More than three million disabled Thais should soon be able to access information and government services through the Internet more easily.
A recent government decree stated that all 283 websites run by government ministries and departments must be redesigned by the end of the year to meet universal accessibility standards. The design being proposed for use by the country's disabled is said to match the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard.
If consistent with the W3C standard, the websites will be certified by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry, whose chief, Surapong Suebwonglee, said more helpful technology for the disabled was on the way.
With e-government a growing trend around the world, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) is serving as a consultant to help government organisations redevelop their websites.
The minister said that CDs featuring four programs - Daisy TAB Player, Daisy AMIS, Hand-Language for Technical Terms and Words and Keyboard on Screen - will be distributed free to disabled people nationwide.
The campaign follows the government's policy of bridging the "digital divide" between able-bodied and disabled people in the use of ICT as a tool for acquiring knowledge.
Surapong said his ministry was also working with the Science and Technology Ministry in researching and developing additional helpful technology, a sector that is expected to receive extra government funding by next year.
"We will push much more policy and technology to reduce the digital divide between able-bodied and disabled people," he said.
"In the past, we paid less attention to sharing ICT with the disabled. Many disabled people are intelligent, but they haven't had an equal chance to use ICT to acquire knowledge and information."
Quelle: The Nation, 13.02.2004
