<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">Kicki has mentioned something that is overlooked, and that has nothing to do if one is from a developing country. Web developers are often appalling in their appreciation of the issues faced by people who are blind in accessing the internet.<br><br>Even with the best screen readers and computer equipment, they are often next to useless if the websites can't be "read" by the screen reading software.<br><br>David<br><div><div style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">----- Original Message ----<br>From: Kicki Nordström <kicki.nordstrom@srfriks.org><br>To: governance@lists.cpsr.org; kwasi boakye-akyeampong <kboakye1@yahoo.co.uk><br>Sent: Monday, 30 July, 2007 6:33:56 AM<br>Subject:
SV: SV: [governance] IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE A PHANTOM?<br><br>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">Dear Kwasi,</font></span></div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4"></font></span> </div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">You are so right but
to this we must add the extra ordinary costs that additional programs as screen
readers etc, takes for enable blind and visually impaired persons to access ICT.
A screen reading program and a Braille Display to read the text, cost several
times more than the computer as such and it is no reduction because you are
coming from a developing country! </font></span></div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4"></font></span> </div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">I should not afford
this technology if I have to pay from my own income, but in Sweden, we get this
through different insurance, and can therefore use the available technology! But
the technology is also underdeveloped, as many Websites are inaccessible due to
formats, drawings and pictures, colours, columns and tables which the screen
reader can not interpret as it is also problems with PDF-files.
</font></span></div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4"></font></span> </div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">Equality of
accessing ICT is far away for poor people from any country but in particular
developing countries, and then to get the world to understand that everything
designed in a website can not and will not be possible to read for the worlds
180 million blind and visually impaired persons. We need to get a new solidarity
and understanding what is possible to technical develop and teach to normal
blind and visually impaired people, The more technical and specific the ICT
become, the more exclusive it will be. </font></span></div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4"></font></span> </div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">Warm
regards</font></span></div>
<div><span class="421501019-29072007"><font face="Arial" size="4">Kicki </font></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="4"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="4"></font> </div>
<p align="left"><span lang="sv"><font face="Arial" size="4">Kicki
Nordström<br>Synskadades Riksförbund (SRF)</font></span> <br><span lang="sv"><font face="Arial" size="4">World Blind Union (WBU)<br>122 88 Enskede<br>Sweden<br>Tel:
+46 (0)8 399 000<br>Fax: +46 (0)8 725 99 20<br>Cell: +46 (0)70 766 18
19<br>E-mail: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="mailto:kicki.nordstrom@srfriks.org">kicki.nordstrom@srfriks.org</a>
</font></span></p><span lang="sv">
<p><font size="4"><font face="Arial">kicki.nordstrom@telia.com (private)</font>
</font></p></span>
<div><font face="Arial" size="4"></font> </div><font face="Arial" size="4"></font><br>
<div class="OutlookMessageHeader" dir="ltr" align="left" lang="sv">
<hr tabindex="-1">
<font face="Tahoma" size="2"><b>Från:</b> kwasi boakye-akyeampong
[mailto:kboakye1@yahoo.co.uk] <br><b>Skickat:</b> den 28 juli 2007
14:16<br><b>Till:</b> governance@lists.cpsr.org; Norbert Bollow<br><b>Ämne:</b>
Re: SV: [governance] IS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE A PHANTOM?<br></font><br></div>
<div></div>Norbert, you wrote:<br>"<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">This of course needs to be funded
somehow, but as</span><br style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">soon as this has been achieved,
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">all visually disabled
people</span></span><br style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">everywhere
will be able to benefit from this</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> ...</span>".<br><br>I disagree
with the underlined bit because in the developing (under-developed) regions,
even the non-visually impaired are struggling to have access to computers.
Internet access is even worse. So for the visually impaired it is worse for them
in developing countries.<br><br>Believe me, the digital divide issue is worse
than we make it sound. Most of the solutions we propose are just not practicable
in the deprived regions. They are models fit for the developed countries. For
instance, most developing countries are struggling with electricity supply even
in the cities. Most rural communities are not connected to the national
electricity grid. So bridging the digital divide goes beyond providing them with
computers. <br><br>Greetings,<br>Kwasi<br><br><b><i>Norbert Bollow
<nb@bollow.ch></i></b> wrote:
<blockquote class="replbq" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px;">Kicki
Nordstrom wrote:<br><br>> World Blind Union
has tried to negotiate with the producer of screen<br>> reading programs,
that we from industrial could pay more to reduce<br>> the price for
customer in developing countries. But this was not<br>> possible due to
business tradition.<br><br>I think this calls for the development of a good
screen reader program<br>as Free Software. This of course needs to be funded
somehow, but as<br>soon as this has been achieved, all visually disabled
people<br>everywhere will be able to benefit from this, and will be able
to<br>always use the newest version without big extra costs, without
being<br>contrained by the "business traditions" of a profit-oriented
company.<br><br>Greetings,<br>Norbert.<br><br><br>-- <br><span>Norbert Bollow
<a target="_blank" href="http://Norbert.ch">http://Norbert.ch</a></span><br><span>President of the Swiss Internet User Group
SIUG
<a target="_blank" href="http://SIUG.ch">http://SIUG.ch</a></span><br>____________________________________________________________<br>You
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<div><font class="sqq"><strong><font color="#007f40" face="system">“If I am not for
myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I?
And if not now, when?”</font></strong> - <font face="arial black"><font face="system">Rabbi Hillal</font></font></font></div>
<div><font class="sqq"><font face="arial black"><font color="#007f40" face="System"><strong>..............................................................................................................................</strong></font></font></font></div>
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