 Internet Policies |
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| Seminars | Resources | About | |
| Final Report | Overview | Program | Registration | Basic Document | Mexico City | |
Internet Policies |
|
| Seminars | Resources | About | |
| Final Report | Overview | Program | Registration | Basic Document | Mexico City | |
Overview
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Seminar on Strategies for Implementing the Standard Rules in relation with Internet AccessibilityMexico City, June 4-7, 2001Executive Summary of the Final Report
The seminar brought together nearly 30 participants from 20 Latin America and the Spanish speaking Caribbean to review and discuss issues and trends in Internet-enabled goods and services in the Americas and to consider their implications to further implement international norms and standards related to equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities. The seminar directed special attention to issues of Internet accessibility and usability for all. Participation of 19 delegates from Latin America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean was supported by a grant from the United Nations Voluntary Fund on Disability, which was acknowledged with appreciation at the seminar inauguration. Delegates from Mexico were supported by FMIS IAP. Seminar participants were knowledgeable and experienced and included specialists in their individual capacity from governmental offices, non-governmental organisations and the private sector; all participants had a disability or direct experience of disability. Participation was at a high level, engaged and challenging in the consideration of issues, trends and options for further action. More information is available at the seminar's Internet site - http://www.worldenable.net/mexico2001. Seminar preparations received excellent support from the Tecnológico de Monterrey - Campus Ciudad de México, which provided excellent seminar facilities and its Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, in particular, whose computer specialists provided outstanding logistical support, including provision of a specific port in all subnets at Tec de Monterrey so that there could be dynamic distance collaboration throughout the seminar at all venues. Mr. Clinton Rapley of the Division of Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Secretariat joined the representative of Government of Mexico, the president of the National Institute of Social Development, and the president of FMIS IAP in the seminar inauguration. He was responsible for opening remarks on the seminar's basic purposes and expected results of this exchange, which was the first of its type in the Americas region. He reviewed briefly the "why" of accessibility - Internet accessibility in particular - from the international perspective, and commented on recent international activities in the field, such as the year 2000 High level session of the ECOSOC. There were three panel discussions. The first panel, for example, considered the issue of Internet accessibility as both an essential component of broad human rights approaches to development and a technical standard in the design on Internet-enabled resources. Panel resource persons from Mexico included representatives of Government's "E-Mexico" initiative (Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Trasportes) and its "Civil society" initiative (Secretaría de Gobernación), a representative of Microsoft de México, and representatives of advocacy and service organisations in the disability field. Presentations were uniformly excellent in content and presentation, contributed to the seminar agenda and well-received by seminar participants. The seminar process was highly interactive and involved dynamic exchanges at the Tec de Monterrey venue through distance collaboration. On Thursday afternoon delegates considered individual and sub-regional strategic plans to further realise Internet accessibility for all in Latin America and the Caribbean and adopted a seminar "Declaration", which outlines a strategic framework on Internet accessibility in terms of policy advocacy, training and technical exchanges, pilot action and establishment of an "open and democratic" Network to promote Internet accessibility in the Americas. To ensure accessibility of the seminar materials, the presentation team for the seminar published two CD-ROMs that were distributed to each delegate. In addition FMIS IAP obtained the agreement of the Opera software company (http://www.opera.com) to include a complimentary copy of its Spanish language browser (release 5.11) on volume 1 of the 2-volume CD-ROM seminar compilation. The edited substantive materials and final seminar Declaration, including oral revisions during the final seminar session are found in this web site. For More InformationPLEASE CONTACT: Fundación Mexicana de Integración SocialIAP: |
Copyright (c) 2001 AIMS/VisionOffice. |
The seminar was
implemented by Fundación Mexicana de Integración Social IAP (FMIS IAP) in close
collaboration with Government of Mexico's Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de
la Familia - DIF.