Het Europees Jaar van Mensen met een Handicap
Komende zondag zal IBM deelnemen aan de lancering van het Europees jaar voor mensen met een handicap in Athene.
Doel van het 'Jaar' is aandacht te vragen voor de problemen waarmee mensen met een handicap in de Europese samenleving geconfronteerd worden en momentum te genereren om dit soort problemen op te lossen.
Eén op de tien europeanen heeft een handicap. In het kader van het eEuropa 2002 actie plan, heeft de EU richtlijnen geintroduceerd om toegang tot het web te verbeteren voor deze mensen en voor het groeidend aantal ouderen die moeilijk toegang kunnen krijgen tot het internet. Verwacht wordt dat deze richtlijnen rond 2005 vertaald zullen zijn in beleid.
Zonder actie van de kant van de ICT industrie, bestaat het risico dat IT additionele moeilijkheden kan veroorzaken voor gehandicapte en oudere mensen, in plaats van het omgekeerde.
Het jaar voor gehandicapten 2003 is daar van belang voor de strijd voor gelijke rechten en een einde aan discriminatie van mensen met een handicap. IBM is van mening dat het Jaar gebruikt moet worden om een klimaat van verandering te ontwikkelen waar in mensen met een handicap meer en meer zichtbaar en actief worden in aspecten van de samenleving. Daarom zal IBM als onderdeel van dit initiatief:
.... op zondag een nieuwe campagne starten voor internet toegang voor
iedereen
.... bewustzijn verhogen t.a.v het Jaar voor Gehandicapten door interne en
externe communcatie
.....en het werken van mensen met een handicap binnen IBM verbeteren
IBM vindt dit een belangrijk onderwerp en heeft daarom diverse acties
gepland het komende jaar.
Zie voor meer hierover ook het persbericht dat ik heb meegestuurd.
Wanneer u meer informatie wilt hebben of met een IBM-er verantwoordelijk
voor dit project of vertegenwoordigers van het Europees Jaar voor Gehandicapten wilt spreken, kunt u natuurlijk contact met me op nemen. U kunt me bereiken op 020 513 4228.
IBM Takes Action on Disability in 2003
Introduces Web Accessibility for All Campaign for Private and Public Sector
Organisations.
Paris, 24 January 2003....IBM will announce this weekend that in 2003 it
will introduce a number of industry-leading programs and campaigns to
support today's launch of the European Year of People with Disabilities
(EYPD). As one of the initiative's leading sponsors, IBM, along with the
European Disability Forum and the European Commission, is committed to
generating long term social and economic improvements for disabled people.
As part of this program, IBM will introduce a new campaign called Web
Accessibility for All.
IBM Accessibility Centres have been created in Paris (France), Japan and
the US to support the IBM development of Accessible Products, Assistive
hnologies and IBM service offerings. The Paris location will be the heart
of IBM's Web Accessibility for All campaign in Europe. IBM is already
helping public and private sector organizations to better understand people
with disability requirements and implement international accessibility
standards in their web sites to be more inclusive for their employees and
customers. For example, technology such as IBM's Home Page Reader enable
not only blind or visually impaired people to get access to web content but
also enable webmasters to check their website accessibility.
"Society has benefited in many ways from IT, but in reality we have only
just begun to realise how these changes will reshape the way we live. These
changes will effect the way we access culture, the way we educate and the
way we do business." said Hans Ulrich Maerki, Chairman IBM Europe. "People
with disabilities are among the groups that will get the greatest benefits
from this revolution. The Internet, for example, has opened up a world of
information, education and electronic commerce opportunities to many
individuals with disabilities. But until now the new systems and products
have not always been designed with the disabled and elderly requirements in
mind."
The European Commission, as part of its eEurope Action Plan 2002, has
provided broad guidelines on web accessibility to all EU member states.
This move is designed to improve access to the web for older citizens and
the 37 million people with disabilities in Europe who may be unable to
access information and services that will be offered by e-government.
Research from global analyst firm Forrester suggests that global
organisations could face basic redesign costs of over $150,000 each for the
necessary rebuilding of sites to enable basic accessibility requirements.
Fixing a defect after launch can cost at least 10 times the price of
designing the page accessible the first time Forrester ? Design Accessible
Sites Now, December 2001.
