One issue remain either unsolved or ignored even in some of the developed countries, and its a huge issue in poorer, badly governed countries. This issue is of integrating people with disabilities into the rest of society. One dimension of this issue is 'Accessibility'. In the physical world, the solution to this rests in providing the support for people with disabilities to enter a building, e.g. with ramps that is an alternative to stairs for those who use wheelchairs; or making sure buses, trains, planes allow accessible passage for them to get on, so that the bus' floor is at level with the pavement on the side of the street, or it has a folding ramp in it for wheelchairs. Similarly, for ICT, there is a need for accessibility for people with disabilities. This is thus a social awareness issue for manufacturers of ICT equipment and software.
Disabilities arise from the loss of any or many of the senses or physical function of a person. In interacting with technology, we use our hands, eyes, ears and our mouth, and thus the experience of ICT can be disrupted with a loss of any of them. There is a condition called 'low vision' whereby the print on this paper would be impossible for a person with that condition to read. A magnification of 5 times would possibly make it readable for them, or maybe more. Whereas a newspaper on its print is not readable then without a magnifying glass, the online version of a newspaper could achieve that magnification easily. Any website for that matter can make sure they have support for people with such disabilities. With the development of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) that allow the separation of the styling of a site from its html (Hypertext Markup Language) code with holds the content, this has become easier for both website developers and also companies who make web browsers (the software you use to view a website). Mozilla's Firefox is an example of a browser that allows its users to magnify the text on pages easily.
Other features are necessary to make web browsers accessible to a majority of the people with disabilities, keeping in mind the different kinds of disabilities. One such feature would be to make a website readable by a 'Screen Reader'. This would be a separate software or one that is a plugin installed on the browser, that reads out the content shown on a browser. This will be helpful for those with any kind of visual impairment. However, how the content is arranged on the website can make it difficult for a screen reader to read the website, or the user will have a hard time navigating a website. To tackle issues like this, W3C.org has stepped in. W3C stands for World Wide Web Consortium who lay down the standards of markup languages like html, and they have also laid down what needs to be done to ensure accessibility in surfing the internet. All that is laid out in a website maintained by the specialized Web Accessibility Initiative, and its very important to be noted by both who develop websites or those who make web browsers.
The US government has actually also gone a step in that direction by laying out guidelines of its own for what it accepts as 'accessible' technology, all grouped under an act termed Section 508. These have been laid out as a guideline to be followed and comply to by all federal agencies, and those working with them. If people with disabilities can handle data the same way as those without any disabilities can, there is nothing to stop them to function at the same level as any other colleague, or member of society.
Design of interfaces like keyboards for computers or keypads for phones also need to be considered for accessibility. Braille keyboards, keypads will be very helpful for people with blindness. People with low vision would need large keys with the characters in large size they can view. Phones like the Samsung's Touch Messenger is a good example of innovations made to increase inclusion of people with disabilities into mainstream society. The Touch Messenger is a mobile phone whose interface uses braille number input, and can also send braille short messages (SMS) to other braille phones.
There is a strong movement within people with disabilities across all countries in taking charge of making sure their rights to all facilities enjoyed by people without disabilities are given and preserved. Over the years they have and are still striving to take charge of their own plight in society by demanding they be given the necessary facilities to operate normally in society. This is opposed to the idea that society will hand out things to them out of pity. To be able to do this successfully, accessibility to all forms of communication technology is vital to their purpose. Speaking locally, its probably easier to ensure that the people with disabilities in Bangladesh have more accessible technology, faster than providing accessibility on the streets and buildings. Even till now however, there is no Bangla screen reader. It has not been long that content has been able to be served in Bangla and so, the needs to have screen readers for Bangla are also quite untouched.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Social ICT: Internet Philanthropy
Lets start with the simple examples, since within the simplicity of these ideas lay the beauty of its achievement. Lets start with a few websites. Up first is DonorsChoose.org. At their site, they have a section where teachers from different places, schools list project proposals, for which they do not have enough resources to implement it fully. A price tag is usually attached to these projects so that visiting philanthropists can make better judgment on the commitment they can make to these projects financially. This goes with their tagline: 'Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn'. And the resources listed can be simple things like books, dictionaries, to technical equipment like projectors. As part of the process, the receiving students also send back thank you letters and photos to the donor, which I am pretty sure makes for a very happy ending for everyone.
