-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 10:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FOCUS OF UN
ASIA-PACIFIC FORUM

ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FOCUS OF UN ASIA-PACIFIC
FORUM New York, Sep 29 2008 10:10AM The United Nations today kicked off an
initiative to improve access to information and communication technology
(ICT) for persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific, including using
a computer keyboard or being able to see information on the Internet -
things most people take for granted. 

The four-day training, which began in Incheon, Republic of Korea, brings
together policymakers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, the Philippines,
Sri Lanka and Viet Nam together with ICT accessibility experts from the UN
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Germany, United States, Japan,
Thailand and the Republic of Korea.

"The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
which entered into force in May this year, emphasizes among other things the
importance of the accessibility to ICT,"
<"http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2008/sep/g46.asp">said Thelma Kay,
Director of the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 

The initiative was organized by ESCAP and its subsidiary, the Asian and
Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for
Development (APCICT), in conjunction with the Korea Agency for Digital
Opportunity and Promotion (KADO). 

The gathering will discuss, and hopefully adopt, the ICT accessibility
guidelines for persons with disabilities, especially women and children,
drafted by ESCAP and KADO. It will also share good practices in the
provision of ICT accessibility to persons with disabilities, of which there
are some 400 million in the Asia-Pacific region. 

"Improving ICT accessibility can involve anything, from designing government
web sites to work seamlessly with software to assist the visually impaired,
to making sure specialized equipment to facilitate access is affordable,"
said Hyeun-Suk Rhee, Director of ACPICT.

The Centre will also deliver its own flagship training programme the
"Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders: ICT Project Management in
Theory and Practices," designed to better equip policymakers for ICT project
management.
 2008-09-29 00:00:00.000 

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