- From: <IIDisab@aol.com>
- Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 15:42:02 EDT
- To: IIDisab@aol.com
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IID NEWSLETTER - SPECIAL EDITION - July ' 99
Inter-American Institute on Disability
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ACCESSIBILITY ON THE NET IN PORTUGUESE SPEAKING COUNTRIES
By Francisco Godinho, Portugal
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W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) the agency responsible for the world
standards related to the Web, published on May 5th its first document that
will serve as a reference for the Accessibility on the Internet. (Ref 1)
The document's title is "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0" (Ref 2)
and it is designed to be a tool for website creators/designers so they know
how to make or turn web pages fully accessible, as well as for people with
disabilities who have difficulties in getting access to the information
available on the Internet.
This means that cyberspace (in which the Web makes up part of the structure)
has the potential to become a privileged place to access knowledge,
employment, interaction and leisure for those who, because of their
disabilities, normally have to face innumerous architectural, information and
communication barriers, which make it impossible for them to experience life
as others do.
However, the creation of physical or electronic barrier-free environments
depends very much on the economic and social development of each country. In
this context, the USA, Canada and Australia emerge as the main countries that
promote accessibility on the Internet. (Ref 3)
However, several initiatives are emerging worldwide that aim to facilitate
Internet access for people with disabilities. One example is Bradesco, one
of the largest Banks of Brazil that has developed Bradesco Net-Internet
Banking for their visually impaired customers (Ref 4), with the goal of
simplifying every day life for their customers.
Also, in February of 1999, the PASIG (Portuguese Accessibility Special
Interest Group) submitted to the Portuguese Parliament, a petition for
Internet accessibility. (Ref 5) This petition, organized through Internet
and signed by 9000 people, intends to impose accessibility rules to the
information made available on the Internet by government and public services,
with the purpose of facilitating its access to people with special needs,
specially people with disabilities and the elderly.
Their application should allow:
1- Interaction with computer systems without requiring vision, pointing
devices, precise movements or simultaneous actions;
2- The ability to understand information and navigate the web through
auditory or visual means.
On last June 30, the Portuguese Parliament, through its Commission for
Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, fully supported the
petition approving by unanimity a recommendation to the Government to
consider the suggestions included in the petition, and also to adopts, in the
shortest period of time, the necessary and adequate measures to ensure full
accessibility to information for all citizens.
In the report (Ref. 6), the Commission considered that "In a way, the
proposals
formulated in the petition are tributaries of the same principles of the
existing legislation regarding the elimination of physical barriers to people
with disabilities, specifically the Law 123/97, recently approved by the
Government, which endorses the adoption of a set of technical rules to
eliminate the architectonic barriers in public buildings, equipment and ways,
in order to provide better accessibility for people conditioned mobility. In
fact, the digital barriers which we are discussing are only another
dimension of the same accessibility problem faced by people with special need
to access public services and so, it deserves consideration."
The Petition was the first official initiative of the PASIG - Portuguese
Accessibility Special Interest Group which also joins other efforts that have
been conducted in order to face the accessibility issue, as the "Web
Accessibility Initiative" promoted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) at
the international level, or even the "National Initiative for the Citizens
with Special Needs in the Information Society" (Ref. 7) promoted by the
Portuguese Government through the Mission for the Information Society.
Now is time for the Government to take the proposed measures, so that
Portugal becomes the fourth country in the world officially declaring the
elimination of digital barriers on the Internet, after the United States,
Australia and Canada.
These initiatives are a response to the needs of a great number of citizens
that are still marginalized socially, culturally and professionally, and will
represent a model to be followed by other countries.
