�Select ALL� e-Accessibility Assessment Report for South Eastern Europe
This should include the possibility of encompassing broadband in the future. The very low level of skills in ICTs throughout the region also has to be addressed in order to take full advantage of more accessible and affordable ICTs. Even where significant educational initiatives are taking place to ensure that all young people learn ICT skills, such initiatives can unintentionally exclude the means by which they can learn. A similar problem can occur with regard to programmes that promote widespread public access to Internet in libraries and other public facilities. Rec. 9: To governments: Ministries involved in initiatives that promote Internet access and training in educational institutions (at all levels), as well as those promoting them to the public in general, should ensure that all such initiatives include the necessary physical access, adaptive technologies and human resources to enable people with disabilities to make full use of them. A further issue relates to the challenge for people with disabilities to identify, try out and purchase assistive technologies. There are very few centres in the region that allow people to view assistive technologies, and to determine through trial whether they are suited to their specific needs. They then face the difficulty of finding out where to purchase them, and often the payment of an import tax. Rec. 10:To NGOs: NGOs are most likely to be in a position to provide front-line access to assistive technologies. Efforts could be made by them to identity or compile databases of assistive technologies, and, resources permitting, to make them available for trial by their members. Rec. 11:To governments: Government should support the efforts of NGOs in this area, and also consider reducing or eliminating import taxes on assistive technologies, especially those produced within the region. Rec. 12:To the private sector: Private sector organizations involved in producing, importing or selling assistive technologies should collaborate with NGOs to make these available for trial, and for purchase at minimum cost for people with disabilities.
web Accessibility for e-Governance A key focus of this report is e-Accessibility to e-Governance services, comprising mainly (though not exclusively) web-accessibility i.e., online web-based services. This includes being compliant with the international W3C standards that enable people with a range of disabilities to interact with, contribute to and fully participate in online services. Doing this is not necessarily expensive; indeed, it is very likely to save money and support service innovation in the medium to long term. Furthermore, there is a set of software and online tools available, sometimes in local languages, from the W3C Consortium that are specifically designed 95