NEWS: Integrating the disabled with tech benefits

THE term Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU), or people with disabilities, is the butt of many jokes here in Malaysia. The mere mention of the term is often accompanied with a sense of embarrassment, shame and discomfort for a majority of the population.

This is a most unfortunate situation in light of the fact that Malaysia is striving to become a developed nation by 2020. Malaysians with disabilities need to be provided the opportunity to lead a more independent and productive life and participate in the transformation into becoming a knowledge society.

And one of the crucial efforts that could enable the vision to be realised is to leverage on the power of information and communications technology (ICT). Father of the Internet, Vint Cerf illustrated this in a recent interview with the Global Knowledge Partnership, whose secretariat is based here in Kuala Lumpur.

Cerf, who is the vice president and chief Internet evangelist of Google Inc, was asked as a hearing impaired, whether he thinks new ICTs can be used to better integrate people with disabilities to the benefits of the Internet and what contributions can different parties make.

He said, “When e-mail became popular in the general public, when text messaging on mobiles became a common practice, the result was that the hearing impaired community simply became part of the mainstream since these features are usable by both communities. Digital information is flexible. Speech synthesis can help a blind person navigate the Internet and exchange e-mail with others. As we age, we experience various kinds of disabilities so attention to these user interface issues is important for all of us. Making these ideas commonplace in planning new ICT products and services seems like it is an important goal for all ICT-oriented companies.”

One such entity that aims to promote, participate in and monitor the implementation of the state-of-the-art ICT relevant to people with disabilities is the Malaysian Information Network on Disabilities (MIND – http://mind.org.my).

MIND was established to enable Malaysians with disabilities and their families to enhance their quality of life through having access to ICT-related issues like healthcare, education, government and non-government assistance to contribute to ICT advancement.

From its Web site, MIND lists a number of organisations that provide ICT-related products and services for OKUs – among them are special Streamyx packages for disabled citizens from TMNet, free IT courses at local colleges, job postings and grants for disabled businessmen.

As Cerf puts it – “I believe that ICT has the power to vastly enhance global access to and use of all the information that mankind has uncovered. I believe that there is power in the sharing of information because this enhances the ability of all societies to make progress in research, products and services in all dimensions, if ever a technology defined an era of human development, ICT has that role in the 21st century.” What he has said warrants thought and more action.