icegov2012 proceedings

As a matter of human environment: the latter approach to the
problem of exclusion of people with limitations, aims to get
people who have contact with individuals with sensory disabilities
to be able to interact with them, that is, that the responsibility for
social integration lies not only in the individuals with disabilities,
but extends to individuals in regular conditions of perception. this
type of approach promotes alternatives such as indirect inclusion:
raising awareness, training for family members, teachers and
chaperones.
3.1.2. Coverage and contribution to the inclusion
This criterion refers to the ability to serve people with sensory
disabilities, while a positive influence to avoid isolation and
segregation of the population. Similarly, coverage, rather than as a
quantitative index can be understood as the flow direction or
orientation of the actions needed to access or benefit from a
particular program. Here there are: 1) individual care programs, 2)
direct government actions and 3) indirect government actions:
Individual care programs: Tend to only one person or individual
with sensory disabilities, may be of a private or public source.
The objective of such programs is to achieve human development
and social reintegration of the person with limited sensory abilities
Direct government action: Are those actions that are national,
state or local, as appropriate, whose aim is to benefit all people
with sensory disabilities in a particular jurisdiction, such as a law.
These actions differ from individual public actions in the sense
that citizens with sensory disabilities do not have to search for
programs to access them because the initiative includes the
general population with sensory disabilities
Indirect public actions: The indirect actions of public coverage
are those that, like direct public coverage, cover a jurisdiction, but
in this case, do not direct impact on individuals with disabilities,
but rather, their environment
3.1.3. Potential for adaptation to cover several
dimensions of inclusion
Adaptation refers to the possible extension of the use of a program
into other dimensions of impact (employment, education, political
participation, personal autonomy, etc). This approach which seeks
to identify those practices that generate coverage, operation and
ownership by people with sensory disabilities, can be applied
across several dimensions of impact simultaneously or
independently in a potential program or policy of digital inclusion
for people with sensory disabilities
3.2. Programs for digital inclusion of the
visually impaired population
As part of the generation of programs for inclusion in the access,
use and appropriation of ICTs for people with visual, people need
to define what can be described within this group, according to the
World Health Organization, are part of the community with visual
impairment, those who suffer from total blindness in one or both
eyes or those with profound visual impairment (partial blindness
or profound amblyopia amblyopic itself) with respect to visual
acuity at such a level that affects the normal execution of daily
activities, according to the ONCE (National Organization of
69
Spanish Blind) are blind persons whose visual field is reduced to
10 ° or less 7 .
One of the data provided research initiatives around access, use
and appropriation of ICTs, internationally, is related to the
interaction of participants of different natures, since those who run
programs for assisting communities with sensory are not only
public but also private.
There are several initiatives for us to highlight that grant access to
ICTs for people with visual impairments, such as the one
promoted by the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Culture,
which provides the blind with free Mecdaisy software for the
conversion of digital textbooks , this in order to provide tools for
academic and intellectual development of visually impaired
users 8 . In the United States, for example, a legislative initiative
called Americans with Disabilities Act, established the obligation
of both public and private institutions to provide people with
disabilities technologies and devices which are required for access
to information and public services, while in Spain, the scientific
community is most interested in developing specialized
technologies, as it has released a device to see with their
hands, thus facilitating the mobility of blind people through a
technology that converts images into tactile signals.
The adaptation of existing technologies to the needs of the blind,
is the strategy that Mexico is betting on, and that initiatives such
as the Library for the Blind National Autonomous University of
Mexico, show the Mexican government's willingness to attend
and include people with disabilities in education.
3.3. Digital inclusion initiatives for hearing
impaired
The inclusion of deaf people, access to and use of information
technology differs from the dynamics meant for the blind. Even
though both are limitations of a sensory type, the characteristics of
a deaf person call for other programs that cater to different needs
that are unique to this population. According to the World Health
Organization, ninety-three percent of deaf people have no access
to sign language interpretation service 9 , hence it is essential for
communication, use and access to information and
communications technologies.
In Mexico, for example, CONFETER a government sponsored
initiative since 2005 has compelled telecommunication providers
to furnish the necessary technology (such as telephones that
eliminate sound systems interference, vibrating phones, lit alert
indicators and amplified speakers) that facilitates communication
access to the hearing impaired.
Additionally, the Canadian private sector has answered the
hearing impaired communications challenge with organizations
such as The Canadian Society of the Deaf. This is Canada´s main
purveyor of services, products and information that eliminate the
stumbling blocks that limit the communication of the hearing
impaired.
3.3. Best methods for deaf-blind people
This population, which suffers from two limitations (auditory and
visual) depending on each individual case, may or may not benefit
from projects designed for the deaf or blind. However, there are
7
http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/caidv/interedvisual/
ftp_p_/def_bajavision_ceguera.pdf.
8
http://www.ufpel.edu.br/cic/2009/cd/pdf/CH/CH_00288.pdf
9
http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/summary
_es.pdf