Press Release No.074-03
03 March 2003
RP
TO HOST INTERREGIONAL SEMINAR-WORKSHOP ON ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES (ICT) FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN MANILA ON 3-7 MARCH 2003
The Philippine Government, through the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) and the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons
(NCWDP), in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs, United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), will be hosting the “Interregional Seminar
and Regional Demonstration Workshop on Accessible Information and Communications
Technologies (ICT) and Persons with Disabilities”on 3-7 March 2002 at the
Bayview Hotel, Manila.The event carries the theme “Empowering Persons with
Disabilities”.
The seminar-workshop will bring together the international, regional and
national experts in their individual capacity to review and discuss issues
and trends related to accessible ICT and the full and effective participation
of persons with disabilities in social life and development and to submit
recommendations on strategic actions to promote reasonable levels of accessible
ICT, Internet accessibility in particular, and digital connections for all
in the twenty-first century. The seminar-workshop will include presentations
on selected country experience on policies, structures and technologies related
to accessible ICT in the context of development.
The first day of seminar-workshop will focus on bringing participants up
to a common level of understanding of ICT, access and accessibility, and development,
the global Internet, the concept of reasonable levels of accommodation and
implications for implementing the Millennium Development Goals in the context
of rights-based approaches to development.
The second and the third days will involve joint lecture-conferences on
norms and standards related access, accessibility and reasonable levels of
accommodation, and selected issues in information technologies and group
work will include opportunities to examine selected technologies and discuss
decision criteria on selection in accordance with reasonable accommodation
considerations. The group work will also involve analysis and determination
of information needs, options for content development and management, and
planning and developing accessible Interne-enabled resources.
The fourth day will include further joint lecture conferences on accessibility
planning and evaluation and group work on strategic
framework issues as well as opportunities for teamwork on internet accessibility
concepts, methods and applications in practices.
The fifth day will be devoted to presentations of group work and exchanges
of views on group findings and recommendations. The seminar-workshop
will consider in plenary a “strategic planning framework” in support of efforts
to promote accessible digital connections to further implement the Millennium
Development Goals in the context of rights-based approaches to development
as recognized in General Assembly resolution 56/168.
For more information, please contact the DSWD-Public Affairs and Liaison
Service at telephone numbers 927-5916 and 929-8879 or National Council for
the Welfare of Disabled Persons at telephone numbers 926-1165 and 920-1503,
or visit the websites www.dswd.gov.ph, www.ncwdp.gov.ph, www.worldenable.net/manila2003
or www.dfa.gov.ph.