Information accessibility

Class 722 March, 2007

Peter Sidorkopeters@hku.hk

BSIM0005 Information society issues

Outline1. Reviewing importance of information2. Defining “accessibility”3. Accessibility inequality

– Digital divide

4. Limitations to accessibilitya. Disabilityb. Economics

Infrastructure access, connectivity, etc

c. Literacy, information literacy, ICT literacyd. Politics

Censorship

5. Libraries and accessibility6. PAPA wrap up

1 Importance of information

Previously:

Importance of information: organisationally

• Problem solving

• Decision making

• Strategic planning– Environmental scanning– SWOT analysis

• Resource allocation

• Competitive advantage

• Outcome measurement

Previously:

Importance of information: individually

• Finance• Health• Career• Education• Entertainment• Travel• Lifestyle• Romance?

Importance of information: socially

• Improved work-life

• Improved social life, entertainment etc

• Better education

• Greater social justice and equality

• Greater empowerment

• Democracy

2 Defining “accessibility”

Access to information as property

Control (private) • Protect publishers’

interests (economic)• Protect authors’ interests

(economic rights) • Protect authors’ moral

(reputation) rights• Proper control and

compensation will encourage others

Access (public) • Enhance access to new

knowledge• New knowledge is built

upon old• Publicly funded research

for the public• Contributes to an

information society• Narrows gap between

haves and have nots• Value of IP lies in usage

and dissemination.

More information than ever before…

• On an average weekday the New York Times contains more information than any contemporary of Shakespeare's would have acquired in a lifetime—ANONYMOUS (and ubiquitous)

More books…

• e.g, U.S. Book Production• 1993 104,124• 1995 113,589• 1999 119,357• 2000 122,108• 2001 141,703• 2002 147,120• 2003 171,061• 2004 190,078• 2005 149,859• http://www.bookwire.com/bookwire/decadebookproduction.html

More web sites…

• 108,810,358 distinct web sites with an estimated 29.7 billion (that’s 29,700,000,000) pages on the World Wide Web as of February 2007 - http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/misc/sizeofweb.html

WWW Growth

More access…

But accessibility?

• The ease with which a person may enter a library, gain access to its online systems, use its resources, and obtain needed information regardless of format. In a more general sense, the quality of being able to be located and used by a person. In the Web environment, the quality of being usable by everyone regardless of disability. See the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). – ODLIS http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm

3 Accessibility inequality:The digital divide

• Information is a commodity, property• Its value lies in its usage – ie the

frequency of use and the way it is used• Control of access to information

(physically, financially or politically) denies the full potential value of that information.

• Similarly, control of access to information creates an “information rich” and an “information poor” – those who “have” and those who “have not”

• "When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the World Wide Web ... Now even my cat has it's own page."

– Bill Clinton, 1996

• “Everyone, everywhere should be enabled to participate in and no one should excluded from the benefits of the global information society“– Okinawa Charter on Global Information

Society G8 Summit 2000, Okinawa (Japan) http://lacnet.unicttaskforce.org/Docs/Dot%20Force/Okinawa%20Charter%20on%20Global%20Information%20Society.pdf

• The Digital Divide, or the digital split, is a social issue referring to the differing amount of information between those who have access to the Internet (specially broadband access) and those who do not have access.

• Not one single gap – degrees of divide (lower quality connections, price variations, technical assistance, affordability) etc

Digital divide in Hong Kong

• “As digital technologies become firmly embedded in our daily affairs, they enable IT-empowered people to lead more productive and rewarding lives. At the same time, those who do not have IT skills and knowledge or have fewer opportunities to use IT become less and less capable of participating in the economy of a society that is increasingly technology dependent.”

• Building a Digitally Inclusive Society http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/digitaldivide/summary.html

4 Limitations to accessibility:(a) Disability

• Accessibility problems concern specifically Persons with disabilities and older People, but also anybody in specific environmental or social situations.– http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/

accessibility/index_en.htm

In Hong Kong

• ICT creates the opportunity for the disabled to achieve parity and independence in more areas of their lives. There is a need to develop easy-to-use tools and technologies to assist disabled people. They also require support in acquiring affordable assistive tools, such as screen readers.

• Digital 21 Strategy (2006) http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/strategy_consultation/D21ConsultationPaper(E).pdf

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)

• “develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities”

• Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web.

• Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI/

• Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities:– Those with a slow Internet connection– people with "temporary disabilities" such as a

broken arm, and – people with changing abilities due to aging

Making web sites accessible

1. Provide text equivalent for audio and visual contents2. Ensure that contents can be easily accessed even

without the use of colour3. Identify clearly changes in languages used and make

contents simple and easy to understand4. Structure tables so that they can be read easily and for

complex tables, suitable markup or a linear representation would greatly increase the accessibility

5. Avoid the use of flickering and blinking contents6. Avoid the use of pop up windows or other windows

without telling the user7. Avoid the use of complicated frames8. Provide clear and consistent navigation mechanism

– http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/knowledge/access_tips.html

4 Limitations to accessibility:(b) Economics

World Regions

Population Population Internet Usage, % Population Usage

(2007 Est.) % of World Latest Data (Penetration)

% of World

Africa 933,448,292 14.20% 33,334,800 3.60% 3.00%

Asia 3,712,527,624 56.50% 398,709,065 10.70% 35.80%

Europe 809,624,686 12.30% 314,792,225 38.90% 28.30%

Middle East 193,452,727 2.90% 19,424,700 10.00% 1.70%

North America

334,538,018 5.10% 233,188,086 69.70% 20.90%

Latin America/Caribbean

556,606,627 8.50% 96,386,009 17.30% 8.70%

Oceania / Australia

34,468,443 0.50% 18,439,541 53.50% 1.70%WORLD TOTAL 6,574,666,417 100.00% 1,114,274,426 16.90% 100.00%

http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm

Top 10 Internet penetrationhttp://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm

#Country or

Region

     

(% Pop)InternetUsers

Population(2005 est)

1 Sweden 73.60% 6,656,733 9,043,990

2 Hong Kong 70.70% 4,878,713 6,898,686

3 Denmark 68.70% 3,720,000 5,411,596

4 United States 68.50% 202,888,307 296,208,476

5 Norway 68.20% 3,140,000 4,606,363

6 Australia 67.20% 13,784,966 20,507,264

8 Netherlands 66.20% 10,806,328 16,322,583

7 Iceland 67.10% 198,000 294,947

10 Canada 63.80% 20,450,000 32,050,369

10 Korea, South 63.30% 31,600,000 49,929,293

TOP TEN Countries 68.00% 271,283,058 398,796,375

Rest of the World 11.10% 667,427,871 6,021,306,347

Total World Penetration 14.60% 938,710,929 6,420,102,722

A mobile Internet cafe in Uttar Pradesh, India.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,druck-419034,00.html

4 Limitations to accessibility:(c) Literacy

• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names

• The State of the World’s Children 1999, UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/index.html

Literacy

• The ability to read and write with a minimal level of proficiency. Illiteracy is the inability to read and write. The literacy rate of a nation or other geographic area is usually expressed as the percentage of its adult citizens who know how to read and write. In the United States, adult literacy programs have been available for many years, and public libraries have been heavily involved in promoting literacy.– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_l.cfm

Computer literacy

• The skills required to retrieve information efficiently and communicate effectively using computer hardware and software, based on a conceptual understanding of computer technology and how it can be used to accomplish specific tasks, including an awareness of its inherent limitations, as well as its advantages. Because hardware and software are progressively upgraded, an ongoing effort is required of the user to remain computer literate.– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

Information literacy (IL)

• Skill in finding the information one needs, including an understanding of how libraries are organized, familiarity with the resources they provide (including information formats and automated search tools), and knowledge of commonly used research techniques. The concept also includes the skills required to critically evaluate information content and employ it effectively, as well as an understanding of the technological infrastructure on which information transmission is based, including its social, political, and cultural context and impact.– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_i.cfm

4 Limitations to accessibility: (d) Politics

• ''We are witnessing a historic transformation of the traditional modes of power. Power today is becoming less based on physical and material parameters (territory, military forces) and more on factors linked to the capability of storing, managing, distributing, and creating information.'‘

• ''recognition is spreading in governments around the world that the new technologies may profoundly alter the nature of political power, sovereignty, and governance.''

• From Scott Crawford & Kekula Bray-Crawford Self-Determination in the Information Age paper delivered at the Internet Society 1995 International Networking Conference in Honolulu on June 29, 1995 http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sdinfoage.html

Censorship

• Prohibition of the production, distribution, circulation, or display of a work by a governing authority on grounds that it contains objectionable or dangerous material. The person who decides what is to be prohibited is called a censor. Commonly used methods include decree and confiscation, legislation, repressive taxation, and licensing to grant or restrict the right to publish.– http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_c.cfm

Censorship: an enduring concept

• The index of prohibited books, 1564, defined what books and authors could be read by Catholics.

