Martin Gould, National Council on Disability
G3ict/ITU Global Forum - April 21, 2008

Good morning to you all. And thank you for inviting the National Council on Disability to participate at this global forum. NCD is pleased to offer these remarks in light of the fact that the landmark treaty on the rights of persons with disabilities will come into force on May 3rd. 

We offer these remarks as a roadmap of some of the implications of information deprivation in the context of the global population of people with disabilities, a model for considering priorities for ICT standards and policy making, an analysis of information deprivation and the digital divide, and a review of information deprivation and global poverty as it affects people with disabilities.  

Information Deprivation

After the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, 117 countries adopted a declaration and program of action which included commitments to eradicate “absolute” and reduce “overall” poverty. Absolute poverty was defined as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services." Information deprivation involves no access to newspapers, radio or television or computers or phones at home (e.g. no information sources).

As of the end of 2007, information deprivation can be put in the context of global population, installed base of information devices and socio-economic and geographic disparities. 

Table 1 represents "low hanging fruits" and priorities for standards and policy making, simply based upon the worldwide installed base of information devices: 850 million personal computers, 1 billion Internet users (includes shared and mobile access), 1.3 billion telephone land lines, 1.5 billion TV sets, 2.4 billion radios, 2.7 billion cell phones, including 1.8 billion text messaging users (more than twice the number of email users).

Table 1 roughly estimates the "proforma" size of the population concerned. This was be done by assuming an equal penetration of each category of device of the world population among specific groups of persons with disabilities (ideal outcome targeted by the Convention).  For example, at the intersection of TV and hard of hearing, we estimated the number of persons possibly deprived of TV access by multiplying the global penetration of TV sets over worldwide population by the number of people who are hard of hearing.

The data from Table 1, in turn gives us an idea of the scope of improvement which could be derived from relatively simple standardization and policy initiatives.  For example, making TV sets pre-wired and programmed for closed captioning together with an obligation for broadcasters to ensure a certain % of programming with captions would potentially address the needs of 17.2 million persons who are deaf and hard of hearing worldwide.  Making text to speech capabilities compulsory in cell phones would address the needs of 16.1 million individuals who are blind worldwide.

Source: NCD (2004)

In 2004, the National Council on Disability (NCD) conducted an analysis of six product lines (i.e., ATMs, cell phones, PDAs, distance learning software, TVs, and voice recognition technologies). The intent was to document accessibility issues that prevent people with disabilities from fully accessing the selected products and to document accessibility features that either were currently offered or could be offered by manufacturer. The end result of this product analysis was the assignment of an accessibility grade to each product line for each disability group (Table 2).

These grades may be useful to designers and manufacturers to identify the target populations that should be consulted during the design process so that more accessible design features are incorporated into new products.

As these results indicate, certain product lines are very accessible to some people but largely inaccessible to others. For example, cellular phones are largely inaccessible to users who are blind and users who are deaf. Incorporating more features that make this product line more accessible to these users will expand the market for cellular phones.

As a second example, televisions were found to be most inaccessible to users who are blind because of an inability to locate, access, and read information, features, and controls.

For the purposes of this forum, information deprivation involves people with disabilities who do not have access to ICT and/or people who do not use ICT.

According to OECD (2000), “the term “digital divide” refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard both to their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and to their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities.” Recent measurement initiatives have taken on the assessment of various aspects of the digital divide. For example:

Source: World Bank (2006)

Table 3 shows the World Bank income categories, and reveals that the majority of the world’s population lives in low- or lower-middle-income countries.

Source: World Bank (2006)

Table 4 reflects the relationship between income groups and several ICT indicators. A person in a high-income country is over 48 times more likely to be an Internet user than someone in a low-income country. Mobile phones are 17 times more prevalent in high-income countries than low-income countries. Telephone landline penetration in high-income countries is over 62 times that of low income countries. Television sets are 8 times more prevalent in high-income countries than in low-income countries.

