Designed to provide a comprehensive on line
resource for all stakeholders involved in
implementing the digital accessibility agenda of
the Convention, the G3ict ITU Toolkit is making
good progress towards completion by the end of
March 2009. The Toolkit was announced jointly
by
G3ict and ITU on April 21, 2008 (see
communiqué on Goals and Objectives
here).
Major disabled persons organizations such as the
RNIB and World Blind Union are actively
supporting and contributing to the development
of its technical sections as well as a technical
experts, international institutions, academia
and industry participants. Asenath Mpatwa,
Head, Special Initiatives at ITU-D and Axel
Leblois, G3ict, convened a first editorial
committee in Geneva in April which defined its
contents and editorial guidelines.
Participating were Ambassador Luis Gallegos,
Ecuador’s Ambassador to the United States,
Andrea Saks JCA-AHF, Asenath Mpatwa, ITU/BDT,
Axel Leblois, G3ict, Cynthia Waddell, ICDRI,
Daniel Aghion, W2i, Francesca Cesa Bianchi,
G3ict, Gregg Vanderheiden , University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Licia Sbattella Politecnico
di Milano, Martin Gould, National Council on
Disability, Maxim Kushtuev, ITU/BDT, Roxana
Widmer-Iliescu, ITU/BDT, Rune Halvorsen, NOVA -
Norwegian Social Research. Subsequent feedback
was also provided by Anne Rivers Forcke, IBM,
Clara Luz Alvarez, Instituto Tecnológico
Autónomo de México, Immaculada Placienca Porrero,
European Commission, Kevin Carey, HumanIT, RNIB,
Simao Campos, ITU and Tamas Babinszki, Even
Grounds.
In September, Professor Gerard Quinn of the
National University of Ireland Galway and Gerald
Cradock, head of the Center for Universal Design
at the National Disability Authority of Ireland
confirmed that they would contribute the time
and expertise of Donàl Rice, ICT accessibility
expert of the NDA and a PhD candidate working
with Professor Gerard Quinn to oversee the
coordination of the developments of the contents
of the Toolkit.
The complete table of contents of the Toolkit
can be downloaded
here.
