Accessibility SIG General Meeting – Jan 23 2020 – 12:00 UTC @a11ySIG @InternetSociety

Accessibility SIG

Accessibility SIGOn Thursday January 23 2020, at 12:00 UTC the Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group (A11ySIG) will hold a General Meeting. All SIG members are urged to attend. Observers are welcome. The format will be a zoom call, which will be recorded, and which will have real time text captions.

AGENDA

  1. Welcome by President 5 Mins.
  2. Affirmation of Officers / Bylaws 5 mins
  3. Overview of SIG activities in 2019 10 Mins.
  4. Plans for 2020 10 Mins.
  5. General Discussion by the members 25 Mins.
  6. Closing remarks by the President 5 Mins.

CALL
Time: Jan 23, 2020 07:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Zoom:  https://zoom.us/j/989322556

Meeting ID: 989 322 556

One tap mobile
+16468769923,,989322556# US (New York)
+16699006833,,989322556# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 989 322 556
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/adqeVTounu

REAL TIME TEXT
https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=a11ysig

Moving Beyond Rhetoric: Towards a Digitally Inclusive and Accessible Pakistan for PWDs

photo of banner

By Muhammad Shabbir Awan

The 2018 Pakistan IT Policy titled Digital Pakistan envisions “to become a strategic enabler for an accelerated digitization eco system to expand the knowledge based economy and spur socio economic growth”. We felt that with 10-15 percent of country’s population consisting of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and over 95 percent of inaccessible websites, this vision would remain just rhetoric unless we do something about it. The answer, “make websites accessible for PWDs” seems easier said than done. Nonetheless, I am pleased to report that we have taken another significant step towards making ‘Digital Pakistan’ inclusive and accessible for everyone including PWDs.

The Internet Society Asia Pacific Bureau, supported by the ISOC Accessibility Special Interest Group (Accessibility-SIG) and Islamabad Chapter organized a 3-days advanced training on web accessibility from 21st to 23rd October 2019. For this purpose, internationally reputed expert on web accessibility David Berman was invited to organize the training.

Photo of class

Government departments, particularly Ministry of IT, National IT Board and National Incubation Center, were incremental in organizing this event. About 50 webmasters a majority from the government, people with disabilities, and private sectors participated in the training.

The three-days extensive program covered a variety of topics related to digital accessibility that included but was not limited to: introduction to accessibility; why and how accessibility helps everyone and not just those with disabilities; how accessibility will help project budgets; what are the major disabilities and challenges, how most of us have some level of difficulty that can be assisted by accessible design, and assistive technologies we can typically use to mitigate these issues; national and international policy and legislation; overview of W3C WCAG 2 guidelines A and AA levels; PDF and accessible documents overview, including accessible tags; understanding of how enterprise-wide development processes can save money and time; Javascript accessibility; testing tools for Web pages and documents; accessibility checklists; auditing models for page frameworks and specific pages; case studies walkthrough, including existing government websites; and advanced issues that are beyond AA, application and beyond Web and documents.

group photo

The purpose of the training was three-fold: first, train the developers to make the websites accessible for PWDs and according to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 standards. Second, to prepare local team of developers that is well versed in digital accessibility standards. Third, gather digital experts from Government, private sector and PWDs under one roof to start discussing to find practicable solutions to accessibility-related challenges in Pakistan.

trainees studying

To recall, over the past 4 years the Internet Society has been working on Digital Accessibility issues in Pakistan. This work has resulted in involvement, success and support from the government and local community, including People with Disabilities, to address the digital accessibility challenges in the country. One of the key successful outcomes of our efforts was the Ministry of IT taking PWDs on board as a stakeholder while formulating the aforementioned Digital Pakistan policy that was announced in 2018. With this training we wanted to build capacity of the government webmasters to develop accessible websites. In the concluding session of the training, Member IT of the Ministry of IT, Syed Junaid Imam, who was invited as keynote speaker reassured that all the government of Pakistan websites would be made accessible. He also informed the audience that MOIT is developing the strategy to implement the national IT policy and this time too, the input from people with disabilities will be incorporated in the document.

photo of banner

The cases of Digital Pakistan policy and the current training on one hand show that Pakistan is incrementally moving to make internet truly for everyone, and on the other, proves that solutions to the digital accessibility related issues for PWDs can only be found with their own involvement. Meaning, nothing about us without us! Moreover, now when with the help of civil society the government of Pakistan has formulated the guidelines, the training has been provided to the webmasters, the next step is to translate the rhetoric (policy guidelines) into action! The ISOC Accessibility-SIG is ready to support in whatever way it can. I am sure that together we can ensure the websites not only of the government but also of the private sector are accessible for PWDs. Accessible internet for PWDs would bring us another step closer to fulfilling the objective of leaving no one behind by 2030.

