Background
The ITU is one of the funder Members of the IGF Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD). The aim of the DCAD is to facilitate interaction between relevant bodies, and ensure that ICT accessibility is included in the key debates around Internet Governance in order to build a future where all sectors of the global community have equal access to the Information Society. We are convinced that the entire community can benefit from an “accessible ICT world”, as people can be permanently or temporarily disabled due to personal, environmental (e.g. a phone call in a noisy environment) or cultural (e.g. spoken language diversity) conditions. Moreover, we will all grow old and lose abilities that we take for granted now, thus enlarging the part of the population that would benefit from accessible communication. We cannot allow isolation of a part of the population due to lack of appropriate functionality that prevents the use of ICT resources by everybody to the fullest possible degree. The ITU in collaboration with a Steering Committee formed by various stakeholders that are also partners of the DCAD have organized this workshop.