CHALLENGES FACING DEAF IN ACCESSING ICT Nickson O. Kakiri Kenya National Association of the Deaf E-Accessibility Workshop for People with disabilities Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi Kenya th May, 2012

Kenya National Association of Deaf Established in 1987 by the Deaf themselves Advises Government and Stakeholders on Policy Issues related to Deaf persons in Kenya Advocates for human rights of deaf people in Kenya in Socio economic and Political participation Provide Research,Training on Sign Language and Sign Language Interpreter Training Collaborate with International NGOs on Issues about deaf Kenyans

Medical Model Rehabilitation Model Social/ Cultural Model Conceptual Models of Disability Peter Coleridge,1993

WHO IS DEAF PERSON? The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) defines the word “deaf” in the broader sense, meaning all people with no hearing (hearing impaired) and those with partial loss of hearing or partially deaf). All of them have accepted Sign Language as the language of the Deaf As a cultural label, the word deaf is often written with a capital D, while the audiological condition, it is written with a lower case d. Deaf culture is recognized under article 30, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities United NationsConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

WHO estimate 278 million, while WFD estimate 70,Million Deaf uses who uses Sign Language Live Throughout the World* WHO,2005,WFD, % 80% Poor countries

Only 20% Percent of Deaf People Attend School Worldwide* *Mäkipää, 1993

What we know about Deaf in Kenya The exact number of Deaf Kenyans are not known, but various literatures cite approximation at between 600,000 – 800,000 KSL users. Medical personnel in hospitals cites 1million based on ENT medical records Constitution Recognise, KSL and braille article 7(3)(b) and 120, Disability Rights Article 54 on Bills of Rights, article 35 address right to access information Disability Act 2003 whose section 39 recognise use of SL and subtitle on TV Ratified UN Convention on Disability Rights on May 19th Attempted National Disability Survey in 2007

The above Policies in current settings Provide Deaf with an opportunity to be given equal opportunities as any other abled and disabled person in relation to ICT Protect Deaf rights to participation on issues about them when designing policies Provide them with the right to make own decisions on what kind of ICT they want to use Provide them with the opportunity to get better quality ICT training

ICT RELIANCE Deaf individuals rely on technology for communication significantly for information Technology is even important in face to face social situations Social media tends to be of great importance to deaf individuals Improve knowledge of English or other languages as second language Emergency alert in cases of disaster, violence or fire Door knock alert

Difficulties to Deaf People in Developing Countries It is estimated that of the 55 million deaf people living in developing countries throughout the world, less than 2% attend school and the majority are unemployed a lack of respect and/or understanding of Deaf Culture and native sign languages (Lane, 1992; Wilson, 2002; Wilson & Kakiri, 2004)

Challenges ICT teachers lack basic sign language and deaf culture knowledge. There are few educational opportunities for Deaf Children that could provide them with ICT knowledge due to poverty. When there are opportunities for education, hearing children gets first priority, and if in special schools, boys usually receive them & not girls. Thus result into lesser use of ICT Lack of professional interpreters for ICT related environment

Cell Phones are not designed to meet Deaf users needs ie lack video stream Non of the ICT products in Kenya designed to alert Deaf during disasters Lack of will to enforce policy and regulation related to ICT accessibility Lack of Interpreters and caption on TV, youTube Lack of phone relay services

Addressing the challenges Encourage participation of professional Deaf adults in ICT policy making process Expose ICT professionals on use of KSL as a means of instruction in ICT. Promote inclusive Dialogue among ICT stakeholders as it is today Train more professional Sign Language interpreters in ICT settings so as to ensure success of inclusion in ICT Promote KSL research,training and material development for use in ICT according to acceptable standard

Addressing challenges Policy and regulations enforcement to ensure Deaf have access to ICT is necessary Alert systems such as fire alarms and alarm clocks must appeal to different senses in order for a deaf individual to notice the alert Closed Captioning must be available on a television in order for a deaf person to watch Make access to ICT affordable Dialogue, dialogue on how best to improve accessibility is necessary

Thanks Nickson O. Kakiri Kenya National Association of the Deaf