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IT Accessibility Review
Volume 1, Number 5
Around the IT/Web Accessible World
International Standardization Seminar was Held in Tokyo
On May 9, 2005, an international standardization seminar was held in Tokyo, Japan. The topic of the seminar was "Web Content Accessibility Guideline: Harmonization of JIS X8341-3 and W3C WCAG2.0".
The seminar was moderated by Professor Hajime Yamada of Tokyo University. Mr. Makoto Yokota, Director in charge of JIS (Japan Industrial Standards) in METI, stated in his welcoming speech before more than 150 seminar participants that development of accessibility standards for communication equipment and for office equipment is ongoing in Japan. I nternational harmonization is one of the top-priority policy objectives in national standardization; and Japan has a willingness to contribute to the international standardization of information accessibility.
Professor Takayuki Watanabe of Tokyo Woman´s Christian University explained that X8341-3 was developed based on WCAG1.0, and he added some requirements that were specific for Japanese language expressions. He also reported that he translated X8341-3 into English and submitted it to WAI and was successful in that some requirements in X8341-3 were included in WCAG2.0.
Ms. Shawn Henry of WAI Education and Outreach Coordinator emphasized in her speech that web accessibility is realized only when every component, including authoring tools, user agents and others, cooperate with each other. She also said that WAI seeks international harmonization and thanks Professor Watanabe for his useful input s to WCAG.2.0
Ms. Wendy Chisholm, the Coordinator of WCAG2.0 explained the current status of WCAG2.0. She hopes said that the finalization of WCAG2.0 is expected by this June. Before the finalizationfinalization, she will needs to coordinate with WAB Cluster activity in Europe, and to produce transition support materials from WCAG1.0 to WCAG2.0.
After the presentations, participant´s oin the floor pointed out the importance and necessity of process guidelines (guidelines for design, development and evaluation of website), a possibility of mandating accessibility features in authoring tools and user agents, as well as the necessity of developing accessibility guidelines for websites dedicated to the mobile Internet, etc.
Finally, Professor Yamada emphasized that Japan needs continuation of contribution to WAI so that WAI guidelines will become true international standards
"E-Government and Information Accessibility" Symposium Was Held in Tokyo Contributed by: Hajime Yamada, PhD, Tokyo University
On January 25, 2005, the Foundation for C&C Promotion Symposium 2004 "E-Government and Information Accessibility" was held at the Keidanren Kaikan Hall, Otemachi, Japan. In this symposium, discussions were conducted on the importance of e-government and e-municipality that are supporting the social infrastructure as part of the national strategy, as well as how to ensure information accessibility for elderly or disabled people.
To read the full text of this article, click the following link:
http://www.tecaccess.net/content/inthenews/egov.shtml (REMOVED IN NEW SITE)
Helping Disabled People to Find Employment
There are 60 million disabled people in China, accounting for about 5 percent of its total population. Among them 24 million are of working age. Since the reform and opening-up started began over 20 years ago, China has brought into full play the guiding role of the government and general public in promoting the employment of disabled people. It has also, and made great efforts to create a favorable environment for disabled people to equally participate in social life. According to China´s laws, the state guarantees disabled individuals´ people´s right to work. The government makes overall plans for the employment of the disabled and creates conditions for this purpose. To guarantee the disabled a people´s legitimate right to employment, the government has strengthened supervision and law enforcement, so as to find, out and correct in time, any employers´ infringement of the disabled individual´s people´s legitimate rights and interests in violation of the law and relevant regulations. In line with the principle of combining group and individual employment, China adopts preferential policies as well as supportive and protective measures to promote the employment of disabled people through various channels, at various levels, and in various forms.
By group employment, it means that the state and the public arrange for the employment of groups of disabled people by running welfare enterprises, recuperation-through-work organizations, massage cure services, and other welfare undertakings. The government encourages the development of welfare enterprises with preferential policies, such as tax reduction and exemption, to enable more disabled people to find employment. By individual employment, it means that employing units hire a certain number of disabled people for suitable posts in proportion to their size of staff size. Units with fewer disabled employees fewer than the required proportion must pay into an insurance fund for the employment of disabled people. The state has also adopted various preferential policies and supporting measures to encourage self-employment by disabled people in both urban and rural areas. Additionally and, by way of granting discount-interest, poverty-alleviation loans, the state has helped impoverished, disabled people with the ability to work, to set up their own businesses, or to start projects that can increase their incomes. Meanwhile, the government and social organizations actively offer employment services to disabled people, providing them with free vocational guidance, job referral and vocational training. By the end of 2003, 4.031 million disabled people in urban areas throughout China had found employment, among whom 1. 091 million are employed in groups, 1.236 million are employed individually and 1.704 million are self-employed. In rural areas, 16.852 million disabled people are in employment. The employment rate of the disabled overall is 83.9 percent.
