Session
Round Table - 90 Min
This Roundtable will review our work for 2023, focusing on our efforts to improve the accessibility of online events and how to ensure that persons with disabilities, no matter where they live, can actively participate in all discussions. It will then have an interactive discussion with our DCAD Fellows and other persons with disabilities who will talk about their vision for the future.
- Welcome and Opening by the Chair
- Review of IGF2023 accessibility
- Short Report on DCAD Activities for 2023
- Introducing our DCAD Fellows
- Interactive discussion with our fellows and other persons with disabilities and their vision of a Digital Future
- Interactive Q&A
- Future DCAD activities
- Closing Remarks
Today only about 3% of the Internet is accessible to people with disabilities, despite the 1.3 billion people globally who live with a disability. In particular, only a small number of online services are accessible to persons with disabilities.
Dr. Muhammad Shabbir, DCAD Co-coordinator, Civil Society, Asia Pacific
Judith Hellerstein, DCAD Co-Coordinator, Civil Society, WEOG
- Dr. Muhammad Shabbir, DCAD Coordinator, Civil Society, Asia Pacific
- Lidia Best, President, European Federation of Hard of Hearing People and Vice Chair, ITU-JCHFA, Civil Society, WEOG
- Peter Crosbie, Representing persons with Cognitive Disabilities, Civil Society, WEOG
- Masahito Kawamori, Technical Community Japan, Asia Pacific
- Vidhya Reddy, Vision Empower- India, Civil Society, Asia Pacific
- NICODEMUS NYAKUNDI, KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK (KICTANet), Civil Society, Africa
- Masayuki Inoue, Japan, Academic, Asia Pacific
- Muhammad Akram, President - Asia Pacific Federation of the Hard of Hearing and Deafened (APFHD)--Pakistan, Asia Pacific
- Vivien Maidaborn, the CEO of .nz, Technical Community, Asia Pacific
- Yasunobu Ishii, Accessibility Relay Service Japan, Technical Community, Asia Pacific
- Michiko Tabata
Judith Hellerstein
Deirdre Williams
Judith Hellerstein
Report
Participants for this session suggested several Accessibility improvements to the IGF site and how persons with disabilities can participate fully in all sessions.
2) Increase awareness of staff and community on how to create accessible sessions. Participants noted how many of the same problems noted todayon accessibility are not new but many of the same issues people have been comenting on for years and were a bit frustrated by how little things have changed
IGF Secretariat should create an Accessibility section of the website letting peole know what to expect when they are either participating online or in person
the need to work more closely with the Secretariat on ensuring that accessibility standards are adhered to and also having Secretariat hire an accessibility testing firm to conduct accessibity test on the IGF site and correct the deficits that have become barriers to persons with disabilities
The session had 30 people in attendance. The two Coordinators opened the Meeting and introduced the disability fellows and the speakers for the session. We reviewed the activities that DCAD had done throughout the year and focused our efforts on ways to improve the accessibility of online events and how to ensure that persons with disabilities, no matter where they live, can actively participate in all discussions.
Several of the speakers remarked on how little things have changed over the years, but others noted different improvements and stated while changes may seem to be very small, we are making an impact. We are working within the system to improve it from above and we are gaining traction. This year the IGF was able to hire some additional full-time staff who have expressed a real interest in improving accessibility of the iGF and change is indeed happening.
Participants discussed the issues they have with accessibility at the IGF and the registration process and suggested improvements. These were some of the main improvements suggested.
- Create an Accessibility statement on the IGF main page. This page lists the commitments the IGF has made to make the website accessible to people and it would also detail what apps, plugins, and other tools the site is using and how their compliance with accessibility requirements. It would also provide people who attend the IGF either in person or remotely with what they can expect in attending the IGF. For example,
- if images are used, these would be described fully. For example, any photos or images used will be described so that all can understand what they are trying to explain.
- What apps or plugins are available and their level and what standards do they meet?
- If pictures are used to describe what food or snacks or lunch breaks contain, these will be described and not include a picture of the lunch.
- More description of what to expect in a session as regards accessibility issues
- Ensure the website is fully accessible and that standards are met
- Ensure that the interactive session map/guide is published much earlier and/ or what level of accessibility the downloaded Excel files contain.
- Improve accessibility of each session offered during the IGF
- Add separate screens to each room so that one screen can be devoted to captioning and one screen for the speakers and remote speakers
- Ensure the IGF website is developed to be accessible at the start
When developing websites, WCAG standards should be implemented and certified to promote the kind of guidelines and recommendations especially on the use of text readers for visually impaired community
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- If the website is contracted out to another firm what is their accessibility ratings and which company conducted the accessibility testing
- Have a disability testing firm certify the website is accessible as often content is added at a later stage but there is no standard used so an accessible website can quickly become inaccessible
- Increase awareness of staff and community on how to create accessible sessions.
- Ensure that registration for the iGF is accessible to persons with disabilities and that the schedule is accessible
- Ensure the IGF Website follows web-standards as this is not the case with the current one
- The Website is very problematic. Have to log in several times before the system responds and then when you want to add a session the website logs you out and have to log in again. Very difficult for people in general and adds significant barriers to people engaging and becoming part
- Increase awareness among other groups on how to make images, photos, and other info they present to be more accessible
Costs should not be the deciding factor in having sessions accessible or in making sessions accessible.
Participants for this session suggested several Accessibility improvements to the IGF site and how persons with disabilities can participate fully in all sessions.
Some of the visually impaired participants suggested that navigation of the building be improved so it would be more easily navigated by persons with visual impairments and possibly include tactile mapping or better maps
Speakers told the audience about the problems they had with navigating the IGF and participating. They also described the importance of not only having an accessibility law but also with enforcement of that law.
Vivien - talked briefly about community grants that .N is offering to the accessibility community, and acknowledged that dot NZ is just beginning this journey. Dr Shabbir stated he was keen to see other CCTLD, and Registrars use this type of giving back to the community.