Module: Fundamentals of Digital Inclusion Why is digital inclusion important? The social, ethical and business case Picture of Meeting of W3C WAI Education Outreach Group. Mandelieu, France. 2008

MSc/ PGDig Digital Inclusion  Taught Modules  CMT 4700 Fundamentals of Digital Inclusion  CMT 4710 Design for All Regulation, Legislation and Standardisation  CMT 4750 Accessible Web Design  CMT4715 Inclusive Design and User Experience  Project (MSc Only)  Digital Inclusion Thesis

Fundamental of Digital Inclusion  Aims  To provide the student with a real world understanding of the complex needs of older and disabled people when using ICT and people who use AT.  To provide understanding of the ethical, social, political and economic issues of eInclusion  To provide a sound basis for solving complex problems and undertaking innovative research and design

Learning outcomes for FDI  To critically apply the basic principles of Design for All regarding ICT products and services and reflect on the importance of Design for All as enabler of inclusion (social, socio-political, socio- economic, economic aspects), A1.  To demonstrate a critical understanding of the ethical context, issues and considerations with respect to access to the information society, A4  To demonstrate common understanding of the importance of the interdisciplinarity of Design for All and the key players involved, B3  To critically apply national and international recommendations and regulations on ICT accessibility in different contexts of use, A3.  To analyse and argue the importance of Assistive Technologies (AT - principles history, rationale and relevance) in relation to the principles of Design for All, B3.

Why is digital inclusion important? The social, ethical and business case  The knowledge  …and the research skills  What evidence can we draw on?  Where can I find it?

Researching with Wiki  The modern encyclopaedia  The student’s first call and the lecturers nightmare?

Google: The digital society in Germany  The digital outsiders (35 % share of the total population)  average age of 62.4 years, 66% female, 74% not working  The occasional users (30%)  average 41.9 years old, lower to medium education  The professional users (9%)  Average 42.2 years old, 85% professional occupations  The trend users (11%)  The highest male (78%) and students share (13%). The average age of 35.9 years. Trend user is relatively young.  The digital professionals (12%)  The average age 36.1 years old, mostly male and 81% employed.  The digital avant-garde (3%)  average age 30.5 years) 76% working, 9% students, 40% higher education  accessed and translated to English 14 th May

Academic research: Social networking and social change  Mobile phones, , blogs, wikis, tweets, and social networks are transforming the way families and friends relate, while offering new mechanisms for neighbors and colleagues to collaborate. Even more important, the payoffs from technology-mediated social participation may be able to save lives in disasters, improve health by promoting wellness, and restore economic vitality by accelerating business innovation.  Hochheiser, H. and Shneiderman, B From bowling alone to tweeting together: technology-mediated social participation. interactions 17, 2 (Mar. 2010), DOI=

UK Government agencies…  Digital Inclusion ‘the best use of digital technology, either directly or indirectly to improve the lives and life chances of all citizens, particularly the most disadvantaged, and the places in which they live  Despite a continuing rise in the numbers of people using the internet, there are still 12.5 million people aged 16+ who are not active users of the internet. The majority of these people are likely to fall into two broad categories of ‘people aged 55+’ and ‘people in socio-economic group C2DE.  Government in the Digital Britain report as Plan-Digital-Participation-Final.pdf Plan-Digital-Participation-Final.pdf

EU on Age, Disability, Disadvantage  The Council of the European Union acknowledges that:  Better e-accessibility entails major social and economic gains for several groups of people and for public and commercial service providers. For example, people with disabilities and elderly, people living in remote areas and people who are disadvantaged for economic or educational reasons can be more active as workers or consumers. Public and commercial service providers can reach a larger customer base.  Council Conclusions on accessible information society  2935th TRASPORT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS and ENERGY Council meeting. Brussels, 31 March 2009

What is the social message?

….the Ethical view  Ethics  “the study of what is morally right and what is not”  Respect for persons  Beneficence (doing good)  Justice (being fair)  “The ethical perspective is central to the linking and balancing of the 'value' and 'business' cases.”  rary/studies/docs/ict_ageing_final_report.pdf

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  Article 9 – Accessibility:  “ States Parties shall also take appropriate measures to:  g. Promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet;  h. Promote the design, development, production and distribution of accessible information and communications technologies and systems at an early stage, so that these technologies and systems become accessible at minimum cost.”   As of May 13, 2010, it has 144 signatories and 86 parties with_Disabilities with_Disabilities

What is the ethical message?

….the business view  Costs and cost savings  Case studies  Web accessibility – making the business case  Microsoft – in product options  Intel – seeking innovation

"Ageing well in the information society":  By 2020, 25% of the EU's population will be over 65. Spending on pensions, health and long-term care is expected to increase by 4-8% of GDP in coming decades, with total expenditures tripling by However, older Europeans are also important consumers with a combined wealth of over €3000 billion.  ( mdetail.cfm?item_id=3457)

Action of web accessibility  Gains: Many organizations benefit financially when more people successfully use their website - better search engine results  Costs: When accessibility is incorporated from the beginning of website development it is often a small percentage of the overall website cost  On going costs: some types of accessible content additional development cost or time is required, for example providing transcripts for podcasts and captions for multimedia. 

Microsoft - accessibility  Built in accessibility features  Keyboard & mouse  Display  Information  Support for social projects

Intel  -machine/healthcare/ -machine/healthcare/  Eric Dishman, Digital Health Group Global Director, Health Innovation and Policy

TRIL, Ireland  TRIL: Technology research for independent living  Community supports for Ageing, Care pathways for older people in Europe  Intel is collaborating with the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Ireland, and a number of Irish Universities to bring resources and attention to the field of Social Connection, Cognitive Function and Falls Prevention research  Developing a new ‘technology platform’

What is the business message?

Conclusions  About the importance of digital inclusion  About the social, ethical and business dimensions  About the information seeking journey  About sharing the results

Follow-up activities  To prepare a presentation to introduce the main issues of digital inclusion to a local group of business men/women  To prepare a pod-cast on social and ethical issues of digital inclusion related to your employer  To develop a business case to seek funding for a pilot study