Major U.S. Study, "The Accessible Future," AttractsInternational Interest
By Judy Wilkinson ( [log in to unmask])
On June 21, 2001, the US National Council on Disability (NCD) released a
report entitled The Accessible Future:
http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/accessiblefuture.h
tml. The fourth in its series of reports reviewing the impact and
implementation of major disability civil rights laws, The Accessible Future
analyzes the current state of information technology access rights under
various federal laws and makes detailed recommendations for achieving broad
information access equality for people with disabilities inthe United
States. By way of background, the executive summary states, "In the currency
of daily life, what is more important yet more taken for granted than access
to information? But for many
people with disabilities, the information access and exchange that most of
us take for granted is difficult or impossible... The explanation
increasingly lies not in disability itself, but in the design of the
technology that mediates our access to and use of all types ofinformation."
Report's author interviewedAccording to Steven Mendelsohn, the report's
author, "Although the statutes analyzed in the report are specific to the
United States, their character and enforcement have clear implications for
laws and practices of other nations. In fact, throughout the report,
wherever the term
'Americans" or "United States" is used, if we substitute the terms "people
of the world" the applicability to all disabled people becomes apparent."The
statutes covered by the report include: The Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA) which includes definitions of discrimination that recognize the harm
done by denial of access to information and which includes requirements for
effective communication with people whohave disabilities; Section 255 of the
Telecommunications Act which requires that equipment and services used in
making and receiving telephone calls be accessible to and usable by
individuals
with disabilities, either directly or through use of assistive technology
peripherals or specialized software;and Section 508 of the Federal
Rehabilitation Act which obliges the federal government to purchase
accessible "electronic and information technology (E&IT) for use by its own
employees or by members of the public using federally
provided technology to obtain information from thegovernment. The report
continues: "No one would dispute that people with disabilities have the same
right and need for information everyone else has. Nevertheless for many of
these citizens, the information gap (both a cause and a consequence of
various forms of economic and social
disadvantage) is not narrowing. Paradoxically, at the very time when many
people comfortably assume that technology is steadily bringing people with
disabilities more opportunities for access than they have ever known before,
this same technology (coupled with the attitudes and
expectations of those who use it) may in many cases be reinforcing patterns
of exclusion and isolation." Clarifying the disparities of the digital
divide "Recent discussion of the 'digital divide' problem has
demonstrated the existence and consequences of major disparities in our
society between information haves and have-nots. The harm attributable to
the information gap is severe, both for those denied opportunity and
participation as a result of it and for society as a whole. While
Americans with disabilities can all too often be counted on the have-not
side of the information and information access equation, the reasons and
remedies for this exclusion are not so well or widely understood." "Leaving
aside broader questions of poverty, education,
health care or even discrimination, the problem is that much information the
rest of our society takes for granted is not provided or disseminated in
ways accessible or usable by people with sensory, physical and cognitive
disabilities. Imagine trying to conduct your life in a world where most key
communications were made only in an
unknown foreign language. Imagine life in a world where a person may not
even know the information exists." . . . "Even as they create new
opportunities for some, information technology advances erect access
barriers to others. Where such barriers could be avoided, their
needless occurrence is all the more tragic and wasteful." "Among the kinds
of technology that have irrevocably changed life for all of us, modern
information technology, the technology of the computer era, has dramatically
empowered many people. But any assumption that all or most
information technology is routinely available to or usable by people with
disabilities would be a grave mistake. Incorporation of what we call
accessibility into America's information technology infrastructure is not
and has not been automatic or certain. When any new mainstream
technology creates opportunities for some but excludes others because of
design features that do not take users with disabilities into account, part
of its impact is to engender frustration, create divisions, and reduce the
opportunity for independence available to significant subgroups of our
fellow citizens."Electronic & Information Technology The report continues by
introducing one of its key
concepts: Electronic And Information Technology: E&IT. "Although a
relatively new and perhaps unfamiliar term to some, we believe that E&IT
will become the predominant term used in discussions of information
technology access rights. The range of devices falling within the definition
of E&IT is inclusive, encompassing all equipment, software and websites used
for creation, storage, transmission or
manipulation of information and data. Our major focus here will be on
computers . . . and other internet websites andresources." The author
continues, "The research was conducted to answer three basic questions:Is
access to E&IT by Americans with disabilities sufficiently fundamental to
rise to the level of a civilright? Which laws establish civil rights
protections around e&it access and how are those laws being applied and
enforced? What changes in law or practice would be most effective in
fulfilling the goals of E&IT access equality for allAmericans?" Author Cites
International Progress Author Steven Mendelsohn addes, "While many of the
issues raised in the report can best be understood in the cultural context
of the US., the underlying concepts are far more universal and are mirrored
in parallel efforts in other countries. For example, one of the key
requirements of Section 508 is that federally-operated web sites must be
accessible, meaning designed according to standards ensuring that persons
with disabilities will be able to use them and gain access to the
information they contain and the activities they support. Such efforts at
making the
internet accessible are already underway in Canada and the European Union."
(See also Robyn Hunt's article "Internet Access on the New Zealand Agenda"
in the May-June issue of Disability World which discusses New Zealand's
effortsalong these lines.) "In addition, much of the technology used in the
world today is designed and manufactured in countries other than where it is
used; therefore national and regional accessibility requirements are likely
to play an
increasingly important role in design practices around the globe and in
determining what kinds of communications technology will be most readily
available to developingnations." The report underscores the fundamental
principle that access to information is a civil or human right closely
intertwined with other rights such as education and work.
It explains that under modern conditions technology is increasingly the tool
by which information is disseminated and gathered, sent and received. As
such the report sets forth values and goals that could become key to the
social planning and technology infrastructure building efforts of both
developed and developing nations.Conclusion
The executive summary concludes with the followingparagraph: "We live in
what is frequently called the 'information society'. In this successor era
to the Industrial Age, information is more and more the principal commodity
of commerce. Access to E&IT is more and more the arbiter of success and the
source of opportunity in education and
employment. Under these circumstances, it should not be surprising that
access to information and to the technology generating, transmitting, and
storing it would become a civil rights issue for many people with
disabilities and for our society. As the importance of electronic and
information technology access grows in the way we conduct our lives, in the
choices we make, and in the decisions others make about us, this importance
can only grow. We must ensure that all Americans can participate in the
information society of the 21st Century. This report from NCD provides a
coherent set of recommendations, strategies
and activities that, if implemented, will guarantee a better quality of life
for all !Americans who use E&IT." The first step in applying the principles
of this report to other countries in the world has already been taken.
Recently, Fundacion Once of Spain has requested and been
granted NCD's permission to translate the report into Spanish, undertaking
to make that translation available on the web and in hardcopy formats.
Information will eventually be available on their web site
http://www.fundaciononce.es. This request by Fundacion Once
marks an important step toward the development of a vital multilingual
international dialog concerning the values and opportunities surrounding
information technology use an development in the years to come.

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