2004 World Bank International
Disability Conference
Washington, DC, November 30, 2004
"Enabling Access through
Information Technology Round Table"
Discussion Points
By:
Steve Jacobs
President
IDEAL Group, Inc.
steve.jacobs@ideal-group.org
The discussion points
presented in this paper are being introduced in support of achieving the
following objective:
"To structure
World Bank Group (WBG),
International Monetary Fund (IMF),
Inter-American
Development Bank
(IDB) and
International Finance Corporation (IFC) information and
communications
technology (ICT) loans in manners that strongly
encourage and reward the
development and implementation
of ICT to
meet the wants, needs and
preferences of as many individual consumers as reasonable, technically possible and economically feasible."
Discussion Point 1:
Accommodating People with Disabilities
[top]
The same techniques used to make ICT
accessible to people 65+ years of age can make that same ICT more accessible to
people with disabilities.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 1 [top]
The estimated number of people with
disabilities in the United States and worldwide varies greatly from source to
source. The National Council on Disability estimates that there are
approximately 500 million people with disabilities worldwide16.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 report there are 49.7 million people
with disabilities living in the United States [Table 4].
Discussion Point 2:
Accommodating People Living in High Density Populations
[top]
The same accessible design techniques used to
make Human Computer Interfaces easier to use by people with learning
disabilities can be used to reduce the time it take to complete transactions on
public access terminals, thereby reducing wait times in countries with high
density populations.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 2 [top]
The top eleven largest developing countries
have population densities from two to 15 times more than that of the United
States. There are more than 3 billion people living in these countries [Table
5].
Discussion Point 3:
Accommodating
People of Low Literacy
[top]
The same speech recognition technologies used
to accommodate people with mobility disabilities can accommodate the needs of
people of low literacy.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 3 [top]
The average 2000 primary school enrollments
across 17 of the top 20 largest developing countries with data listed was 92.5%
[Table 6]. However, this number decreases significantly
to 69.5% [Table 7] when one looks at across the 12 of the
top 20 largest developing countries with data listed in World Bank’s Development
Indicator Database.
Discussion Point 4:
Accommodating
People who Never Learned to Read
[top]
The same text-to-speech technologies used to
accommodate people who are blind and people with low-vision can accommodate
people who never learned to read.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 4 [top]
In the top 20 largest developing countries
there are 740 million people who never learned to read [Table
8].
Discussion Point 5:
Accommodating the Enhancement
of Distance
Learning [top]
The same captions used to enable people who
are deaf to enjoy video programming, and people who are hard-of-hearing can be
used to quickly search for and retrieve video content, by frame, for distant
learning.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 5 [top]
Discussion Point 6:
Enhancing the Translation of Content into Other Languages and Accommodating the
Needs Users of English as a Second Language (ESL)
[top]
The same “Plain Language” writing techniques
used to accommodate children who are deaf, people with cognitive reading
disabilities and users of English as a Second Language (ESL) can reduce the cost
to translate content into multiple languages by as much as 30%.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 6 [top]
-
David Crystal of the
University of Wales, the author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language, says about one-and-a-half-billion of the world's six-billion people
speak English as a second language compared to the 400-million native speakers2.
-
In just
5 of the top 20 largest developing countries there are 142 languages spoken by
500,000+ people [Table 9].
-
Fifteen of the top
20 largest emerging markets have cell phone to standard telephone ratios
greater than the United States. Eight of these countries have more than twice
the number of cell phones per standard telephones as that of the United States
[Table 10].
Plain Language Resources:
Discussion Point 7:
Accommodating the need to Translate HTML Content in Wireless Device Formats
[top]
The same techniques used to make, e-commerce
sites, and e-learning content accessible to people with disabilities can enable
the automatic transcoding of these applications into formats that are accessible
by wireless devices operating from within low-bandwidth environments.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 7 [top]
-
Nineteen of the top
20 largest emerging markets have
less bandwidth availability per 100 people than the United States. In fact, a
majority of the 3.6 billion consumers living in these countries have access to
less than 1% of the bandwidth available in the United States [Table
11].
-
Try transcoding your
standard Website into a wireless format using the following transcoder:
http://ideal-group.org/wireless/
Discussion Point 8:
Accommodating the Needs People 65+ years of age
[top]
The same techniques used to make ICT
accessible to people with disabilities can make that same ICT more accessible to
people 65+ years of age.
Supporting Data for
Discussion Point 8 [top]
There are 237 million people, 65+ years of
age living in the top 20 emerging markets [Table 12].
