Learners with disabilities often suffer some form of exclusion and marginalization, and do not often enjoy the same educational opportunities as other learners. Many of them do not enjoy equal access to education because they have learning difficulties or due to factors related to social exclusion and deprivation. This being said, the aim of this project is to reduce barriers that impede access to ICT for learners with disabilities. The project involves several activities, including the translation of the book entitled : “Model Policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education for Persons with Disabilities” which is part of the joint efforts of UNESCO and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) to promote the implementation the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Activities implemented in this regard include the following :
- Translating the “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines” developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with a goal of providing a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals with disabilities.
ALECSO has translated the WCAG 2.0 Guidelines, designed to facilitate access to web and digital services for persons with disabilities. These guidelines provide a number of recommendations, such as “provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, Braille, speech, symbols or simpler language ; Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure ; and make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.” The book offers a model policy that can help countries promote the effective use of inclusive ICTs for learners with disabilities. It should be emphasized that the policy objectives and guidelines provided in this book are applicable to any learners who have learning difficulties or suffer any form of social exclusion or deprivation. The document is designed to help Member States develop their policy towards achieving the broader goal of promoting inclusive education for all.
- Organizing a training workshop for a regional Maghreb team from “Handicap International”, composed of 23 persons, including heads of missions, project managers and assistant project managers specialized in disability issues. The aim of the training was to familiarize participants with the role of ICT in promoting social integration for persons with disabilities, and the areas in which ICT can enhance social participation (remote voting, shopping, etc.). It also aimed at providing guidelines for promoting access to web contents for persons with disabilities, and sensitizing participants to the need to adopt these guidelines when designing websites.
- Organizing the 5th International Conference on Information and Communication Technology and Accessibility (ICTA 2015 - Marrakech, Morocco, December 21-23 2015), jointly with ISESCO, in cooperation with ENSIAS College of Engineering, Mohammed V University of Rabat, the Research Laboratory of Technologies of Information and Communication and Electrical Engineering (LaTICE), University of Tunis, and with the participation of UNESCO, ITU and G3ICT. This event was attended by nearly 120 researchers in the field of ICT accessibility.
