The Access Line  

Harvard Law School: 
"Developing Disability Civil Society through the Internet"


 

by Michael Stein
Executive Director
Harvard Project on Disability 

On Friday, 26 September 2008 a Working Conference on "Developing Disability Civil Society through the Internet" was held at Harvard Law School. The Working Conference was organized in partnership by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society; Burton Blatt Institute; Disability Law and Policy Center at the University of Ireland, Galway; Global Partnership for Disability and Development, Harvard Project on Disability; and NOVA Nordic Centre of Excellence in Welfare Research. Some forty persons participated, including Axel Leblois of the UN G3ict initiative; Judy Brewer of the World Wide Web Consortium, disability rights advocates from Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam, and Professors Peter Blanck, Rune Halvorsen, and Michael Stein. (more)

Blog
ICT and Government Services

Cynthia D. Waddell 
Reporting from Lusaka, Zambia
 

ITU Regional Workshop on "ICT Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities in the African Region," Lusaka, Zambia (July 15-16)  

• November 5
  POLI NO LIMITS, Integrated Strategies and Technological Planning for a Politecnico without Barriers), Milan, Italy
• November 6-7 
  ACP - Adaptive Content Proccessing Conference 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• November 17-21
  2008 Global Forum for Inclusion's International Gathering of Families, Ottawa, Canada
• November 24-27
  V Congreso IBERDISCAP 2008, Cartagena, Colombia
• November 27-29
  L'Anno di HANDImatica - Technologies for the Quality of Life, 7th National Exhibition-Conference, Bologna, Italy
• December 3
  Third Global Forum - Joint UNITAR-G3ict Seminar, U.N. Headquarters, New York City
• More upcoming events

In the News
Keep abreast of the latest headlines on ICT and accessibility:

• Statement on the Millennium Development Goals and Disability, from the Africa Regional Conference
• Apple Reaches Deal Over iTunes Accessibility for Blind
• G3ict Chair to Join Global Leadership Group to Advise UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon's Special Representative on Business and Human Rights
• Target Settlement Won't Lead to Web Accessibility Standards 
• Accessibility Interoperability Alliance News
• BBI Receives Funding from U.S. Department of Education for Three-Year Disability and Asset Accumulation Project
• More headlines

On the Move
As of October 1st, 136 states around the world have signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the latest addition of Cameroon, Pakistan, Romania, and the Russian Federation; 41 states have ratified it, including Costa Rica, New Zealand and Uganda.  Find detailed information and lists of disability organizations, with contact information, for each of the signatory states, as well as basic ICT factors.

• Cost Rica
• New Zealand
• Romania
• Uganda
• Zambia
• More country profiles
  

• EU - Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the Conclusion, by the European Community, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention
• Presentation on Assistive Technologies: Leveraging ICTs for Persons with Disabilities, Challenges and Opportunities
• Technology and Disability Policy Highlights, (Wireless RERC), September 2008
• Technology and Disability Policy Highlights, (Wireless RERC), July/August 2008

The Accessibility Imperative is now available as a free download audio version which conforms to DAISY standards (Digital Talking Book). This edition is accessible to visually-impaired or otherwise print-disabled persons. The book’s publisher, G3ict, is grateful to the Danish National Library for the Blind for making this version possible. The accessible file is currently downloadable from the  G3ict's Web site Publications & Reports. 

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