Income and population data
for
the World Bank countries cited in the discussion points 1-8, above, can be found in [Table
1], [Table 2] and [Table 3]
below:
|
Table 1
[top]
Income Classification Detail |
|
Abbreviation |
[LI] |
[LMI] |
[UMI] |
[HI] |
|
Income
Classification |
Low-income
|
Lower-middle-income
|
Upper-middle-income
|
High Income
|
|
2003 GNI per capita |
$765 or less |
$766 - $3,035 |
$3,036 - $9,385 |
$9,386 or more |
|
Number of Countries |
61 |
56 |
37 |
54 |
|
Table 2
[top]
Income Classification by Country |
|
Rank by Market
Size3 |
Country |
Income
Classification4, 5,
6, and 7 |
|
1 |
China
|
LMI |
|
2 |
India
|
LI |
|
3 |
Russian Federation |
LMI |
|
4 |
Brazil
|
LMI |
|
5 |
Mexico |
UMI |
|
6 |
Korea, Dem Rep. |
LI |
|
7 |
Indonesia |
LMI |
|
8 |
South Africa |
LMI |
|
9 |
Turkey
|
LMI |
|
10 |
Poland |
UMI |
|
11 |
Philippines |
LMI |
|
12 |
Argentina |
UMI |
|
13 |
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
LMI |
|
14 |
Thailand |
LMI |
|
15 |
Venezuela, RB |
UMI |
|
16 |
Colombia |
LMI |
|
17 |
Malaysia |
UMI |
|
18 |
Chile |
UMI |
|
19 |
Peru |
LMI |
|
20 |
Czech
Republic |
UMI |
|
Table 3
[top]
Population |
|
Country |
Population
(July 2004 est.)8 |
|
China
|
1,298,847,624 |
|
India
|
1,065,070,607 |
|
Indonesia |
238,452,952 |
|
Brazil
|
184,101,109 |
|
Russian Federation |
143,782,338 |
|
Mexico
|
104,959,594 |
|
Philippines |
86,241,697 |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
76,117,421 |
|
Turkey
|
68,893,918 |
|
Thailand |
64,865,523 |
|
Korea, Dem Rep. |
48,598,175 |
|
South Africa |
42,718,530 |
|
Colombia |
42,310,775 |
|
Argentina |
39,144,753 |
|
Poland |
38,626,349 |
|
Peru |
27,544,305 |
|
Venezuela, RB |
25,017,387 |
|
Malaysia |
23,522,482 |
|
Chile |
15,823,957 |
|
Czech
Republic |
10,246,178 |
|
Totals: |
3,644,885,674 |
|
Table 4
[top]
Characteristics of the Civilian Non-institutionalized Population by Age,
Disability Status, and Type of Disability: 2000 |
|
Characteristic |
Totals |
|
|
Number |
Percent |
|
Population 5 and older |
257,167,527 |
100.00% |
|
With any disability |
49,746,248 |
19.34% |
|
Population 5 to 15 |
45,133,667 |
100.00% |
|
With any disability |
2,614,919 |
5.79% |
|
Sensory |
442,894 |
0.98% |
|
Physical |
455,461 |
1.01% |
|
Mental |
2,078,502 |
4.61% |
|
Self-care |
419,018 |
0.93% |
|
Population 16 to 64 |
178,687,234 |
100.00% |
|
With any disability |
33,153,211 |
18.55% |
|
Sensory |
4,123,902 |
2.31% |
|
Physical |
11,150,365 |
6.24% |
|
Mental |
6,764,439 |
3.79% |
|
Self-care |
3,149,875 |
1.76% |
|
Difficulty going outside the home |
11,414,508 |
6.39% |
|
Employment disability |
21,287,570 |
11.91% |
|
Population 65 and older |
33,346,626 |
100.00% |
|
With any disability |
13,978,118 |
41.92% |
|
Sensory |
4,738,479 |
14.21% |
|
Physical |
9,545,680 |
28.63% |
|
Mental |
3,592,912 |
10.77% |
|
Self-care |
3,183,840 |
9.55% |
|
Difficulty going outside the home |
6,795,517 |
20.38% |
|
Table 5
[top]
High-Density Populations |
|
Country |
Population
(July 2004 est.) |
People per Sq.
