ITU Workshop on Accessibility Bamako, Mali, 13

1
Critical Factors for an Effective Transition to
School and Work for Persons with Disabilities

• Fernando H. F. Botelho
• Project Manager
• Mais Diferenças
• São Paulo, Brazil

2
The Education and Employment Challenge

• 90 of children who are blind or visually
  impaired in developing countries have no access
  to education.
• 99 of women with disabilities in developing
  countries are illiterate.
• Sources
• ILO http//www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro
  /bangkok/ability/.../wwd.pdf
• UN http//www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id
  18
• International Council for Education of People
  with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) "Strategic Goals
  2002-2005" 2002.

3
Avoid Exclusive Focus on Any Single Factor

• Barriers to education and employment are a
  consequence of factors such as
• Cultural misunderstandings and outdated customs
• Poverty-induced health problems and disabilities
• Physical obstacles such as lack of accessible
  transportation and schools

4
Avoid Exclusive Focus on Any Single Factor

• Barriers to education and employment are a
  consequence of factors such as
• Human resource constraints such as teachers
  without disability-specific training
• Lack of assistive technologies such as screen
  readers or special keyboards
• Potential employers without experience with or
  knowledge about persons with disabilities.

5
Cross-Sectoral Strategies

• Cultural misunderstandings and outdated customs
• TV and radio programs that highlight the
  achievements of persons with disabilities in
  Africa.
• Poverty-induced health problems and disabilities
• Labor laws and tax incentives for the hiring of
  persons with disabilities.
• Community-based health care initiatives.

6
Cross-Sectoral Strategies

• Physical obstacles such as lack of accessible
  transportation and schools
• Urban planning and school construction based on
  universal design principles.
• Human resource constraints such as teachers
  without disability-specific training
• Rely on local experts, demand freely shareable
  training materials, and use local best practices
  when possible.

7
Cross-Sectoral Strategies

• Lack of assistive technologies such as screen
  readers or special keyboards
• Rely on technology that is low-cost or free, use
  the experience of other developing countries with
  free and open source software and Creative
  Commons materials.

8
Cross-Sectoral Strategies

• Potential employers without experience with or
  knowledge about persons with disabilities
• Encourage internship opportunities, support
  organizations that facilitate interaction between
  business community and persons with disabilities.

9
A Costly Strategy

• Low and no-cost Assistive Technologies are
  created by individuals and organizations that
  usually have no marketing budget.
• Many organizations and government agencies seek
  funding and donations to acquire costly Assistive
  Technologies used in wealthy countries which are
  more widely known.

10
A Costly Strategy

• Children are then trained and become dependent on
  technologies that their families, local schools,
  and potential employers cannot afford.
• Transitions from local NGO to school, to a local
  library, to an internship opportunity, and to
  employment become practically impossible.

11
Control is More Important than Price

• The wrong technology donated for free can be
  costly in the medium and long term.
• Key factor is control of the technology.
• Technology that can be copied, modified,
  improved, and shared is available for Linux and
  Windows systems.

12
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Assistive
Technologies

• FOSS Assistive Technologies are free or low cost
  because no single entity controls it.
  Overpricing attracts developers that charge less.

13
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Assistive
Technologies

• Examples of FOSS Assistive Technologies include
• Dasher, a virtual keyboard application for Linux
  and Windows.
• http//www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/
• NVDA, a screen reader for Windows.
• http//www.nvda-project.org/
• Orca, a screen reader and magnifier for Linux.
• http//live.gnome.org/Orca
• Virtual Magnifying Glass, a screen magnifier for
  Linux and Windows.
• http//magnifier.sourceforge.net/

14
Benefit from Zero Marginal Cost

• Whenever possible demand that contractors,
  consultants, and other entities provide training
  and other materials under a Creative Commons
  license
• http//CreativeCommons.org/

15
Many Critical Factors but a Few Good Strategies

• Focus on the development of human resources and
  on technology that facilitates that.
• Make sure you understand who controls the
  technology you choose to depend on.
• Give preference for solutions that maximize how
  much control remains local.

16
Thank you!

• Fernando H. F. Botelho
• Fernando.Botelho_at_F123.org
• Botelho Paula Consultoria
• Solutions that scale.
• http//www.F123.org/
• This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
  Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
• To view a copy of this license, visit
  http//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or
  send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second
  Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California,
  94105, USA.