This fall the IBM Accessibility Center in China accelerated efforts to promote equal information access by participating in two important conferences: the 2005 IBM Innovation Forum in Shanghai and the second China Information Accessibility Forum in Beijing.
The Chinese government is working to include all its citizens in the information age. The IBM China Accessibility Center mirrors that goal by promoting computer systems and websites that are easily used by all people, regardless of their disabilities or their age.
In China there are more than 60 million people with disabilities. And there are 130 million Chinese citizens older than 60, a time in life when age-related disabilities emerge.
As Ben Kempner, worldwide IBM program director for accessibility solutions management and marketing put it: "while accessibility traditionally has been viewed as an issue just for people with disabilities, it is an issue that concerns all of us. We are all aging and, as we age, we all become disabled to some extent."
Kempner sees an opportunity to transform societies around the world by empowering citizens. "By making information accessible," he said, "we can help people more fully interact with society, and contribute to societal productivity and wealth."
At the gathering, China Accessibility Center representatives met with representatives of Venture Capital firms that fund promising start-up companies. Accessible technology, they explained, offers a significant business opportunity for new companies by differentiating products from the competition and appealing to a broader set of customers.
IBM supports the development of open platforms that promote collaboration and innovation, and are increasingly important to the developing countries. IBM recently donated accessibility code to make Firefox, the world’s most popular open source browser, more accessible.
Then, at the second annual China Information Accessibility Forum, held in Beijing and cosponsored by IBM, Motorola and Digifonica, some 200 leaders from government, industry, academia and non-profits gathered to advance public awareness of IT accessibility and advance the development of regulations and standards.
The gathering, according to Yu Mei ("Maggie") Qin, is the only national accessibility forum of its kind in China. She is program manager of the IBM China Accessibility Center.
During the forum, the group tackled tactics for the Chinese government to promote information accessibility; analyzed global trends of information and Web accessibility; and discussed how to inspire the technology innovation that is critical to information accessibility.
Another major topic: how to promote the development of "harmonized" accessibility standards that are uniform country to country. Andi Snow-Weaver, the IBM leader on this issue, said that the information technology industry has been concerned about the development of unique national requirements. She urged instead the adoption of international standards, particularly for the Internet which, as she noted, "does not recognize international borders."
The result of adopting international accessibility standards, Snow-Weaver predicted, will be increased competition, and high-quality, lower-cost products. "End users," she said, "will be the ultimate beneficiaries."
Participants at the second China Information Accessibility Forum included representatives of government and cultural organizations:
- China's Ministry of Information;
- Internet Society of China;
- State Administration of Radio Film and Television;
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
And research and educational institutions:
- China Telecommunications Technological Research Institute;
- Shenzhen Information Accessibility Research Institute;
- Tsinghua University.
As well as executives from these private businesses:
- Digital Oriental;
- Panda Electronics Group;
- Motorola;
- China Mobile;
- IBM.
And representatives of these non-profit agencies serving the disabled:
- Asian Foundation for the Blind;
- China Disabled Persons Federation;
- China Association of the Deaf.
As part of the Forum, Victor Kuo, IBM corporate and community relations, gave 50 new ThinkPad computers to the China Disabled Persons Federation. Earlier this year, the Federation and IBM announced a partnership to teach 100,000 blind Chinese citizens to use computers.