About the author: Muhammad Shabbir Awan is a researcher, a rights activist and the President of Internet Society Accessibility SIG. He tweets at @MshabirAwan

Observing International Day of Persons With Disabilities on Tuesday 3rd December 2019 #idpd

Accessibility SIG

Accessibility SIG[A message from Accessibility SIG President Muhammad Shabbir Awan]

On Tuesday 3rd December 2019, the Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group (A11ySIG) joins the rest of the world in observing International Day of Persons With Disabilities (IDPD).

To recall, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been annually observed on 3 December worldwide since 1992. The theme for 2019 IDPD is: ‘Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda’. The theme focuses on the empowerment of persons with disabilities for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development as envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which pledges to ‘leave no one behind’ and recognizes disability as a cross-cutting issues, to be considered in the implementation of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The ISOC Accessibility SIG aims to make the Internet and its attendant technologies accessible to the largest audience possible regardless of disabilities. On Tuesday, while we are observing IDPD, I call upon the developers to remember that not everyone uses your product in the same way. Moreover, the digital divide is not just about having the access to digital technology, it could also be about having the access to technology and not being able to use it. Among other factors in the domain of Internet and digital accessibility, a lot depends upon the technical community and developers. So, if you are a developer, and developing a device or a website, you need to ensure that your digital product doesn’t prevent nearly one billion of world’s population to access or use it.

Thus, if you are not making your website accessible, you are contributing to the digital divide. If you want to make your website or mobile app accessible, follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In ensuring that the Internet is for Everyone, the developer is either part of the solution or the problem. There is no middle way.

With Best Regards,
Muhammad Shabbir Awan
President,
Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group.
Email: mshabbirawan@gmail.com
Twitter: @mshabirawan
Website: https://www.a11ysig.org

Experience Sharing: the National Federation of the Blind Annual Convention 2019

(In July 2019 A11ySIG President Muhammad Shabbir Awan attended  the NFB convention in Las Vegas – this is his report)

Betting is an uncertain business and some may consider “sure bet” as an oxymoronic statement, however, at Mandalay Bay Resort and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada from 7th to 12th of July 2019, there was sure bet that one would find determined blind people, as well as skills, information, awareness and experience about blindness. Said to bring the world’s largest annual gathering of people with blindness together, The American National Federation of the Blind (NFB) 2019 convention proved to me that it was much more than I had read, heard and/or imagined. I am thankful for the support of Internet Society that enabled me to experience this wonderful 2019 convention from July seventh to twelth. I am also thankful to Mr. Sultan Shah and Mr. Usman for their wonderful company during this trip. No doubt, this convention made a tremendous impression on me.

The life  philosophy of NFB is: “The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back. The National Federation of the Blind is not an organization speaking for the blind–it is the blind speaking for ourselves.” This is the message that I would hear, see and experience for the whole duration of the convention. This experience would make it worth over 26 hours long flight, disturbance in bodyclock due to time zone difference, and travel all the way from Pakistan to Las Vegas.

Situated at the beginning of the world-famous Las Vegas strip, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino was the perfect location for enjoyment, networking, learning, conference activities, all of the above and more too! Graceful, confident people with blindness wove their way through crowded lobbies and hallways using their canes or guide dogs effortlessly. Mandalay Bay had more than two dozen restaurants and activities for people of all ages to enjoy. Among its features is an aquatic playground called Mandalay Bay Beach which has real sand, a wave pool, and rentable cabanas. The fun part was that Wherever I went in these six days, be it the middle of the day or night, I would find people with blindness enjoying and groping through their way.

I see that many of the rough places have been made smooth by these heroic pioneers.

I found myself attending meetings of many groups and divisions. The six-day agenda was full of seminars, workshops and sessions on a variety of topics related to blindness. The topics included but are not limited to: education, science and engineering, technology, research, yoga, self-defence, sports and recreation, and many more. The convention also had sessions on tactile graphics, accessible art, and bringing more STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) into blind people’s lives. For me, the sessions related to accessible technology particularly live presentations by the accessibility teams of Apple, Microsoft and Freedom Scientific as well as discussions with the people from these companies on sidelines were really interesting and fruitful.

As an International Relations (IR) researcher and professional, for me, the research and academic professional’s meeting to discuss current research, issues that blind people face in research and share ideas for increasing the research and academic presence of the NFB was of particular interest. I, as an IR student and professional, particularly loved the NFB Newsline service that offers hundreds of American and international newspapers and magazines to people with blindness in accessible formats. The only disappointment I faced at the convention was that I could not be subscribed to this wonderful service as I was not a resident of any US state.

