The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Axel Leblois Executive Director G3ict Kampala, Uganda 6 May 2010 ICT ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Slide 2 G3ict Mission To Facilitate the Implementation of the ICT Accessibility Agenda Of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities A Flagship Advocacy Initiative of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development With the participation of Disabled Persons Organizations, Industry, Governments, Academia, and International Development Agencies and Standard Development Organizations

Slide 3 Purpose of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities To promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity (Article 1)

Slide 4 Persons Living with Disabilities 18% of the world population lives with disabilities, including those related to aging 10% or more than 650 million people live with life long -altering disabilities Two thirds of which are in developing countries

Slide 5 CategoriesDegree Confirmed Impairment Visual Visual impairment 1.40% Blindness 0.64% Partially Sighted 0.76% Speech - Voice Language Moderate 4.0 to 6.0% Severe.80 to 1.0% Hearing Mild hard of hearing 6.0% Moderate-extremely hard of hearing 3.0% Severe – profoundly deaf 1.0% Motor Dexterity 2.6% Walking difficulty 0.90% Inability to walk 0.20% 21.30% to 23.50% Types of Impairments: % of Population Example of South Africa Source: Ministry of Health, South Africa

Slide 6 6 Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 13, 2006 Universal framework for the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities 8 th Universal Convention on Human Rights and 1 st of this millennium 144 countries have signed it as of March 2010 – 88 with the Optional Protocol 85 have ratified it, representing over 75% of the World Population The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Slide 7 Sub Sahara Africa Update: All East African Nations Signed as of May 2010 – Benin Signed: Signed Protocol: Burkina Faso Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Burundi Signed: Signed Protocol: Cameroon Signed: Signed Protocol: Cape Verde Signed: Central African Republic Signed: Signed Protocol: Congo (Republic of the) Signed: Signed Protocol: Cote d'Ivoire Signed: Signed Protocol: Ethiopia Signed: Gabon Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ghana Signed: Signed Protocol: Guinea Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Kenya Signed: Ratified: Lesotho Ratified: Liberia Signed: Signed Protocol: Madagascar Signed: Signed Protocol: Malawi Signed: Ratified: Mali Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Mauritius Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Mozambique Signed: Niger Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Nigeria Signed: Signed Protocol: Rwanda Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Senegal Signed: Signed Protocol: Sierra Leone Signed: Signed Protocol: South Africa Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Sudan Signed: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Swaziland Signed: Signed Protocol: Togo Signed: Signed Protocol: Uganda Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: United Republic of Tanzania Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified: Ratified Protocol: Zambia Signed: Signed Protocol: Ratified:

Slide 8 Information and Communication Accessibility: New Rights for a New Era Preamble (v): Recognizing the importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Slide 9 Why the Convention Focuses on ICT Accessibility A Massive Increase in ICT usage: 1.1 billion personal computers billion Internet users (incl. shared / mobile access) 1.4 billion telephone land lines 1.5 billion TV sets and 2.4 billion radios 4.5 billion cell phones, over 2 billion text messaging users Major impact of ICT accessibility on education, economic, government relations and cultural opportunities

Slide 10 Accessibility Obligations: ICTs On Par with Physical Environment & Transportation « To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems... » (Article 9)

Slide 11 Implications of Article 9 for Policy Makers Based on the definition of Article 9, all sector specific accessibility dispositions cover ICT accessibility The terms Accessibility and Accessible appear respectively 9 and 17 times in the text of the Convention The term Reasonable Accommodation is included 7 times with equal impact on ICT applications

Slide 12 Application Areas CRPD Article Accessibility Mandates Reasonable Accommodation Promoting Assistive Technologies E-Government 9.2.a Media and Internet 9.2.b Education 24 Employment 27 Political Rights 21 Emergency services 9.1.b Culture & Leisure 30.5.c Private sector services 9.2.b Personal Mobility 20 Rehabilitation 26 Main Dispositions with Implications for ICT Accessibility and Assistive Technologies

Slide 13 Private Sector Services Accessibility The state must insure that private entities that offer facilities and services to the public take into account the accessibility of those services (Art. 9) (Also mentioned in Art. 21)

Slide 14 Special Dispositions Promoting Accessible & Assistive Technologies Special Dispositions Promoting Accessible & Assistive Technologies 1. Mandate to promote R&D 2. ICT Products Development and Universal Design 3. Reasonable accommodation defined and mandated 4. Obligation for States to set accessibility standards 5. Intellectual property rights 6. Promoting New Media and the Internet for Persons with Disabilities

Slide 15 Legislative and Regulatory Process Signing of the Convention Ratification Parties States must then align their legislation and regulations with the dispositions of the Convention unless already more favorable Optional Protocol and Committee on Disability A long but irreversible process with worldwide pressure from NGOs representing persons with disabilities

Slide 16 Challenges for State Parties to the Convention Limited references available to implement the dispositions of the Convention covering ICT Accessibility Speed of change due to technological developments Requirement to make accessible and assistive ICT products affordable : 1.Use policy to create favorable conditions for industry and operators 2.Support standards for mass production, economies of scale, competition, interoperability and lower prices

Slide 17 G3ict – ITU Toolkit for Policy Makers

Slide 18 Areas of ICT Accessibility Covered by the e-Accessibility Toolkit for Policy Makers Government Areas

Slide 19 Todays Agenda by Area of ICT Accessibility Session 2: e-Accessibility basics, latest technology advances with a demo, analysis of the future of e-Inclusion Session 4: Technologies and Standards in promoting accessible ICT services and products Session 5: Web without Barriers: Designing accessible web sites, Web Accessibility standards, Web Accessibility Checkers and a demo Session 6: Real Time Captioning, Total Conversation relay and Application in Emergency Services Session 7: Wireless Services, TV Broadcasting, e-government web sites, Access to published works, Internet cafés and community access and Assistive Technologies in schools Session 8: Panel discussion on key areas of government involvement in ICT accessibility and tools available to policy makers for promoting accessibility: Special focus on the G3ict - ITU e-Accessibility Toolkit for Policy Makers

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Annexes Special Dispositions on ICTs and Assistive Technologies

Slide Promoting R&D for Assistive Technologies State Parties...undertake or promote research and development of, and to promote the availability and use of new technologies, including information and communications technologies, mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, suitable for persons with disabilities, giving priority to technologies at an affordable cost (Article 4 – g)

Slide ICT Products Development Early Stage Accessibility Definitions: 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 (Art. 9) Universal Design: To undertake or promote research and development of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, which should require the minimum possible adaptation and the least cost to meet the specific needs of a person with disabilities, to promote their availability and use, and to promote universal design in the development of standards and guidelines (Art. 4)

Slide Reasonable Accommodation Defined and Mandated Reasonable accommodation means necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms (article 2) General obligation in article 3, referenced in articles on education and employment

Slide Standards « States Parties shall take…appropriate measures to develop, promulgate and monitor the implementation of minimum standards and guidelines for the accessibility of facilities and services open or provided to the public » Article 9-2 (a)

Slide Intellectual Property Rights States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials. (Article 30 on Cultural life)

Slide New Media and the Internet « States Parties shall also take appropriate measures to…promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet » Article 9 (g)