AAPD Lauds United Nations G3ICT Initiative for Including Disability Perspectives

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AAPD Lauds United Nations G3ICT Initiative for Including Disability

Perspectives at Digital Cities Wireless Roundtable

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,243168.sht

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The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the

largest cross-disability membership organization in the U.S., is

delighted that the United Nations Global Initiative for Inclusive

Information and Communication Technologies (G3ICT) included

discussions focused on accessibility for people with disabilities at

its Digital Cities Convention held December 11-12, 2007, in

Washington, D.C.

AAPD's Senior Director for Technology and Telecommunications Policy,

Jenifer Simpson, led a panel at the Convention that focused on " New

Mandates for Accessible Wireless Emergency Services, " with

demonstrations of new digital technologies and an in-depth

discussion on accessibility for people with disabilities. " As new

wireless technologies expand locally, the accessibility and

usability needs of people with disabilities must be addressed, " said

Simpson. " Too often, people with disabilities are left out and left

behind when local initiatives are undertaken, resulting in later

costly add-ons and work-arounds. " She adds, " When there are

emergencies, this becomes even more critical, or people with

disabilities end up abandoned or worse. "

" Since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities includes provisions for inclusive technology, we must

involve the perspectives of people with disabilities at each and

every opportunity, " said Axel Leblois, Executive Director of the

G3ICT initiative for inclusive information and communications

technology and co-chair of the accessibility panel.

" It's important to remember the history of telecommunications

inclusion for people who are Deaf and hard of hearing, " stated

Peltz Strauss, a policy consultant at Gallaudet University's

Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Telecommunications

Access and an AAPD panelist. " Although we already have mandates for

TTY (Text Telephone) and hearing aid access to wireline and wireless

telephone services, we now encounter new barriers when IP (Internet

Protocol) technologies are used. "

" There are no best practices yet in using broadband wireless

technologies when trying to reach people with disabilities during

emergency situations, " said Neil McDevitt, Program Director,

Community Emergency Preparedness Information Network (CEPIN), a

Department of Homeland Security project administered by

Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Inc. (TDI), and

another AAPD panelist. " Broadband wireless is simply too new a field

to say what works well all the time for people with disabilities. "

AAPD is committed to ensuring that barriers to usability and

availability in any technology should be removed for people with

disabilities and that all technologies should incorporate

accessibility and usability in design, development, production and

dissemination, with the intention of making new technologies

available to all persons regardless of disability.

The country's largest cross-disability membership organization, AAPD

promotes the economic and political power for the more than 50

people living with disabilities in the U.S. It was founded in 1995

to help unite the diverse community of people with disabilities,

including their family, friends and supporters, and to be a national

voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with

Disabilities Act (ADA). To learn more, visit the AAPD website:

http://www.aapd.com/.

Information on the G3ICT initiative at http://g3ict.com/

Information on the Gallaudet RERC at http://trace.wisc.edu/telrerc/

Information on the CEPIN imitative at http://www.cepintdi.org/