Source:
4/23/04 Xinhua News Agency (Pg. Unavail. Online)
2004 WL 76841819
Xinhua News Agency
(c) Copyright 2004 Xinhua News Agency
China ´s Employment Situation and Policies (13).
RNID Preps "User-centered" Site
The Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) has overhauled its website to provide a high level of accessibility for disabled people alongside a new design. The organization, which represents the needs of the 9 million deaf and hard of hearing individuals people in the UK, will launch the new site on March 17.
RNID worked with the new media agency, Interesource, to develop the new site. Carol Monoyios, RNID´s director of marketing and membership, said: "We set out to create a web-experience which was equivalent for all users, not just a site that was a "best effort" in accessibility. And we´ve demonstrated that it is possible to achieve accessibility without compromising on the design or the quality of the site,"
Under the Disability Discrimination Act all websites are now required to be accessible, but there remains considerable confusion about how to achieve a truly accessible and easy to use site. RNID has paid particular attention to ensuring that the new site is written in Plain English, which is essential to make the site accessible to deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language.
The use of plain English is often overlooked in developing accessible sites. Instead, where the focus has more often been on page structure in order to achieve accessibility for groups such as blind users. The RNID said the site has been tested extensively on users, from conception and throughout construction. "Automated testing tools, which are available, have their place but are not enough to ensure both accessibility and usability," the organization said.
Monoyios added: "RNID tested prototypes of the site with people with a wide range of disabilities - including hearing and sight loss, dyslexia, color blindness, wheelchair users and people with limited dexterity. This testing helped to ensure that the site reflected how people intuitively search for information."
The new site includes an improved shop that sells assistive technology products from RNID Sound Advantage
MPs Under Fire Over Web Access
Members of Parliament across the country have today come under fire after a major online survey discovered that only 45% of the politicians´ personal websites offered basic levels of accessibility for all users.
And their findings have been largely condemned by a number of charities with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) accusing MPs of "missing a trick".
To read the full text of this article, follow the link below:
http://www.tecaccess.net/content/inthenews/mps.shtml (REMOVED IN NEW SITE)
Arabic Disability Law (2004)
A draft law to tackle discrimination against the disabled has been submitted to the Ministry of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Awqaf for initial approval. The draft prepared by labour officials grants the disabled rights in the areas of employment, healthcare, and education as well as and access to facilities and services.
Mariam Al Roumi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, said the ministry studied laws on the rights of the disabled in Arab countries, including Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Morocco, Kuwait, Egypt, and Lebanon.
To read the full text of this article, visit:
http://www.tecaccess.net/content/inthenews/arabic.shtml (REMOVED IN NEW SITE)
European Disability Forum
"Disability is a fundamental area that needs to be addressed in all EU policies," said European Commissioner, Vladímir Spidla.
"I welcome this meeting and close discussions with the most representative organization of disabled people," Mr. Spidla said during a meeting with the President of the European Disability Forum, Yannis Vardakastanis, and its Director, Carlotta Besozzi.
Yannis Vardakastanis, EDF President: "We invite the new Commissioner to become the ambassador of disabled people in the new Commission, guaranteeing disability mainstreaming in the definition of all EU policies and legislation."
Brussels, 1 March 2005-- For the first time since the beginning of his mandate, Vladímir Spidla, European Commissioner on Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, received an official delegation from the European Disability Forum (EDF), the representative organization of disabled people in Europe. The purpose of this official meeting was to exchange views on the current initiatives and future policies affecting 50 million people with disabilities in Europe.
To read the full text of this article, click the link below:
http://www.tecaccess.net/content/inthenews/edf.shtml (REMOVED IN NEW SITE)
Ambassador Don MacKay, Elected Newly Elected Chairperson of the United Nations Committee, Drafting First-Ever Convention on the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
United Nations, 13 April -- Ambassador Don MacKay today was unanimously elected the new chairperson of the United Nations committee that which is drafting the first-ever convention on the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. He succeeds Luis Gallegos Chiriboga, who was appointed ambassador of Ecuador to Australia.
Mr. MacKay, the Permanent Representative of New Zealand at the United Nations, has served as coordinator of the informal consultations at the last two sessions of the Committee. The committee was formally known as the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
The Committee elected Mr. MacKay at the opening of the first organizational meeting for its sixth session, which will be held at the United Nations from 1 to 12 August. Thanking the members of the Committee, Mr. MacKay said, "Together we can ensure that this extremely important convention is concluded as quickly as possible, so that proper protection and guarantee of rights is provided to persons with disabilities." The Committee also elected Jordan, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica as Committee Vice-Chairs. Consultations are ongoing within the African Group for the African Vice-Chair.
The convention is expected to be finalized in 2006.
For information, visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/
or contact Edoardo Bellando, UN Department of Public Information,
tel.: (212) 963 8275, bellando@un.org.