Km.8 and
9 |
|
Korea,
Dem Rep. |
48,598,175 |
495 |
|
India
|
1,065,070,607 |
358 |
|
Philippines |
86,241,697 |
289 |
|
China
|
1,298,847,624 |
139 |
|
Czech
Republic |
10,246,178 |
133 |
|
Indonesia |
238,452,952 |
131 |
|
Thailand |
64,865,523 |
127 |
|
Poland |
38,626,349 |
127 |
|
Turkey
|
68,893,918 |
89 |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
76,117,421 |
76 |
|
Malaysia |
23,522,482 |
72 |
|
Sub-Total: |
3,019,482,926 |
|
|
Mexico |
104,959,594 |
55 |
|
Colombia |
42,310,775 |
41 |
|
South
Africa |
42,718,530 |
35 |
|
Venezuela, RB |
25,017,387 |
28 |
|
Brazil
|
184,101,109 |
22 |
|
Peru
|
27,544,305 |
22 |
|
Chile
|
15,823,957 |
21 |
|
Argentina |
39,144,753 |
14 |
|
Russian Federation |
143,782,338 |
8 |
|
Table 6
[top]
School Enrollment Primary (%
net) |
|
Countries |
2000 |
|
Russian Federation |
.. |
|
Turkey |
.. |
|
Korea, Dem. Rep. |
.. |
|
Argentina |
100 |
|
Peru |
100 |
|
Mexico |
99 |
|
Poland |
98 |
|
Malaysia |
97 |
|
Brazil |
95 |
|
China |
93 |
|
Philippines |
93 |
|
Indonesia |
92 |
|
Czech Republic |
90 |
|
Egypt, Arab Rep. |
90 |
|
South Africa |
90 |
|
Chile |
89 |
|
Colombia |
89 |
|
Venezuela, RB |
88 |
|
Thailand |
87 |
|
India |
83 |
|
Average across the 17
countries with data: |
92.5 |
|
Source:
World Development Indicators
database |
|
Table 7
[top]
School Enrollment Secondary (% net) |
|
Country
|
2000 |
|
India |
.. |
|
Indonesia
|
.. |
|
Peru |
.. |
|
Turkey |
.. |
|
China |
.. |
|
Korea, Dem. Rep.
|
.. |
|
Russian Federation
|
.. |
|
Thailand
|
.. |
|
Poland |
91.0 |
|
Czech Republic
|
88.0 |
|
Argentina
|
79.0 |
|
Egypt, Arab Rep.
|
78.0 |
|
Chile |
75.0 |
|
Brazil |
69.0 |
|
Malaysia
|
69.0 |
|
South Africa
|
62.0 |
|
Mexico |
58.0 |
|
Colombia
|
57.0 |
|
Venezuela, RB
|
55.0 |
|
Philippines
|
53.0 |
|
Average across 12
countries with data: |
69.5 |
|
Source: World
Development Indicators database |
|
Table 8
[top]
Approximate Number of People who Never Learned to Read |
|
Country |
Approximate
Number of People who Never Learned to Read10 |
|
India |
431,353,596 |
|
China |
181,838,667 |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
32,197,669 |
|
Indonesia |
27,422,089 |
|
Brazil |
25,037,751 |
|
Turkey
|
9,300,679 |
|
Mexico |
8,186,848 |
|
South Africa |
5,809,720 |
|
Philippines |
3,535,910 |
|
Colombia |
3,173,308 |
|
Malaysia |
2,610,996 |
|
Thailand |
2,594,621 |
|
Peru |
2,506,532 |
|
Venezuela, RB |
1,651,148 |
|
Argentina |
1,135,198 |
|
Korea, Dem Rep. |
923,365 |
|
Chile |
601,310 |
|
Russian Federation |
575,129 |
|
Poland |
77,253 |
|
Czech
Republic |
10,246 |
|
Total: |
740,542,035 |
|
Table 9
[top]
Number of Languages Spoken by 500,000+ Consumers15
|
|
Country |
Languages Spoken by 500K+ People |
|
Mexico
|
2 |
|
Poland
|
2 |
|
China
|
34 |
|
Hong
Kong |
34 |
|
India |
70 |
|
Total
Top 5: |
142 |
|
Table 10
[top]
Main Telephone Lines vs. Cellular Subscribers |
|
Country |
Population (July 2004 est.) |
Main Telephone
Lines (2003)11 |
Cellular
Subscribers (2003)12 |
Percentage of
Cellular vs. Wireline Telephones |
|
Philippines |
86,241,697 |
3.31 |
15.20 |
459.21% |
|
South
Africa |
42,718,530 |
4.85 |
16.87 |
347.84% |
|
Czech
Republic |
