Hi Andrea. Very well said, People With Disabilities certainly end up paying more for access. For example, a blind person needs to purchase a screen-reader plus a PC. Which is fairly expensive. Now that OLPC is doing wonderful work in developing countries, I too, strongly feel that Disability issues be recognised now, rather when its too late...
All have a good day, looking forward to some valuable discussion! Rakesh ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrea Shettle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 2:07 AM Subject: [laptop-accessibility] Advocacy for Elevated Disability Inclusion:Next Steps? > Given the recent discussions on this list criticizing OLPC for not > putting higher priority on the needs of children with disabilities FROM > THE BEGINNING, I'd like to make a few comments and ask some questions, > either for the list at wide or for any individual who is in the > strongest position to answer: > > 1. If OLPC's excuse for not putting disability access at higher > priority from an earlier stage is, "the customers haven't asked for it > yet" then I think that is a weak excuse. Any time one discusses > disability inclusion, one must be sensitive to the fact that people > with disabilities are already so profoundly marginalized and excluded > that they very rarely have chances to really make themselves heard in > society EVEN IN societies like the US where we have laws that help > empower us (like the Americans with Disabilities Act ... or the > equivalent Disability Discrimination Act for people in the UK etc). > The NEED can be there and can be very extreme and still simply not be > heard at the highest levels because the people with decision making > power don't even SEE or HEAR people with disabilities, must less seek > out their input. And the people with disabilities are denied the > opportunities they need to MAKE high-level personnel listen to them. > > If we wait for the country governments buying the computers to *ask* > for disability access before this becomes a priority, then this is > putting disabled children in the very unfair position of waiting for a > very long time before their needs are put on an equal footing with > everyone else. I think OLPC should be taking more responsibility for > considering the needs not only of those who can speak for themselves in > an articulate and coordinated fashion (and thus be heard by the > high-level decision makers in developing countries who actually pay for > the XOs) but also the needs of those who are too isolated from each > other to be able to put forth a unified, strong voice at this time. > > > 2. Those of us who are making complaints like this one are currently > preaching to the choir: we wouldn't be on this list if we didn't > already support the idea of accessibility features for ALL children > using the XO laptops. What we really need is for people with key > decision making power within OLPC (I don't necessarily mean Negroponte > himself, but people who at least are in a position to shape and > implement the stated vision and mission of OLPC). > > Is there anyone meeting this description already in this list? If not, > then all this complaining among ourselves about the low priority OLPC > has put on disability access will accomplish little. Indeed, the work > that some members are trying to do to figure out how to make the XO > more accessible, design new software, etc., will itself accomplish > little if the OLPC as a whole does not put high enough priority on > actually USING the innovations created by our more skilled, hard > working participants (not me, alas, because I barely even *understand* > some of the more technical discussions on this list!). > > > All the above leads to this point: > > 3. Perhaps rather than simply complaining among ourselves, or working > in isolation from the overarching OLPC project on accessibility > concerns, we should discuss how we can work together to ADVOCATE within > OLPC to put higher priority on accessibility concerns. > > If there is anyone on this list who has been in some way in close > contact with decision-making personnel within OLPC, or who simply have > more knowledge how things work from the inside, then your input would > be greatly welcomed. > > If we on this list who share an interest in influencing OLPC's > disability inclusion policy can pull together and work out a strategy, > then I would be happy to post a Call To Action at my blog > (http://wecando.wordpress.com) for whatever small help that would > provide in bringing attention to the cause. (My blog is targeted at > people with disabilities in developing countries and their allies > around the world, including international development professionals.) > > If there is enough interest in coordinating some kind of advocacy > campaign targeted at OLPC, then we could consider creating a spin-off > mailing list devoted to that purpose, in order to allow this list to > retain its focus on the more technical aspects of accessibility. > > Andrea Shettle, MSW > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wecando.wordpress.com > > _______________________________________________ > accessibility mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility > > __________ NOD32 3649 (20081128) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > _______________________________________________ accessibility mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