Source: ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database (2006)

As depicted in Table 5 above, over the last 12 years, the telecommunication/ ICT sector has undergone major changes. With high growth in the mobile sector, mobile penetration rates stood at more than 40 percent at the end of 2006. ITU data suggest that the number of mobile cellular subscribers surpassed the 3 billion mark in August 2007. At current growth rates, global mobile penetration is expected to reach 50 percent by early 2008. Despite major differences between the developed and the developing world, mobile services have been critical in enhancing access to telecommunications in many developing regions and rural areas, where fixed lines remain limited or non-existing. Although access to the Internet has been growing rapidly, too, the number of Internet users in developing regions remains limited. By the end of 2006, just over 10 percent of the world’s population in developing countries were using the Internet, compared to close to 60 percent in the developed world. (ITU, 2007).

According to the World Health Organization, An estimated 10% of the world’s population - approximately 650 million people - experience some form of disability. Disability is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. And, according to WHO, about 80% of the world’s population of people with disabilities - approximately 500 million people - live in developing countries and experience social and economic disadvantages and denial of rights. With numbers this large, it is clear that the disability dimension needs to be taken into account within mainstream policies, plans, and product design.

Table 6 below presents a rough estimate of the number of people with disabilities (in millions) in developing countries who are probably deprived of access to ICTs. The figures are derived from an extrapolation of numbers presented in Table 5 - which is a global estimate of total numbers of people with disabilities in various groups - times the percentage (80%) of people with disabilities living in developing countries. 

It is very important not to forget the real goal of providing ICT in developing countries. The point is to use ICT and Internet technologies as a mean to provide information and services (health, banking, government services, education, business, etc.) to improve the life of the digital have-nots. The first step to accomplish this goal resides in appropriate ICT standardization and policies.

Access should be provided to all and the solutions should be tailored to meet the needs of people with disabilities within a larger solution (e.g., through e-government, e-commerce). In middle and high income countries, text messaging is prevalent while the Internet is more limited and often accessed through GSM devices on hand held devices or shared access (Internet cafes, community centers, etc.). This would likely have an impact on priorities for people with disabilities in those middle and high income countries. As leaders and citizens look at low-income or developing countries, solutions will likely involve a different mix of ICTs and accessibility solutions based on each country’s assessment of its priorities. For example, for many low-income countries, education and workplace assistive technologies may well be very high on the list of their countries priorities in relation to citizens with disabilities.

As a result of the ratification of the CRPD, each country should establish a legal and policy agenda that complies with the treaty.  Each country should agree on national goals and a vision for the future, and then will need to establish the breadth of a legal and policy framework to address its agreed-upon vision. In some countries, there may be no specific or concrete national goals for people with disabilities in a host of critical areas such as access to information, employment, educational attainment, or access to affordable ICTs. Undoubtedly, there will be a need for a consistent, long-term set of objectives (related to the national goals and vision) which are practical in nature and in application (e.g., digital literacy, telework) that are relevant for all members of each country’s population of people with disabilities.

Once national goals, a vision, and objectives are set out, these frameworks will need to be explained in a clear and unambiguous manner. Each country should agree on the terminology to be used. In doing so, it should rely on language that is not over-professionalized, but that everyone understands. Each country should also agree on the means and methods it will use for accountability and reporting on its progress in relation to the CRPD.

Finally, each country should undertake a multi-dimensional approach to provide affordable access to information and accessible ICTs. Dimensions to focus upon include:

Physical access to technology
Appropriateness of technology
Affordability of technology and technology use
Human capacity and training
Locally relevant content, applications, and services
Integration into daily routines
Socio-cultural factors
Trust in technology
Local economic environment
Legal and regulatory framework
Political will and public support

Real Access/Real Impact www.bridges.com

Whenever possible, people with disabilities should be included at every stage in the planning and implementation of a country’s activities to comply with the CRPD.