March 6, 2003 | Read Time: 3 minutes
A nonprofit official, a charity, and a member of Congress have been honored for their work in expanding access to information technology.
Last month the Alliance for Public Technology, a coalition of nonprofit organizations dedicated to equal and affordable access to technology, held its eighth annual Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards at the National Press Club in Washington.
Judy Brewer, director of the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, in Cambridge, Mass., was honored for her leadership in helping to eliminate barriers on the Internet to people with disabilities.
The Web Accessibility Initiative has developed guidelines on how to build Web sites that are easy for disabled people, using specialized equipment such as screen readers, to navigate. It has also developed guidelines for making Web-building tools that support the production of accessible Web sites, and for developing accessible browsers, multimedia players, and technologies designed specifically for people with disabilities.
Ms. Brewer says that it’s in the best interest of Web-site owners to design disability-friendly sites. “If they’re not thinking about Web accessibility, they’re very likely shutting out 8 to 10 percent of their potential audience,” she says.
She adds that the things that make sites accessible for people with disabilities also benefit older people whose vision, hearing, or dexterity have changed as they have aged, as well as people who use the Internet from mobile phones, handheld computers, and other devices.
One Economy, another award winner, is a nonprofit organization in Washington that brings together nonprofit organizations, government housing authorities, and private corporations to help low-income people get Internet access in their homes.
The charity also has developed the Beehive (http://www.thebeehive.org), a Web site that provides information on money, education, health, jobs, and family. The money section, for example, discusses issues like how to open a checking account, save for retirement, and take advantage of a federal tax break known as the earned-income tax credit. The information is presented in a way that people with limited reading skills can understand, and is available in English, Spanish, and Russian — with plans to add other languages soon.
Ben Hecht, president of One Economy, says that poor people are often isolated from mainstream institutions, such as banks, and lack the information they need to improve their situations.
“Unless you are lucky enough to get connected to that world, you never really take advantage of the opportunities that are there,” says Mr. Hecht. “The Internet allows us to take all of this disparate information, and present it in a way that’s intuitive to a real person, so they can then process it, and make their own choices.”
Local versions of the Beehive are currently available in nine cities, and One Economy expects to have 11 more operating by the end of the year.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat, received the award for his support of the E-rate — a federal program created in 1997 to help wire public schools and libraries to the Internet — and other government efforts to expand access to technology.
For more information: Go to http://www.apt.org.
