Mission to the Philippines
Workshop on Accessible ICT for PWDs
18-22 October 2005
The Workshop on Accessible ICT for PWDs -
"Empowering PWDs through ICT" in Cebu city, was organized
by the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD), National Council for the Welfare of Disabled
Persons (NCWDP) and other related NGOs in Philippines
in collaboration with the APCD Project. This was the 3rd
workshop on accessible ICT for PWDs held in the
Philippines by NCWDP in the last 3 years.
The overall goal of the workshop was to give PWDs full access to programs and services of Government agencies and NGOs through accessible ICT. Objectives of the workshop were 1) to train webmasters and their equivalents from concerned Governmental organizations (GOs), NGOs and Public organizations (POs) by creating a website accessible to PWDs, 2) to create and sustain a high-impact network of "accessible ICT advocates" in Visayas and Mindanao, and 3) to boost economic opportunities of and for PWDs through E-Commerce.
Twenty-four webmasters/representatives from GOs,
NGOs and POs based in Mindanao and Visayas
participated in the workshop. The primary resource person
for the workshop was Mr. Leopoldo N.Valdes, from Vision
Office, who has been developing and delivering hundreds of
technical training sessions in South East Asia, Europe,
Canada, and the Americas since 1983.
APCD gave a presentation on "Accessible ICT Challenges in the Asia Pacific Region" and shared APCD activities to promote ICT accessibility for PWDs.
Ms. Nelia R. De Jesus, Chief of the Technical Cooperation Center, NCWDP, and former participant of WBN 2004 facilitated the workshop. She emphasized the importance of information accessibility, which is not only for PWDs but for everyone. NCWDP is planning to organize the National Workshop on Accessible ICT for PWDs in 2006 as an outcome of the past three workshops.
The mission also visited key organizations in terms of accessible ICT, such as Resource for the Blind and NOVA Foundation.
NOVA Foundation has been promoting ICT for employment of persons with hearing and visual impairments. They provide ICT vocational and social training for PWDs, and expect all trainees to be able to work as full members of society. They have just started operating a new ICT training center with more than 60 computers.
APCD looks forward to more active participation and promotion of information accessibility for PWDs.