REFERENCES
Ref. 1
PRESS RELEASE W3C
http://www.w3.org/1999/05/WCAG-RECPressRelease.html.en
Ref. 2
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505
Ref. 3
WAI Resource: Policy Related to Web Accessibility
http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Policy.html
Ref. 4
Bradesco Net - Internet Banking for Visually Impaired
http://www.bradesco.com.br/defvis.html
Ref. 5
Petition for the Portuguese Internet Accessibility
http://www.acessibilidade.net/index_eng.html
Ref. 6
Parliament Report
http://www.acessibilidade.net/petition/parliament_report.html
Ref. 7
National Initiative for the Citizens with Special Needs in the Information
Society
http://www.missao-si.mct.pt/INCNE
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The author of the above article, Franciso Godinho, is a Rehabilitation
Engineer and the promotor of PASIG (Portuguese Accessibility Special Interest
Group) and of PASIG's mailing list (in Portuguese) on the same subject:
http://www.acessibilidade.net
Email: guia.pasig@bigfoot.com
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If you are interested in knowing sites of disability related organization in
Portugal, visit the compiled site constructed by Francisco Godinho at "Farol
da deficiencia, do Handicap e da Igauldade de Oportunidades" (Lighthouse of
Disability, Handicap & Equal Opportunities) at
http://www.acessibilidade.net/farol.html. This is the most comprehensive
compilation of sites related to the field in Portugal. To find out more
about the PASIG (GUIA), visit its home page at http://www.acessibilidade.net,
Section "Para acompanhar de perto o trabalho do GUIA". (To follow closely
GUIA's work). Presently there are approximately 200 subscribers and it
promises to become the biggest support network to people with disabilities in
Portugal. Most of the available information is in Portuguese, but they also
use English as a second language.
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Virtual Vision makes accessible Internet Banking for Visually Impaired
By Francisco Antonio Soeltl
President, MicroPower, Brazil
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The Brazilian company MicroPower has developed the software Virtual Vision
(VV) is a screen-reader that is inside of Bradesco Net - Internet Banking for
the Visually Impaired. Bradesco is one of the largest banks of Brazil. The
product, that currently works for Windows 98 and Office 97, offers good
access through internet with IE 3.02. Tests of IE5 are being finalized and
soon, it will be launched the version 2.0.
This product was indicated by Microsoft for the Smithsonian Award, and it was
mentioned by Bill Gates in his last book. The MicroPower team was recently in
Seattle, presenting Virtual Vision for Steve Ballmer, current president of
Microsoft. Also recent it was the visit of the Managers of Bradesco Bank to
Washington DC, to present the details of the product for the Smithsonian
Institute.
The development team of Virtual Vision is working directly with the Director
of Accessibility of Microsoft to solve the problems that eventually appear
and to implement the solutions.
Virtual Vision uses the first synthesizer of high quality in Portuguese
language, called DeltaTalk, also developed by MicroPower. It is adapted for
the Brazilian and Portuguese keyboards. The product can be acquired in
Portugal through its representative in Lisbon, Mr. Rui Fontes, Email:
fontes@ip.pt .
For more information in Brazil, send your email for
micropower@micropower.com.br , C/O- Mr. Mauricio. Communications available
also in Spanish and English.
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First course in Spanish of web accessible design
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You can find the report of the first course in Spanish of web accessible
design in:
http://www.rppapm.es/sidar/cronica.htm
Contact person:
Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo
Coordinator of SID@R (Seminario de Iniciativas sobre Discapacidad y
Accesibilidad en la Red) of the Real Patronato de Prevención y de Atención a
Personas con Minusvalía from Spain.
Tel.: +34 - 917 257 147
Fax: +34 - 913 614 493
E-mail: sinarmaya@mx3.redestb.es
URL: http://www.rppapm.es/sidar/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Instituto Interamericano sobre Discapacidad
- Instituto Interamericano sobre Deficiência
- Inter-American Institute on Disability
Contact:
Rosangela Berman Bieler
President
IID Headquarters, Washington, DC
711 Brent Road
Rockville, MD 20850 EUA
Tel.: 1(301) 838-3031
Fax: 1(301) 838-3029
Email: iidisab@aol.com
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Received on Saturday, 10 July 1999 16:24:04 UTC