The Web For Everyone
David Berlind
W3C Tenth Anniversary
1 Dec 2004
Web for Everyone
Moderator: David Berlind (ZDNet)
Bill Gillis (Center to Bridge the Digital Divide)
George Kerscher (DAISY Consortium)
Bill Gillis
Director, Center to Bridge the Digital Divide
Washington State University
PO Box 646229
Pullman, WA. 99164-6229
+01.509.335.5909
bgillis@wsu.edu
http://cbdd.wsu.edu
http://cbdd.typepad.com
The Web: Improving Lives for Ordinary People Everywhere
Importance to Ordinary People
The Web is a Resource Tool Enabling
- Innovation
- Communication
- Transformation
Information Communication Technology = ICT = Innovation
Communication Transformation
ICT Example 1: Thamel.com
Bal Joshi Thame1.com
- Enabling meaningful participation in life and culture at home among
emigrant communities dispersed around the world
- Thamel.com is a business development
company integrating Internet-based tools to promote socially, culturally
and economically sustainable business ventures in Nepal.
- Their collaborative commerce platform supports 500+ Nepalese
businesses, ranging from multi-million dollars enterprises to street
vendors in Katmandu
- 4 years after inception, they are doing business in 25 countries;
contributing more than $1 Million/year to economy where per capita income
is $250/Year
- Read more about Bal
Joshi's story on the CBDD blog
ICT Example 2: Nettel@Africa
Patricia Wanjiku Kinyanjui
- Collaboration through the web to build human capacity for
development
- The NetTelA Africa project
addresses barriers to access in Africa on levels of the public and
private sector
- The NetTel collaboration that
was enabled through the web has provided a better policy and regulatory
infrastructure (both Internet and telecom) as well as more affordable
technology for ordinary people such as Patricia Wanjiku Kinyanjui
- Patricia buys used gunny bags from several suppliers and resells to
manufacturers of animal feeds Suppliers of gunny bags are small holder
farmers, widely distributed in the country. Without telecom services,
much travel is required to locate suppliers and buyers, and to arrange
transactions. Her mobile phone reduces travel and adds efficiencies.
- Read more about Patricia's story on the CBDD
blog
NetTel@Africa
ICT Example 3: Forks Washington (USA)
View the Forks movie
The web is enabling access to education, health care and jobs in remote
locations
One's location should not bar one's educational opportunities, business
opportunities, nor their ability to get health care services. The Internet
enables our rural communities to participate in the competitive mainstream
marketplace since the historic means of providing a livelihood for our
families in the natural resource (timber, fish and agriculture) economy has
been all but eliminated.
Read more about the Forks
Story on the CBDD blog.
Some Lessons Learned (1)
- Content recognizing multiple cultural contexts
- Relevance to individual priority
- Language can be a real barrier
- Minimizing technical skills required
- Technology must be affordable
- Relevant content must be accessible in many ways
Some Lessons Learned (2)
Institutional support networks (business, universities, communities) are
key to enabling access for ordinary people
- Sharing in creation of appropriate content
- Reducing barriers (language, technical skills and other)
- Policy advocacy
A Look to the Future
Keys to accessible web content and use by populations in the developing
world and rural areas.
- Simple interfaces (with complex support behind the scenes)
- Simpler devices with narrowly targeted functionality
- Appropriate cultural context
- Mobile technologies are increasingly important particularly in the
developing world.
Additional References: Complexity and Simplicity
The Center to Bridge the Digital Divide facilitates collaborative
partnerships, provides educational outreach, research and policy guidance
resulting in expanded access to necessary telecommunications infrastructure
and critical information technologies among under-served populations.
Additional References: CBDD Case Studies
Additional References: Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the
developing world
George Kerscher
- Senior Officer of Accessible Information at Recording For the Blind
& Dyslexic
Web for Everyone
Next Session
Reflections and Projections
by Bob Metcalfe and Tim Berners-Lee.
All W3C10 Sessions