Fwd: [LINK] Making governance and education accessible to remote indigenous communities via the web

[Tom Worthington]

At 02:00 PM 22/07/2007, Janet Hawtin wrote:
>On 7/20/07, Tom Worthington <Tom.Worthington at tomw.net.au> wrote:
>>I will be speaking ... "Harnessing the power of 
>>new technologies to build citizen-centric 
>>websites and encourage online activities", 
>>17-18 September 2007  in Canberra 
>><http://www.marcusevans.com/events/CFEventinfo.asp?EventID=1261> ...
>
>... Here are my probably predictable questions =).
>
>>Making websites accessible and functional for a diverse community:
>
>Accessibility in the sense of multiple skills?

I was thinking of accessibility in the sense of 
the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
<http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505/#Introduction>:

    "*  They may not be able to see, hear, move, 
or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all.
     *  They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
     *  They may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
     *  They may have a text-only screen, a small 
screen, or a slow Internet connection.
     *  They may not speak or understand fluently 
the language in which the document is written.
     *  They may be in a situation where their 
eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with 
(e.g., driving to work, working in a loud environment, etc.).
     *  They may have an early version of a 
browser, a different browser entirely, a voice 
browser, or a different operating system. ..."

In the case of remote indigenous communities, these might apply:

  *  They may not be able to see, hear, 
move:  due to higher incidence of blindness, 
diabetes induced amputations and hearing loss in aboriginal communities.

, or may not be able to process some types of 
information easily ... due to cultural differences.

     *  They may have difficulty reading or 
comprehending text: due to lower literacy levels.

     *  They may not have or be able to use a 
keyboard or mouse: limited user input with some community web kiosks.

     *  They may have a text-only screen, a small 
screen: with community kiosk.

  or a slow Internet connection: due to wireless link

     *  They may not speak or understand fluently 
the language in which the document is written: 
English may be a second language.

     *  They may be in a situation where their 
eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with 
(e.g., driving to work, working in a loud 
environment, etc.): Use of the web in a communal 
environment may make concentration harder.

     *  They may have an early version of a 
browser, a different browser entirely, a voice 
browser, or a different operating system: 
Ruggedized, low power web terminals may have more limited web browsers.

>>· Communicating and engaging diverse cultural 
>>audiences in Australia and worldwide
>
>- languages and training?
>- implementation and ongoing costs?
>- participation .v. subscription

Yes, all of those issues. What I had in mind was 
to improve on-line systems provided by government 
so that they would work better for remote 
indigenous communities and for everyone else as 
well. It should be possible to do this at minimal 
cost, as much of the information is already 
online and just needs rearranging to make it usable.

What is used to administer a remote community of 
100 people could also be used to run the body 
corporate in an urban apartment block.

A system designed to help budgeting for 
families  in remote areas could also be used to 
educate urban teenagers on spending for their mobile phone.

The same system used for remote teaching of basic 
hygiene could also be used to educate the general 
population during an avian influenza pandemic 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/2005/wd/birdflu.shtml>.

A system used to consult a scattered regional 
population could also be used for better decision 
making nationally. Groups which are 
disenfranchised due to lack of access to mass 
media, could express their views online.

>Would these be technologies that the communities 
>would be trained in the underlying workings of 
>or would they be users of other peoples' systems 
>in the IP and support and ownership sense?

An understanding of the technology would be 
needed, but only a limited one is feasible. What 
might be interesting is how some the remote 
communities might teach the urban dwellers about how to have a community.

>I would be interested in whether there are ways 
>that training can be provided to people in 
>Aboriginal communities in housing, building, 
>green power, and that these skills can enable 
>the communities to build their own housing and to generate power locally. ...

It is not feasible to provide all skills locally, 
at least not in a politically acceptable time 
frame. So some of the work has to be done 
elsewhere and shipped in. My proposal is to 
manufacture and support some of the technology 
remotely and enable some of it to be provided 
locally. This is easiest to understand in the 
case of housing, where water, lighting and power 
require specially qualified trades to install them
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/07/modules-for-indigenous-housing.html>. 
The average person cannot safely, or legally, 
install electrical wiring in a house. Similarly 
it should be possible to provide pre configured 
content which can then be adapted for local conditions.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                http://www.tomw.net.au/
Visiting Fellow, ANU      Blog: http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/atom.xml