This site, in a nutshell, performs one very important task - it brings the right people together. There are many out there who have the intent of giving, but not sure how, and where, and schools are also struggling to find funds to finance all their needs. DonorsChoose.org is the place where these two parties shake hands. Similar websites are out there which also bring the right people together. Kiva.org is one such site, where micro-financing is given a lift. Micro-financing is usually associated with financial institutions like banks who give out the small loans. Here, the financier is an individual, and through Kiva's help, this donor can find another individual to loan his money out to. The individuals listed as seeking loans are from the developing countries, and in these countries, sums of money which might be considered small in developed countries, amount to a lot of money. Not to forget, its still a loan, and is at some point returned back to the lender. Kiva doesn't operate entirely independent of MFIs or Micro-Financing Institutions. The MFIs help Kiva pick out the candidates for loans. Similar to DonorsChoose.org, the visiting philanthropist can go through a list of these candidates, see which country they are from, learn their story, what they plan to do with the money, etc. The lenders can thus get a feel for the person they are borrowing out their money to. The actual handing over of the loan is handled by the MFI.
As long as we are on the subject of connecting, mention has to be made of TakingITGlobal.org. It has existed for as long as the most ancient of social networking websites, long before MySpace, or Facebook. Though not as popular (in terms of media coverage received) as the latter two, it does have an enormous number of members who are dispersed all over the globe and who interact with the aim of learning and pursuing social work. TakingITGlobal is a non-profit organization based in Canada which connects youth all over the world committed to social change. As stated on their website, their mission is to provide opportunities for learning, capacity-building, cross-cultural awareness and self-development through the use of Information and Communication Technologies, and beneath their logo are these three words - inspire, inform, and involve. With these goals in sight, the site is available in 12 different languages, has a good organization of information, and provides ample search facilities to locate kinds of social activities, organizations, discussions etc. The main navigating system is a menu with the following options (each with many sub options within):
Make Connections - with discussion boards, e-cards with social messages, user defined groups, search facilities for locating members, reading stories on social work or social issues posted by members, newsletters etc.
Take Action - contains guides to how youth can involve themselves in taking action in various fields like climate change, or HIV/AIDS related work etc. These are downloadable electronic documents and free. Other sub sections of this are projects (to create or browse through projects to which the viewer or other users can join depending on the vicinity), an open forum, petitions, commitments (where people can state a commitment, e.g. - to stop using non-biodegradable plastic bags, and others can take pledges to do the same, thus creating a kind of virtual solidarity for a cause). Each commitment gets a page of its own, where its acceptability can be tracked in terms of how many pledges it had targeted and how many pledges it received in reality, and also a blog for the commitment and more.
Browser Resources - with search capabilities to locate organizations, events, financial opportunities (scholarships, grants), professional opportunities (internships, volunteer positions, etc) and publications.
Express Yourself - with a global gallery (a potpourri of art, poetry, and other creative outlets that the members want to express themselves through), an online magazine called Panorama, and a printed publication called TIG Magazine, and the member blogs.
Understand Issues - with a list of internationally declared special days celebrating different causes, small games demonstrating different global issues, and whole sections dedicated to the following topics: Art and Media, Health and Wellness, Human Rights and Equity, etc.
Explore the World - Has data organized according to countries, and also a separate section on Aboriginal Canada.
The organization of information is multifold, in the sense that it is presented in many perspectives, tagged with appropriate categories. The categories in Understanding the Issues are also available for selection as search criteria when using the search facility under Browse Resources to locate organizations, financial opportunities, etc. Similarly, International Days is a sub category under Understand the Issues, yet, if someone is viewing an issue such as Health and Wellness from the Issues list also under Browse Resources, that page will also list the international days that are related to health and wellness. This makes sure that the readers are aware of all presented information from all angles on any topic.
TakingITGlobal sends a monthly dispatch to its members which outline the topics covered in its Panorama magazine, and other updates of the activities of its members. Its vast database of resources, plus its community approach, its creative outlets, make it, in my opinion, quite ideal for use even within schools and colleges, and maybe even universities to get them organized in social and community activities. TIG realizes the potential for use of its resources and toolkits for educating children about social issues, and thus one can find the link 'For Educators' right below its 'About Us' link. That outlines what they call TIGed ('TIG for Educators' made short), which has support for the issues presented as easy to understand lessons and also lets the teachers create virtual classrooms where students are taught to use tools to write and speak out on social issues. The tools are basically blogs, podcasting (audio/video content in digital formats that can be subscribed to) software, digital image galleries discussion boards, etc., put together to good use.
