U.N. adopts convention making accessibility and rights of people with disabilities a global concern

On December 13, 2006, the United Nations (U.N.) adopted the Convention on Protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This landmark convention, which is the first human rights treaty of the 21^st century, requires all member nations to actively work to ensure the equal rights of people with disabilities and remove barriers that inhibit their quality of life.

According to Mark Malloch Brown, U.N. deputy secretary general, the convention was the most rapidly negotiated treaty in the history of international law. Developed and adopted in an unprecedented three years, the convention became a reality in large part due to the dedication of both public- and private-sector entities committed to creating a shift in the way the world views its more than 650 million people with disabilities.

The convention is far reaching, covering everything from the rights of women and children with disabilities, to a general right to "life on an equal basis with others," and the right to own and inherit property. However, Article 9 of the convention specifically addresses the importance of accessibility, requiring that member states "identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers, and ensure that persons with disabilities can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, and information and communications." ¹

IBM, which has a long history of supporting global accessibility initiatives, applauds the U.N. for taking action to increase international focus on people with disabilities. IBM looks toward worldwide initiatives, such as the Convention on Protecting the Rights of People with Disabilities, as an opportunity to share its knowledge, solutions and best practices in accessibility. With the U.N.'s new focus, IBM also hopes to continue to engage governments, private industries, advocacy groups, and academic institutions around the world to promote harmonized, global open standards in accessibility.

Some recent examples of IBM's commitment to advancing accessibility worldwide:

• IAccessible2 — IBM recently donated IAccessible2—application programming interfaces that extend and enhance the usability of assistive technologies—to the Free Standards Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the use and adoption of open-source technologies. The Free Standards Group will develop and maintain IAccessible2 as an open standard for all to use. This donation will ultimately enable people with disabilities to do more with assistive technologies on more computer platforms.


• United Nations Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies (G3ict) — IBM is one of five platinum sponsors of the United Nation's G3ict, a global public-private consortium dedicated to accelerating the development and deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance the lives of people with disabilities around the world. IBM and other consortium members will collaborate on a number of initiatives, including the development of Digital Inclusion Index to measure the progress of governments around the world, a Digital Inclusion Best Practices compendium to be published in June 2007, a technical research program, and a standards harmonization program.


• United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons — Frances West, director of the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center, presented on Web accessibility and participated in a panel discussion at the U.N.'s e-accessibility conference in recognition of the 2006 International Day of Disabled Persons.


• IBM Accessibility ODF Coding Challenge — In August, IBM launched its first international contest designed to encourage student developers at the university level to explore creative solutions to accessibility and OpenDocument Format (ODF) challenges. Further efforts are underway to continue to educate young developers about the value and importance of accessibility and open-source development.