexterity  Voice recognition for controls and input  Cognition  Icon interface

Slide 15 Driven by Mobile and Price Performance of Electronics Captioning service SMS-to-Avatar sign translation, Tunisia A public service announcement on Japanese television Mobile app with Daisy books GPS for mobility independence Screen reader

Slide  Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly December 13, 2006  8 th Human Rights Treaty and 1 st of this Millennium  158 countries have signed it and 138 ratified it as of December 2013  March 30, 2007: Jamaica first country to ratify the Convention in the world! The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Slide 17 An Effective Framework for Digital Smart Policies and Programs for Persons with Disabilities  The Convention affirms the importance of “information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms”  It requires ICTs to be accessible and assistive technologies available to persons with disabilities (Preamble, article 9)

Slide 18 Solutions Exist: Practical Information and Case Studies – ITU – G3ict Reports Making TV AccessibleMaking Mobile Phones and Services Accessible Universal Service Funds for Persons with Disabilities

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Slide 20 Why Is the Private Sector Interested: Quiz! What is the percentage of the total U.S. adult population of Microsoft Windows customers likely to benefit from Accessibility Features? (As measured by Microsoft Research)

Slide 21 Windows Users: 57% Are Likely to Benefit from Accessibility Features  57% of adult computer users (age in the US) are likely or very likely to benefit from accessibility features 1 in 4 users experiences a visual difficulty. 1 in 4 experience pain in wrists or hands. 1 in 5 has a hearing difficulty. Study commissioned by Microsoft, Conducted by Forrester Research in 2003 Not likely to benefit 43% Very likely to benefit 17 % Likely to benefit 40%

Slide 22 Mobile: A Game Changer for Empowering Persons with Disabilities  Packed with enabling technologies:  GPS, NFC, Camera, OCR, TTS, Speech recognition, 3G, 4G etc.  Anytime anywhere personalized device  Unprecedented economies of scale  For the first time in the history of ICTs, competition drives accessibility!

Slide 23 3 rd M-Enabling Summit June , Washington, D.C. Bringing together:  Organizations of seniors and persons with disabilities  Manufacturers  Application developers  Mobile service providers  Policy makers  Private sector  Special Educators, Rehabilitation professionals Sharing technologies, processes, policies and business models

Slide 24 The United Nations Must be Digitally Smart to Ensure Universal Access to its Own Activities  Web Sites  Electronic documents and reports  E-learning platforms  Braille and sign language options  Meetings  Video and web cast transmissions  Tele-conferencing systems  Telephone switchboards  Procurement policies

Slide 25 Thank You For Your Attention!