This site, in a nutshell, performs one very important task - it brings the right people together. There are many out there who have the intent of giving, but not sure how, and where, and schools are also struggling to find funds to finance all their needs. DonorsChoose.org is the place where these two parties shake hands. Similar websites are out there which also bring the right people together. Kiva.org is one such site, where micro-financing is given a lift. Micro-financing is usually associated with financial institutions like banks who give out the small loans. Here, the financier is an individual, and through Kiva's help, this donor can find another individual to loan his money out to. The individuals listed as seeking loans are from the developing countries, and in these countries, sums of money which might be considered small in developed countries, amount to a lot of money. Not to forget, its still a loan, and is at some point returned back to the lender. Kiva doesn't operate entirely independent of MFIs or Micro-Financing Institutions. The MFIs help Kiva pick out the candidates for loans. Similar to DonorsChoose.org, the visiting philanthropist can go through a list of these candidates, see which country they are from, learn their story, what they plan to do with the money, etc. The lenders can thus get a feel for the person they are borrowing out their money to. The actual handing over of the loan is handled by the MFI.
As long as we are on the subject of connecting, mention has to be made of TakingITGlobal.org. It has existed for as long as the most ancient of social networking websites, long before MySpace, or Facebook. Though not as popular (in terms of media coverage received) as the latter two, it does have an enormous number of members who are dispersed all over the globe and who interact with the aim of learning and pursuing social work. TakingITGlobal is a non-profit organization based in Canada which connects youth all over the world committed to social change. As stated on their website, their mission is to provide opportunities for learning, capacity-building, cross-cultural awareness and self-development through the use of Information and Communication Technologies, and beneath their logo are these three words - inspire, inform, and involve. With these goals in sight, the site is available in 12 different languages, has a good organization of information, and provides ample search facilities to locate kinds of social activities, organizations, discussions etc. The main navigating system is a menu with the following options (each with many sub options within):
Make Connections - with discussion boards, e-cards with social messages, user defined groups, search facilities for locating members, reading stories on social work or social issues posted by members, newsletters etc.
Take Action - contains guides to how youth can involve themselves in taking action in various fields like climate change, or HIV/AIDS related work etc. These are downloadable electronic documents and free. Other sub sections of this are projects (to create or browse through projects to which the viewer or other users can join depending on the vicinity), an open forum, petitions, commitments (where people can state a commitment, e.g. - to stop using non-biodegradable plastic bags, and others can take pledges to do the same, thus creating a kind of virtual solidarity for a cause). Each commitment gets a page of its own, where its acceptability can be tracked in terms of how many pledges it had targeted and how many pledges it received in reality, and also a blog for the commitment and more.
Browser Resources - with search capabilities to locate organizations, events, financial opportunities (scholarships, grants), professional opportunities (internships, volunteer positions, etc) and publications.
Express Yourself - with a global gallery (a potpourri of art, poetry, and other creative outlets that the members want to express themselves through), an online magazine called Panorama, and a printed publication called TIG Magazine, and the member blogs.
Understand Issues - with a list of internationally declared special days celebrating different causes, small games demonstrating different global issues, and whole sections dedicated to the following topics: Art and Media, Health and Wellness, Human Rights and Equity, etc.
Explore the World - Has data organized according to countries, and also a separate section on Aboriginal Canada.
The organization of information is multifold, in the sense that it is presented in many perspectives, tagged with appropriate categories. The categories in Understanding the Issues are also available for selection as search criteria when using the search facility under Browse Resources to locate organizations, financial opportunities, etc. Similarly, International Days is a sub category under Understand the Issues, yet, if someone is viewing an issue such as Health and Wellness from the Issues list also under Browse Resources, that page will also list the international days that are related to health and wellness. This makes sure that the readers are aware of all presented information from all angles on any topic.
TakingITGlobal sends a monthly dispatch to its members which outline the topics covered in its Panorama magazine, and other updates of the activities of its members. Its vast database of resources, plus its community approach, its creative outlets, make it, in my opinion, quite ideal for use even within schools and colleges, and maybe even universities to get them organized in social and community activities. TIG realizes the potential for use of its resources and toolkits for educating children about social issues, and thus one can find the link 'For Educators' right below its 'About Us' link. That outlines what they call TIGed ('TIG for Educators' made short), which has support for the issues presented as easy to understand lessons and also lets the teachers create virtual classrooms where students are taught to use tools to write and speak out on social issues. The tools are basically blogs, podcasting (audio/video content in digital formats that can be subscribed to) software, digital image galleries discussion boards, etc., put together to good use.
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