QITCOM 2012 highlights best practices to make ICT accessible to all

Mobilk - The use of ICTs, such as the Internet, is rapidly becoming an essential part of our economic, educational and social lives. These technologies are designed to make countless tasks easier and to open up the possibility of new experiences such as information sharing and social networking. However, this is not the case for everyone. There still remains a large section of society who is unable to reap the benefits of these developments in the ICT sector. And this is where ‘e-Accessibility’ comes in, aiming to ensure people with disabilities and the elderly access ICTs on an equal basis with others.

 

Due to its far reaching significance, advancements in ‘e-Accessibility’ are becoming of increasing importance in Middle Eastern societies. ictQATAR recently introduced the National e-Accessibility Policy to ensure that everyone in Qatar can experience the full benefits of technology.

 

In order to be a real success and truly claim that we are building Knowledge Based Societies, a concerted and consistent effort must be made towards sharing its benefits with everyone, including people who find it more difficult to use new technologies, such as those with a disability and the elderly.

 

This can be achieved in a number of ways including:

- The development of websites and mobile content that can be accessed by persons with disabilities, ensuring public access terminals are usable by people with low vision or blindness, deaf or hearing impairments, physical disabilities and reading difficulties.

- Requiring Qatar’s Assistive Technology Center (Mada) to establish a fund to improve access to assistive technologies (AT) and services, encouraging the wide spread procurement of ATs, spreading awareness of the available services and benefits of ATs and providing demonstrations, special training and evaluations.

- Calling to action all producers and distributors of digital media in Qatar to improve the accessibility of their content through accessible eBooks, online information and special captioning for video programming.

 

Supporting this call for action to improve the accessibility of digital content, QITCOM 2012 will be promoting activities, awareness and innovations in this important area. Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) will host a session dedicated to this emerging field during the second day of the QITCOM 2012 conference (March 6 2012), which will bring together private and public sectors to share best practices and future trends. To learn more, register to attend QITCOM 2012 :http://www.qitcom.com.qa/2012/