executive summary_ict opportunity for a disability_inclusive development framework

7/27/2019 Executive Summary_ICT Opportunity for a Disability_Inclusive Development Framework

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The ictOppOrtunity

for aDisability-inclusive

DevelOpment

framework

Executive Summary


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Across the globe, persons with disabilities still

ace signicant barriers that limit their access

to key public services such as health, education

and inormation, reduce their opportunities to

access the labour market and diminish theiropportunities or independent living. Inorma-

tion and Communication Technologies (ICTs),

increasingly integrated into every aspect o our

lives, have become a positive orce o transor-

mation and a crucial element o any personal

development, empowerment and institutional

ramework or inclusive development.

This report, produced as a result o an exten-

sive expert consultation organized rom 20

May to 17 June 2013 in the context o the High

Level Meeting on Disability and Development

(HLMDD), aims to complement previous work

on the use o ICT as an enabler o the social and

economic inclusion o persons with disabilities

by urther exploring specic contributions that

ICT can make in achieving a disability-inclusive

development agenda.

When ICT are available, afordable and accessi-

ble, they signicantly improve the inclusion o

persons with disabilities in all aspects o society.

Web services (and the devices used to access

them) constitute the accessibility technologywith the greatest impact in promoting the inclu-

sion o persons with disabilities, according to

the experts view. This contribution is closely

ollowed by mobile devices and services, which,

despite being one o the newest technologies

rom the ICT assessed, constituted the second-

most valued ICT during the consultation. In

particular, the use o mobile phones is instru-

mental in allowing the independent living o

persons with disabilities. Television is the third-

ranked ICT in the assessment, specically or

its use as a tool to access government services

and inormation.

However, even with this positive orce o

transormation, key challenges remain to be

addressed i persons with disabilities are to

ully benet rom the use o ICT. Some barriers

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summary

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are pervasive- they afect all areas o social and

economic development. The experts consulted

or this report stated that the cost o assistive

technologies, which is comprised o the cost o

the technology as well as the cost o assessment,training and support services, is still one o the

main barriers that prevents persons with disa-

bilities rom ully accessing healthcare services,

beneitting rom educational opportunities

at all levels, being competitive on the labour

market and living independently. Another key

barrier identied is the lack o ICT accessibil-

ity. . A lack o access to ICT accessibility tech-

nologies remains a signicant barrier which is

observable in all areas o development. Also,

accessible ICT are only available in a raction

o the thousands o languages that are spoken

and signed all over the world, another barrier to

be taken into consideration i this challenge is

to be addressed efectively. Empirical evidence

shows that this barrier is urther maintained

by the lack o policies which oster widespread

availability o accessible ICT and the lack o

efective implementation o the aorementioned

policies. Furthermore, among State Parties to

the Convention on the Rights o Persons with

Disabilities (UNCRPD), ew national govern-

ments have translated the provisions o article9 o the Convention into their legislative rame-

works . In ma ny ca ses, policies promoti ng

accessibility may be in place, but they lack the

accompanying laws, legislations and regulations

that ensure those policies are efectively imple-

mented. Lastly, limited availability and use o

ICT in general greatly constrains the use o ICT

as a solution to tackling development challenges.

Addressing these barr iers requires collabo-

ration o main stakeholders involved in each

sector, as well as the denition o cross-sectorial

policies and strategies that maximize the posi-

tive impact that investments made to improve

access to and accessibility o ICT can have in

other sectors.

There are also potential risks that should be

taken into consideration to avoid the

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introduction o new barriers associated with the

generalized use o ICT in development eforts.

These include: i) creating the expectation thataccessible ICT alone can remove the barriers

aced by persons with disabilities, ii) worsening

the digital divide by not addressing the chal-

lenge o global access to ICT, and iii) not taking

into consideration the act that the rapid pace

o technological change requires requent revi-

sions o accessibility-related guidelines and

standards to support all users, a process whichrequires ocused and regular collaboration o

international organizations and entities.

Experts contributing to this report were also

requested to propose a set o concrete actions

to be undertaken by each group o stakeholders

and possible indicators to monitor progress. The

recommendations gathered suggest that govern-

ments can play a key role in stimulating the

introduction o ICT-enabled solutions adapted

to the needs o persons with disabilities, increas-

ing the availability o accessible ICT through the

incorporation o accessibility requirements in

public procurement policies as well as the revi-

sion o disability legislation to include ICT in the

legal denition o accessibility.

Private sector organizations can contribute by

increasing research and development eorts,

incorporate universal design principles at the

earliest stage possible and recruit persons with

disabilities in product development depart-

ments so as to successully develop accessible

ICT. Another priority action identied or the

private sector is to contribute to addressing the

shortage o inormation technology proession-

als with ICT accessibility skills (proessional

societies, in-house training, industry gatherings

and publications). Lastly, the sector can urther

remove attitudinal barriers towards hiring

persons with disabilities and promote accessi-

ble workplaces. Through these contributions

employers can greatly contribute to a society

where persons with disabilities can participate

in work lie, and have increased independence.

Civil society organizations can play a key role

by raising policy-makers awareness o the

remaining accessibility barriers, and by becom-

ing more active in the work conducted by inter-

national standards organizations. Civil society

organizations also have the ability to bring

about social progress and economic growth by

raising the awareness and building the capacity

o persons with disabilities and their personal

circles (including amily and riends) regarding

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what ICT can do to acilitate their economic

and social inclusion. Finally, advocating or the

mainstreaming o the use o the universal design

principle in all development eforts is crucial or

ensuring that the international development

ramework is disability-inclusive.

Regarding the contribution o the UN system and

other international organizations, the consulta-

tion highlighted that the most urgent action to be

undertaken by the UN system is the implementa-

tion o operational activities to meet the disabil-

ity-inclusive development goals. Furthermore,

that these activities should be complemented by

the monitoring and evaluation o development

eforts at the global, regional and national scales

along with the perormance review to assess

whether development policies, programmes and

projects are eective and results-driven. It is

imperative to ensure that this analysis is quan-

titative and supported by consistent data, and

that such analysis is designed with the partic-

ipation o persons with disabilities, in order to

make sure that the correct actors are meas-

ured. Lastly, the UN must continue to imple-

ment awareness-raising activities and mobiliza-

tion campaigns in order to create a demand or

national governmental action.

International standards organizations can also

play a special role in enabling a disability-inclu-

sive development agenda by providing a neutral

platorm rom which to develop and harmonize

international standards and provide recom-

mendations related to accessible ICT. To achieve

this, standards development bodies have the

responsibility to acilitate the participation o

relevant experts and delegates with disabilities

in their activities. Furthermore, these organ-

izations can contribute to the promotion o

research and development ocused on develop-

ing specic ICT-enabled solutions or persons

with disabilities. Lastly, international standards

organizations bear the responsibility to raise

policy makers awareness o accessibility barri-

ers to be addressed.

These are the experiences, challenges and

recommendations gathered as a contribution

to the HLMDD. By urther presenting the ICT

opportunity or persons with disabilities, iden-

tiying the remaining challenges and barriers

to be overcome and proposing a roadmap o

actions, this report invites all stakeholders to

acknowledge the role o ICT as critical enablers

o a disability-inclusive international develop-

ment agenda.

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