ICTs and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and Specific Needs
It is estimated that around a billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. The WSIS Forum recognised that ICTs should be available, accessible and affordable for all. It is crucial that persons with disabilities and specific needs can fully access ICTs. In 2019, the WSIS Forum launched a WSIS Accessibility Day to inform and observe how ICTs can help people living with disabilities whilst focusing on progressing towards the SDGs as well as to raise awareness on the critical role of ICTs to enable and accelerate the social and economic inclusion.
The Day focused on five main issues, namely Security, Communication, Mobility, Education and Emergency. The day comprised of full-day dedicated workshops on ICTs and Accessibility to discuss and share experiences on the application of innovative ICTs in empowering people with disabilities and persons with specific needs. This was also an opportunity for the WSIS stakeholders to engage with new stakeholders from the various accessibility community. ICTs have become a positive force of transformation and a crucial element for inclusive development.
The success and importance of this Day at the WSIS Forum 2019 was appreciated and highlighted by all stakeholders who requested to make this event bigger and better in 2020. In collaboration with the WSIS stakeholders and at their request, a special track on ICTs and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and Specific Needs was developed for the WSIS Forum 2020 to continue the discussions on ICT accessibility. The creation of the special track is also relevant to foster discussions in implementing the WSIS Action Lines, including, among others: C2 (ensuring appropriate infrastructure), C3 (enabling people with disabilities to gain access), C4 (building capacity amongst policy makers and practitioners, C5 (cybersecurity), C6 (creating an enabling environment), C8 (supporting the cultural diversity and identity of people with disabilities), and C10 (ethical dimensions of the information society).
The ICTs and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities and Specific Needs special track provided space for discussions and constructive dialogues to mainstream accessibility in all the technologies. The track consisted of high-level dialogues, WSIS TalkX sessions, and interactive workshops that covered several thematic issues, including assistive technologies, universal design for sustainable development, safe listening, and media accessibility to name a few. The WSIS Forum also provided tools for stakeholders’ engagements, such as sign language interpreter and captioning in sessions to create an inclusive and equitable experience for all.
The special track continued during the WSIS Forum 2021 with a series of virtual workshops to showcase the role of ICTs in the development of inclusive society. The track also featured experts and stakeholders from different sectors who highlighted efforts to leverage ICTs to assist people with blindness and vision impairment, to provide inclusive education for all, and to showcase emerging assistive technologies.