Nonetheless, I was able to gain a lot of knowledge and awareness from the meetings. I learned about forms of discrimination and access barriers that blind people have faced, and how the NFB helps overcome these issues. For example, I learned that the NFB has fought for blind people who have faced low expectations from teachers and lacked necessary accommodations to gain the same knowledge as their sighted counterparts. At convention, I learned about technologies intended to help overcome access barriers, such as the awesome development of a braille display that makes images tactile. I also learned about Aira, a new technology that helps blind people have easier access to information. Meanwhile, I also took the opportunities to introduce the ISOC Accessibility SIG to the participants and ran a member recruitment campaign too.

The exhibit hall was also one of my favorite attraction places. It opened the prospect for me to meet and speak with representatives from about fifty companies and organizations that produce, market and/or disseminate training in these tools. It was wonderful to get my hands on so many tools for the blind all in one place. For anyone who wants to do some comparison shopping before purchasing a piece of access technology, this is definitely a prime opportunity. The devices that excited me most were: a Bluetooth refreshable Braille display with a note-taking feature built in; and Optical Character Recognition Glasses (OCR Glasses). I plan to purchase one as soon as I can. At the same time, the NFB Independence Market provided the opportunity to handle, test, and learn to use blindness and low-vision tools including accessible games, household items, watches, calculators, and more.

In summary, for me, the convention was a blast! From the moment I entered the hotel, to the second I left, I was participating in exhilarating activities. Regardless of whether I was at General Session or out to lunch with my friends, I was having a delightful time. I have been to number of international conferences with thousands of participants, I also knew that successful blind people existed, but I never witnessed such a large gathering of blind people in my life—over 3000 people registered for the event. With all of this in mind, I would definitely recommend that everyone who is blind or visually impaired try to go to an NFB convention. There is so much to experience and so many great people to meet. However, I do have one word of caution regarding convention: Sleep may be hard to come by. There is so much to do that getting the normal six to eight hours of sleep per night may not be possible.

Lastly, I understand that people with blindness or other disabilities face difficulties in every society, in developing countries more than in the developed world. However, before convention, I was unaware of the extent of inequality that the blind community may face in all aspects of life. The fact that people are getting paid less simply because they are blind, or having their children taken away because close-minded individuals say, “How could blind people raise children?” is absurd. To be honest, I have personally faced little discrimination and few access barriers thus far in my life. I was shocked to hear about the terrible ways in which blind people have been slighted, and times when they had been cheated out of opportunities and experiences. I believe that continuing the fight to overcome discrimination and access barriers is extremely important. Probably the most important lesson I learned is that blind people all over the world are facing challenges, but despite this, they are overcoming these barriers and getting the degrees, finding the jobs and having the experiences they want. In other words, they are living the lives they want!

Muhammad Shabbir Awan is the President of Internet Society Accessibility SIG and can be contacted at: Email and Twitter.

MAY 16 2019 – GAAD: Digital Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities

GAAD Webinar

GAAD WebinarOn Thursday 16 May 2019 at 12:00 UTC the Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group (A11ySIG) marked Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2019 (GAAD) with its inaugural public webinar “Digital Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities“. A11ySIG founders and special guest Dan York of the Internet Society introduced the group and discussed this important aspect of the Internet Society’s vision that the Internet is for everyone.

WATCH ON LIVESTREAM: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/isocgaad2019

AGENDA

Welcome and Introduction: Mr. Muhammad Shabbir Awan, President, A11ySIG

Historic Context of Accessibility SIG: Mr. Joly MacFie, AMS Admin A11ySIG

Women and Digital Accessibility: Ms. Gunela Astbrink, Vice President, A11ySIG

Digital Accessibility and Internet Society: Mr. Dan York, Director of Web Strategy, Internet Society

Accessibility between Policy and Practice: Ms. Judith Hellerstein, Secretary, A11ySIG

Interactive Discussion / Q&A session

Vote of Thanks and Wrap up: Mr. Muhammad Shabbir Awan, President, A11ySIG

TWITTER: @a11ysig + #gaad https://bit.ly/a11ysiggaad

ABOUT INTERNET SOCIETY ACCESSIBILITY SIG
The Internet Society Accessibility Special Interest Group (A11ySIG) is dedicated to ensuring equal access to the Internet and its benefits to all regardless of disability.
https://a11ysig.org

ABOUT GLOBAL ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS DAY
May 16 2019 marks the eighth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities. https://globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org/

ABOUT THE INTERNET SOCIETY
The Internet Society supports and promotes the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society.
https://www.internetsociety.org