• Nazi Germany, • Stalin's• Russia, • Apartheid South Africa, • and many states today, set up systematic control

of ideas as part of a wider ideological and social control.

Public interest and censorship

• What interests (such as security and intelligence) must be kept secret to safeguard national interests?

• What information (government, in particular), if any, should be kept “secret”?

• Are there areas of government activity where complete secrecy is essential?

• How would you define ``the public interest'' where information is concerned?

• Is fear of government accountability merely an emotive conspiracy theory?– From Stuart Hannabuss and Mary Allard, Library Review

Volume 50 . Number 2 . 2001 . pp. 81-89 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0350500203.pdf

Internet censorship

• Differing views of acceptable content – national and regional

• Many countries routinely censor Internet sites, see Internet Censorship Explorer http://ice.citizenlab.org/

• Eg Australia:– In March 2006, a spoof site of Australian Prime

Minister John Howard was shut down due to pressure from the government. The domain registrar suspended the site after a complaint from the Prime Minister's office.

5 Libraries and accessibility

Access to libraries

• Physical access

• Digital access

• Classification schemes

• Libraries and collections – censorship?

• Collection development – censorship?

IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf

IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf

IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf

Forum Exercise

• What role should libraries play in improving information accessibility:– Bridging the digital divide– Facilitating access for those with a disability– Economics, infrastructure access,

connectivity, etc– Literacy, information literacy, ICT literacy– Politics, censorship

• ??????????????????????????????????

6 PAPA* wrap up

Privacy, Accuracy, Property, Accessibility

*Mason, R. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age, MISQ 10(1), March 1986, 5-12 http://www.misq.org/archivist/vol/no10/issue1/vol10no1mason.html

Privacy

1. Privacy and the law

2. General privacy issues

3. Privacy and technology

4. Privacy and libraries

5. Freedom of information

Accuracy

1. Information accuracy: why is it important?

2. A growing problem.3. Changes in publishing and accuracy?4. Misinformation and disinformation.5. Accuracy and the Internet.6. Assessing the accuracy of information.7. Libraries and information accuracy.

Property

1. Intellectual property and intellectual property rights (IPR)

2. Copyrighta. Copy rightsb. Moral rightsc. Economic rights

3. Private vs public “property”a. Google and Microsoft case study

4. Ethical issues for librarians5. Related issues: Plagiarism, DRM and

accessibility.

References• Crawford S. & Bray-Crawford, K., Self-Determination in

the Information Age, paper delivered at the Internet Society 1995 International Networking Conference in Honolulu on June 29, 1995 http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sdinfoage.html

• European Commission. Europe’s Information Society http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/accessibility/index_en.htm

• Feather, J., The information society : a study of continuity and change, London : Facet Publishing, 2004, 4th ed. http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b2928491

• Govt HKSAR. Digital 21 Strategy (2006) http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/strategy_consultation/D21ConsultationPaper(E).pdf

• Govt HKSAR, Building a Digitally Inclusive Society http://www.info.gov.hk/digital21/eng/digitaldivide/summary.html

• Hannabuss, S. & Allard, M. Library Review, Vol. 50, No 2, 2001, pp. 81-89 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0350500203.pdf

• IFLA Global Library Statistics, 1990 – 2000 http://www.ifla.org/III/wsis/wsis-stats4pub_v.pdf

• The Information Accessibility Initiative http://www.okfn.org/iai/

• Internet World Stats http://www.internetworldstats.com/top10.htm

• Mason, R. (1986). Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age, MISQ 10(1), March 1986, 5-12 http://www.misq.org/archivist/vol/no10/issue1/vol10no1mason.html

• O’Hara, K. & Stevens, D., Inequality.com : power, poverty and the digital divide Oxford, U.K. : Oneworld, c2006. http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b3595383

• ODLIS http://lu.com/odlis/index.cfm

• Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society, G8 Summit 2000, Okinawa (Japan) http://lacnet.unicttaskforce.org/Docs/Dot%20Force/Okinawa%20Charter%20on%20Global%20Information%20Society.pdf

• Technology and in/equality : questioning the information society / edited by Sally Wyatt ... [et al.]. London ; New York : Routledge, 2000 http://library.hku.hk:80/record=b2204247

• Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI/