International Telecommunication Union ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October 2009 Globalization of Standardization and Making the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Accessible Andrea J Saks, Accessibility Advisor, ITU-TSB ITU Workshop on Accessibility/Atelier UIT sur l’accessibilité Bamako, Mali 13 – 15 October 2009

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union The Beginning ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October Robert Weitbrecht Andrew Saks James C Marsters with the first successful deaf telecommunications system called ”Phonetype”

International Telecommunication Union The beginning in the UK 1972 arrived Oct 14 th 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” ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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. ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union Father of V.18, Dick Brandt Wrote most of ITU.T V.18 Kept Baudot protocol within ITU-T V.18 Was rapporteur for the Disability question in ITU-T Invited AJS to ITU to help ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union The beginning at ITU 1991 Gary Fereno, US State Department, & me ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 for Emergency Services ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union Malcolm Johnson, ITU-TSB Director Malcolm Johnson Accessibility Advocate WTSA-08 1 st 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union IPTV Focus Group on IPTV began the work Established ; Terminated 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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. ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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) ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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. ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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 ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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. ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October

International Telecommunication Union 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. ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13 – 15 October