10,246,178 |
3.63 |
9.71 |
267.49% |
|
Thailand |
64,865,523 |
6.60 |
16.12 |
244.24% |
|
Malaysia |
23,522,482 |
4.57 |
11.12 |
243.33% |
|
Venezuela, RB |
25,017,387 |
2.84 |
6.46 |
227.46% |
|
Chile
|
15,823,957 |
3.47 |
6.45 |
185.88% |
|
Mexico |
104,959,594 |
14.91 |
25.93 |
173.91% |
|
Peru
|
27,544,305 |
1.84 |
2.91 |
158.15% |
|
Indonesia |
238,452,952 |
7.75 |
11.70 |
150.97% |
|
Turkey
|
68,893,918 |
18.92 |
27.89 |
147.41% |
|
Korea,
Dem Rep. |
48,598,175 |
22.88 |
33.59 |
146.81% |
|
Poland |
38,626,349 |
12.30 |
17.40 |
141.46% |
|
Brazil
|
184,101,109 |
38.81 |
46.37 |
119.48% |
|
China
|
1,298,847,624 |
263.00 |
269.00 |
102.28% |
|
Sub-Total |
2,278,459,780 |
|
|
|
|
Argentina |
39,144,753 |
8.01 |
6.50 |
81.15% |
|
Colombia |
42,310,775 |
8.77 |
6.19 |
70.58% |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
76,117,421 |
8.74 |
5.80 |
66.36% |
|
India
|
1,065,070,607 |
48.92 |
26.15 |
53.45% |
|
Russian Federation |
143,782,338 |
35.50 |
17.61 |
49.61% |
|
United States |
|
181.60 |
158.72 |
87.40% |
|
Table 11
[top]
Overview of International Bandwidth |
|
Country |
International Bandwidth per 100 Inhabitants (Mbps)13 |
Population (2004 est.)8 |
Population of
Countries with Less Bandwidth |
Percentage of
U.S. Bandwidth |
|
Czech
Republic |
2,189.0 |
10,246,178 |
|
|
|
United States |
1,323.60 |
293,027,571 |
|
|
|
Korea,
Dem Rep. |
361.5 |
48,598,175 |
48,598,175 |
27.3% |
|
Poland |
163.6 |
38,626,349 |
38,626,349 |
12.4% |
|
Argentina |
149.6 |
39,144,753 |
39,144,753 |
11.3% |
|
Chile
|
131.6 |
15,823,957 |
15,823,957 |
9.9% |
|
Thailand |
87.2 |
64,865,523 |
64,865,523 |
6.6% |
|
Russian Federation |
61.2 |
143,782,338 |
143,782,338 |
4.6% |
|
Mexico |
56.9 |
104,959,594 |
104,959,594 |
4.3% |
|
Malaysia |
53.8 |
23,522,482 |
23,522,482 |
4.1% |
|
Brazil
|
53.7 |
184,101,109 |
184,101,109 |
4.1% |
|
Peru
|
45.6 |
27,544,305 |
27,544,305 |
3.4% |
|
Venezuela, RB |
27.3 |
25,017,387 |
25,017,387 |
2.1% |
|
Colombia |
12.7 |
42,310,775 |
42,310,775 |
1.0% |
|
South
Africa |
12.4 |
42,718,530 |
42,718,530 |
0.9% |
|
Philippines |
11.2 |
86,241,697 |
86,241,697 |
0.8% |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
10.9 |
76,117,421 |
76,117,421 |
0.8% |
|
Turkey
|
10.6 |
68,893,918 |
68,893,918 |
0.8% |
|
China
|
7.3 |
1,298,847,624 |
1,298,847,624 |
0.6% |
|
Indonesia |
2.7 |
238,452,952 |
238,452,952 |
0.2% |
|
India
|
1.6 |
1,065,070,607 |
1,065,070,607 |
0.1% |
|
|
|
|
3,634,639,496 |
|
|
Table 12
[top]
65+ Years of Age Population |
|
Country |
65+ Years of
Age Population14 |
|
China |
97,413,572 |
|
India |
51,123,389 |
|
Russian Federation |
19,698,180 |
|
Indonesia |
12,161,101 |
|
Brazil |
10,677,864 |
|
Mexico |
5,772,778 |
|
Poland |
4,982,799 |
|
Thailand |
4,735,183 |
|
Turkey
|
4,546,999 |
|
Argentina |
4,110,199 |
|
Korea, Dem Rep. |
3,985,050 |
|
Philippines |
3,363,426 |
|
Egypt,
Arab Rep. |
3,273,049 |
|
South Africa |
2,221,364 |
|
Colombia |
2,115,539 |
|
Czech
Republic |
1,444,711 |
|
Peru |
1,404,760 |
|
Venezuela, RB |
1,250,869 |
|
Chile |
1,234,269 |
|
Malaysia |
1,058,512 |
|
Total: |
236,573,613 |
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