"There is a risk that IT could cause difficulties for disabled and elderly
people, instead of the reverse. For example, personal service is rapidly
being replaced by IT and web-based services, both in the public and private
sectors. Most of these systems make considerable demands on users in terms
of their ability to read and write, interpret information quickly and make
decisions. More needs to be done to ensure that everyone gets value from
the web and IBM's Web Accessibility program is just one way in which we
will help public and private organisations to exploit IT for the benefit of
all."
IBM's new Web Accessibility for All campaign introduces a set of new
solutions that will enable the following:
? IBM will provide free access to assistive technology for EYPD website
visitors to allow more citizens to get easier access to the EYPD content.
? IBM will promote ? both in IBM products and through the European
marketplace - web accessibility standards from the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) for universal
access to Internet services. IBM's Web accessibility campaign will target
both Public Sector and Private Sector.
? Through a set of specific services offerings, IBM will bring its
expertise and experience in such domains as "Usability", "User-Centred
Design" and "Ease of Use" to public and private sector organisations to
enhance web accessibility practices.
? IBM will develop new products and services offerings to help its
employees and customers use the web at its full potential. Apart from
assistive products, IBM will offer consultancy and implementation services
on web accessibility auditing, assessment, education, training,
retrofitting, redesign and web site accessibility monitoring.
? IBM will pursue worldwide efforts to make electronic information and
technology accessible through active participation in European Union and
Worldwide standards committees for accessibility and design-for-all (such
as CEN/ISSS, ETSI, DATSCG, ISO, W3C/WAI )
IBM's Full Action plan for this EYPD is available on its public website:
HYPERLINK "http://www.ibm.com/able/europe"www.ibm.com/able/europe
The launch of the European Year of People with Disabilities will take place
on sunday in Athens, Greece. The conference will be hosted by the EU
Commission and attended by: Mrs. A. Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner
for Employment & Social Affairs; Mr. Y. Vardakastanis, President of the
European Disability Forum; and Mr. G.Podestà, Vice President of the
European Parliament
IBM representatives include Mr Elio Catania, Country General Manager
Greece, Italy, Israel, Turkey and Dr Wilfredo Ferre, Director of
Occupational Health Services, Health Benefits & Accessibility, IBM Europe.
About European Year of People with Disabilities (EYPD)
2003 is the European Year of People with Disabilities (EYPD). The Year is
designed by its sponsors, the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the
European Commission, to focus maximum attention on the issues facing
disabled people in European society and to generate momentum that will lead
to long term improvements to the challenges facing the disabled. Twelve of
Europe's biggest companies have decided to become active in the EYPD to
help make sure that 2003 brings a real change to the lives of Europe's 37
million disabled. The companies have come together as EYPD Corporate
Partners - the first time that there has been major corporate cooperation
in the field of disability on a European scale.
Speaking at the launch of the Year in December, EU Commissioner Anna
Diamantopolou said: "It is about tackling barriers that people with
disabilities face, wherever they occur. The European Year is also about
raising awareness that disability is an issue of concern to all of us."
EDF President Yannis Vardakastanis also endorses the role of the Corporate
Partners: The European Year of Disabled People in 2003 should mark a
significant step forward for the rights of disabled people in the EU and
accession countries. We must all work hard to make this happen. It is our
responsibility to achieve concrete results that will endure even after the
year is over."
For more information, visit: HYPERLINK
"http://www.eypd2003.org"www.eypd2003.org
About IBM
Since January 1999, all IBM operating organizations and subsidiaries have
been conforming to a comprehensive set of accessibility standards that IBM
builds into all of its hardware and software products as part of the design
process. These standards are applied to IBM Internet web pages and IBM's
own internal applications to make IBM offerings accessible to customers and
employees who have disabilities or who, due to aging, have reduced access
abilities.
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with more than
80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM Global Services
is the industry's largest business and information technology services
provider, with approximately 180,000 professionals serving customers in 160
countries and annual revenue of $35 billion (2001). IBM Global Services
integrates a broad range of capabilities -- services, consulting, hardware,
software and research -- to help companies of all sizes realize the full
value of information technology. The fastest way to get more information
about IBM is through the IBM home page at http://www.ibm.com
Met vriendelijke groet/with kind regards,
Etta Pouw
Communications
IBM Nederland N.V.
Johan Huizingalaan 761
1066 VH Amsterdam
Tel: 020 513 4228
Fax: 020 617 7600