Horizontal or co-ordinated eAccessibility measures
Here the focus is on whether, in addition to the various sectoral themes discussed above, there are also horizontal or co-ordinated eAccessibility measures that cover a range of sectoral themes or dimensions of eAccessibility.
The Government recently published its National ICT Strategy 2008-2010 ‘The Smart Island’. The Strategy recognizes that ICT should be a ‘social equalizer’. Specific commitments to e-Accessibility include the following:
- Funding for the Foundation for IT Accessibility (FITA)
- Government will work with industry to promote the availability and take-up of Assistive Technology
- Government will enhance accessibility of e-Government content and produce accessibility guidelines in public procurement of ICT
- Government will incentivise voluntary accessibility programs by industry
The activities of FITA rely on the involvement of private and commercial partners and are carried out in conjunction with local business, public entities, and NGOs. Publication of accessibility guidelines are one its activities. The Foundation identifies the following five priority objectives in relation to information technology:
- To promote equal opportunities for all
- To provide training services for disabled
- To gather and disseminate information and to increase awareness
- To liaise with and facilitate public and private endeavours regarding both IT and equal opportunities
- To offer advice and consultancy services to private and public organisations in information technology and its use by disabled persons
In terms of influencing policy formation, the Foundation is represented (and actively participated) on the National ICT Strategic Plan (Partners: NISCO/MITI, KNPD) and also assisted with drafting the ECDL examination standards, where the interests of disabled persons are taken into account (Partners: Computer Society).
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We are interested in receiving any corrections and/or additional information that may help us to update or improve our understanding of the current state of affairs in this country concerning eAccessibility policies that cut across different ICT domains in a horizontal and/or co-ordinated manner. This may concern information on relevant legislation, other policies and/or the level of accessibility actually achieved. Please enter your contribution in the “Leave a Reply” box below or send an e-mail to meac at empirica dot com.
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