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Re: The Y/Why of Accessibility

for

From: Lucy Greco
Date: Jun 12, 2013 11:24AM

Hello: thanks I just tweeted it

Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces


-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
<EMAIL REMOVED>
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 10:20 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] The Y/Why of Accessibility

You can find it at my blog

Accessibility: A $ 12 Trillion Opportunity!
http://dineshkaushal.blogspot.in/

With warm regards
Dinesh Kaushal
Technical Lead |Information Systems - MyWipro | Accessibility
PMI Certified Associate Project Manager
Mobile: 9900096374
Blog: http://dineshkaushal.blogspot.com

The energy between two people is what creates great marriages, families,
teams, and organizations -- Tom Rath.
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." -- Socrates

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Lucy Greco
Sent: 12 June 2013 9:8 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] The Y/Why of Accessibility

Do you have this online any wear I would like to tweet it well written

Lucia Greco
Web Access Analyst
IST-Campus Technology Services
University of California, Berkeley
(510) 289-6008 skype: lucia1-greco
http://webaccess.berkeley.edu
Follow me on twitter @accessaces

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of
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Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 10:59 PM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] The Y/Why of Accessibility

Dear All,

I wrote the following peace to spread awareness about accessibility in my
organization.

Do you know, that total population of people with disabilities in the
world is 1.2 billion which is roughly equal to the population of India or
China? And only 1 of 10 people with disabilities are able to get gainful
employment? For example, employment rate for people with disabilities in
India is only 1 out of 200 instead of 1 to 20? How come such a large
population could be ignored even though the number of people with
disabilities in India is equal to the population of United Kingdom? Even
in developed country like United States, labor Force Participation for
People with disabilities is 20.7% as against People without disabilities:
68.8%

Think about it, in United States there are 54 million people with
disabilities according to the definition in American's with disabilities
act. Which is roughly one sixth the population of United States. If we
extrapolate this number for the whole world, roughly the world population
of people with disabilities is 4 times the population of United states,
that translates to a population around 1.2 billion. The world GDP is
nearly 70 trillion, so we can safely calculate that people with
disabilities could contribute around 10 trillion worth of output if they
are trained well and get accessible products and services. Shouldn't we
invest for the potential productivity improvement of such a gargantuan
magnitude?

One reason for such a large scale discrimination is that our society is
built for majority. Even though 1 in 10 people are left handed, most of
the devices can only be operated with right hand. Even though 1 in 10
computer users experience hearing difficulty, many videos and audios do
not have captions or transcripts. Even though 1 in 4 computer users
experience difficulty with their hands or legs, many computer applications
can only be operated with mouse. And even though 1 in 4 computer users
experience visual difficulty, most of computer applications can not be
used with a screen reader or a magnifier.

There are similar problems with education. Many people with disabilities
do not get quality education. For example, when I was studying in the
special school for the blind, I often didn't get enough course books: for
mathematic subject in eighth grade, I got only 1 Braille volume which
contained first 2 chapters. Another problem was that mathematics was and
is still not taught after 8th grade in special schools for the blind. If
this was not enough, many special schools don't teach English very well
and predominant language of education is Hindi. Since in India official
work is mostly done in English, teaching in Hindi or other regional
languages alone significantly limits ability of people with blindness to
get quality jobs.

There are many other products that are not accessible. I have a digital TV
at home, but I can not use it as effectively as a person with sight would
do because it is not designed to be usable for persons with blindness.
Similarly, washing machines, micro waves, and other equipment for daily
use are not accessible. Until recently, if I had to withdraw money, I
would need someone's help, in turn compromising on my privacy. Though
there are special equipment's available for blind persons, such
equipment's are often obsolete and are not available everywhere.

There is a way, and the way is shown by Steve Jobs. Do you know that an
iPhone can be used by a blind person, hearing impaired person or a person
with mobility difficulties? Steve jobs could easily ignore accessibility
in iPhone but he was not a person who would ignore such things. He cared
to make it happen or the systems that he had setup at Apple made it
happen, but what we learn from him, is to pay attention even for things
that may evade an ordinary leader. iPhone has not only transformed mobile
industry, but it has also transformed accessibility for persons with
disabilities. Steve Jobs and Apple have also shattered my belief that it
is impossible for mainstream organizations to build products for persons
with disabilities. An iPhone is not only accessible, but it is a model of
accessibility among touch screen devices.

Another reason why we should care for these problems is because There is
no guaranty that any one of us would not become disabled in the future.
Most of the people with disability acquire disability late in life such as
problem with hearing, insufficient vision or problem with motor movements.
Investment in the technology and training for people with disabilities
also serves as buying an insurance for people without disabilities. We
invest billions for other types of insurance, why can't we invest for
productivity improvement of people with disabilities?

So accessibility is not a nice thing to have, it is a human right and
essential tool to improve world productivity

Dinesh Kaushal
Regards
The change paradox: We and our successors change what can be changed, each
undoing the work of the one before: Bill Barnett

-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Karen Sorensen
Sent: 12 June 2013 8:17 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] The Y/Why of Accessibility

Thank you so much to Bevi and Alan for some great ways to explain the
importance of accessibility! Great points and great discussion all!
I train faculty at a large community college. Carrots are definitely more
effective than sticks. But I also think faculty need to know that as a
federally funded institution in the United States, we are legally
required to make our programs and activities accessible. I mean, shouldn't
they know that if they don't make their online courses accessible, they
are putting the institution at risk?
Perhaps it's all in the delivery. I can try to deliver the legal
information more as fact than threat. I must admit, I've stooped to
shaming before. I mean it is shameful. But I know that doesn't recruit
another advocate for accessibility, whereas the points Bevi and Alan made
might.
Thanks for a great discussion list serv!
Karen

Karen M. Sorensen
Accessibility Advocate for Online Courses www.pcc.edu/access Portland
Community College
971-722-4720
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