More than 60 million people in China-over five percent of the total population-live with some form of disability. In fact, it's been estimated that a child is born with a serious disability every 40 seconds in that country. As a result, accessibility has become a critical issue as China faces the monumental task of establishing a culture of accommodation. To help support and facilitate China's progression toward creating an inclusive society, IBM co-hosted the Third Annual China Information Accessibility Forum in Beijing on November 2-3.
Originated in response to the Draft Biwako Millennium Framework, which was passed in 2002 by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific, the China Information Accessibility Forum provides a platform for helping the Chinese government, as well as businesses and advocacy groups identify issues and strategies to help the country move towards an "inclusive, barrier-free, and rights-based society" for people with disabilities (PwDs).
IBM believes this an essential objective for China, which not only has a significant percentage of PwDs, but also a considerable number of mature citizens who will likely develop age-related disabilities. In fact, expert projections indicate that by 2012, almost 29 percent of China's population will be age 50 or older. The potential challenges associated with these demographic trends contribute to IBM's ongoing commitment to helping China take a proactive approach to accessibility.
China has already begun laying the groundwork by adding the accessibility of information technology (IT) to the Chinese Law on the Protection of Disabled People. However, IBM is working with key agencies to help the Chinese government develop formal standards.
"Collaboration-at both the national and international level-is crucial to advancement of accessibility," said Frances West, director of the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center (HA&AC). "A collaborative approach between government, industry, education, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations will yield the quickest, most effective progress for China."
Andi Snow-Weaver, leader of accessibility standards for the HA&AC, who also presented at this year's forum, concurs, "The state of global IT accessibility will improve only inasmuch as countries worldwide harmonize their standards to create a consistent set of expectations and objectives. Keeping that in mind, IBM is strongly encouraging the Chinese government to either adopt the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), or work to align its standards to be a subset of WCAG 2.0."
To support this harmonization and collaboration, IBM recently translated WCAG 2.0 into Chinese for review, and is currently participating in the Expert Council and Working Groups to help drive IT accessibility standards. In addition, IBM is actively working to help public- and private-sector organizations in China realize the business value of accessibility, which can help organizations improve productivity, extend their market reach, boost revenue opportunities and even avoid accessibility-related litigation. Several IBM-led initiatives should have a significant and long-term impact on accessibility in China. For example, in the last year IBM:
- Co-sponsored an event with China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), China Foundation for Disabled Persons (CFDP) and China Braille Press that trained thousands of blind citizens to use computers.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Information Industry PRC, China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), the Internet Society of China, and the China Welfare Fund for the Handicapped (CWFH), the 2006 forum drew its first international roster of speakers. Andrew Imparato, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), David Dikter, executive director of the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA), and Keith Bain, international manager of the Liberated Learning Consortium (Saint Mary's University, Canada) presented, along with Frances West (IBM), and others.
"Together, China and India comprise 20 percent of the world's population. With such a significant segment of that population affected by disabilities, China represents a critical emerging market for accessibility. IBM and the AAPD want to offer our expertise and lessons learned in the United States to help China craft the best plan for integrating accessibility into the fabric of society and fostering accessible, usable information technology," said Andy Imparato.
The theme of this year's forum, Improve Technology Innovation Ability and Build an Information-Accessible Environment, set the stage for other presentations from Xi Guohua, vice minister of Information Industry, Deng Pufang, chairman of the CDPF and CWFH and others. Deng Pufang, son of former China Communist Party leader, Deng Xiaping, became a paraplegic when he was forced from the window of a four-story building by Mao Zedong's Red Guards during China's Cultural Revolution.
Other forum topics included a historical overview and future outlook of information accessibility in China, a status on the development of standards and regulations, an analysis of market trends in accessibility innovation, and a brainstorming session on building an industry-wide interactive platform for accessibility. The forum also featured an exhibit area to provide attendees with the opportunity to see some of the industry's most innovative technologies, first hand. IBM and ATIA both showcased a variety of assistive technologies, including business solutions by HumanWare and GW Micro, IBM Easy Web Browsing and the Assistive Mouse Adapter.
"China is taking a progressive and proactive approach to fostering an accessible society. The exhibit area of this year's forum provided an excellent opportunity for Chinese officials to see what's already available in terms of assistive technologies, and get new ideas for what may be possible in the future. ATIA and IBM hope to partner with developers in China to continue the advancement of innovative new technologies for people with disabilities," said David Dikter.
But, as Frances West, director of the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center noted, this year's forum wasn't just about exhibits or panel discussions. "The China Information Accessibility Forum covers a host of industry-critical topics, and IBM wants to continue to play a key role in supporting China as an emerging accessibility marketplace. But ultimately, this forum is about bringing together a diverse ecosystem of government agencies, businesses, and advocacy groups, to help realize a collective goal of helping all people-regardless of age, ability, or disability-reach their highest potential in work and in life."