The Hill October 13, 2014
  Communication technology opens 'doors' for everyone, not only 
people with disabilities
  By John D.  Kemp and Brandon M.  Macsata
  Today, most Americans overlook improvements made since the dawn 
of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") in 1990.  Sidewalk 
rampsddautomatic door openersddadjustable vanity mirrorsddand 
automatic lighting and fixture controls were all designed to help 
make the "physical" world more accessible for and useable by all 
people, including individuals with disabilities.  Now, isn't it 
time we opened doors to the "virtual" world, and information and 
communication technology ("ICT")?
  Since 1998, federal agencies have been required by law to make 
their electronic ICT accessible to people with disabilities.  
Better known as "Section 508" (of the Rehabilitation Act), it 
mandates "individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees 
to have access to and use of information and data that is 
comparable to the access to and use of the information and data 
by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities." 
[1]
  Accessible ICT is an evolving process, evidenced by the United 
States Access Board, which monitors Section 508 compliance, 
updating its standards, as well as other telecommunications 
accessibility guidelines.  The House Oversight and Government 
Reform Chairman, Darrell Issa, has introduced legislation calling 
for the designation of the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in 
all federal Departments, including significant changes to the 
management of information technology.  This legislation passed 
the House of Representatives by voice vote, with similar 
legislation pending in the Senate.
  Congress is currently faced with countless legislative 
proposals focusing on IT, ranging from healthcare, Veterans 
benefits, telecommunications and education, to name a few.  But 
more needs to be done in both the public and private sectors.
  Wall Street and Main Street are both being re-defined by 
technology.  The potential for our emerging "digital economy" is 
endless, if that technology is made more accessible.
  Consider this: CTIA recently reported that the mobile data 
traffic more than doubled last year! [2] We know that people with 
disabilities are yearning to leverage accessible technologies in 
their everyday lives.
  Whereas there have been many improvement in accessibility 
features on smart phones and mobiles devices, there is a still a 
long way to go.  A recent report, authored by Nirmita Narasimhan, 
Program Manager at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), and 
Axel Leblois, founder and Executive Director of G3ict, summarized 
the challenge:
  "Senior citizens and people with physical or mental 
disabilities are often unable to access mobile phones because the 
equipment lacks the necessary accessibility features or because 
the price of the adapted phones and services remain unaffordable.  
Considering that 15 per cent of the world's population, or over 
one billion people, have a disability that affects their access 
to modern communications, the commercial opportunities for mobile 
service providers, manufacturers and smart phone application 
developers are consequently substantial." With so much of our 
daily lives dependent on mobile devices and the Internet, it is 
time that we ushered in an "accessible technology 
renaissancedd0[3]
  Aside from being the "socially responsible" thing to do, it 
also makes good business sense! In the first quarter of 2013, 
e-commerce expenditures reached 50.18 billion U.S.  dollarsdd[4] 
Worldwide, it is estimated that the total value of e-commerce 
revenue topped $1.2 trillion in U.S.  dollarsdd[5] Maybe the more 
pertinent question to ask is, "How can we NOT afford to make ICT 
more accessible for people with disabilities?"
  Ironically, despite its increasing relevance in our everyday 
lives, the World Wide Web is largely inaccessible for people with 
disabilities.  Many websites are lacking "ALT Tags," which are 
designed to help screen readers used by people who are blind or 
visually impaired identify and explain images, graphs and charts.  
Yet, missing ALT Tags are only the tip of the iceberg.
  Last year, Walmart had over 59 million unique monthly visitors 
to its websites.  As large as that number may seem, it pales in 
comparison to Amazon and Ebay, with 149 million and 91 million 
monthly unique visitors, respectivelydd[6] These companies, and 
many more - such as Deque, IBM and Microsoft - are investing in 
accessible ICT because they understand its inherent business and 
social value.
  Ironically, just as people without disabilities benefit from 
physical accessibility improvements, they are already benefitting 
from accessible ICT.  According to the UK Office of 
Communications (Ofcom), 80 percent of people using closed 
captions are not deaf or hard of hearingdd[7]
  What is accessible technology renaissance? It is one whereby we 
envision every single individual, regardless of disability, can 
fully access the modern marvels of technology.  Technology is 
what drives our economy.  Technology is what links our 
communities.  Technology is what keeps us connected to the world 
around us.  That is why it should be accessible to everyone.
  Kemp is president and CEO of The Viscardi Center, and Macsata 
is general consultant of the National Business and Disability 
Council (NBDC) at The Viscardi Center.


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