Connecting people with disabilities: ITU-R

1
Connecting people with disabilities ITU-R

• ITU-R activities addressing UN Convention on the
  rights of persons with disabilities
• www.itu.int/ITU-R/go/disabilities-divide

2
ITU-R Bridging the Digital Disability Divide (1/5)

• Radio technologies are increasingly important for
  sending and receiving data, text, voice and
  video.
• Wireless devises are well placed to help people
  with disabilities gain access to the information
  society.
• ITUs Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) plays a
  central role in the development of wireless and
  broadcasting technologies, through the production
  of technical standards and reports, guidelines,
  contained in internationally agreed
  Recommendations and Handbooks.

3
ITU-R Bridging the Digital Disability Divide (2/5)

• Practical examplesDigital television
  broadcasting
• DTTB Handbook Digital terrestrial television
  broadcasting in the VHF/UHF bands provides
  guidance to engineers on deploying digital
  terrestrial television broadcasting. It covers
  aspects of captioning and closed captioning to
  broadcasters techniques that are extremely
  useful for people with hearing difficulties.

4
ITU-R Bridging the Digital Disability Divide (3/5)

• Beaming sound to wireless hearing aids
• Rec. ITU-R M.1076 Wireless communication systems
  for persons with impaired hearing notes that
  various ways have been used to transfer speech
  signals to a listeners hearing device. Including
  infrared radiation, magnetic induction internal
  to current loops, VHF radio, external induction
  field of a radiating antenna.

5
ITU-R Bridging the Digital Disability Divide (4/5)

• Implanted and portable devices
• Electromagnetic Fields can cause radio frequency
  interference to active implanted or portable
  medical devices such as portable monitors,
  prosthetic aids for sight and motion. Generally
  speaking, such medical devices could suffer
  interference from radiated EMF.
• Rec. ITU-R BS.1698 Evaluating fields from
  terrestrial broadcasting transmitting systems
  operating in any frequency band for assessing
  exposure to non-ionizing radiation provides a
  basis for the derivation and estimation of the
  values of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) from a
  broadcasting station.

6
ITU-R Bridging the Digital Disability Divide (5/5)

• ITU-R Activities for 2008 and future
• ITU-R Sector is strongly engaged in
  accessibility studies through Study Groups
  activities.
• ITU-R keeps raising the attention of
  Administrations and Scientific Community to
  include accessibility studies within their work
  programmes.
• For more information please visit our web
  sitewww.itu.int/ITU-R/go/disabilities-divide/I
  TU-R accessibility e-mail contact
  brpromo_at_itu.int