10. Empowering People with Disabilities Policies empowering People with Disabilities (PwD) aim to adapt ICT tools to improve their quality of life through: easier access to information and knowledge, providing job opportunities, and opening channels of communication with society. ICT tools enable PwD to develop their skills, enjoy their rights and hence, become active members of the society. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology adopts a number of policies to ensure the accessibility of the disabled: a-Involving PwD in determining government policies and strategies Holding public meetings and dialogues with people with disabilities, organizations representing them and other relevant authorities, including NGOs and stakeholders, to ensure the integrating of all phases in policymaking Issuing progress reports to allow policymakers to assess the effectiveness of policies and programs Collecting detailed information on ICT use by people with disabilities Promoting obstacles hindering PwD from enjoying equality in rights b-Empowering PwD through ICTs Cooperation with relevant ministries and government authorities to disseminate ICT tools that empower people with disabilities Availing school books and educational materials in digital formats, including sound files, in accordance with internationally acknowledged standards such as the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) c-Increasing access for people with disabilities through ICTs Enhancing accessibility to services provided over the internet, including e-government services, in accordance with internationally acknowledged standards such as those developed by the web accessibility initiative Developing highly accessible websites for people with disabilities Promoting the development and production of auxiliary technologies for people with disabilities Supporting of technical innovations and services that increase ICT access for people with disabilities Supporting efforts to develop mobile devices and software that serve the needs of users with disabilities, such as through predictive text, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, text-to-avatar, voice recognition and video-calling features Providing public phones that are easily accessible to people with disabilities Providing appropriate devices for people with disabilities to make conversation over the phone, such as voice headset or text device or videophone or devices that include the three features d-Integrating people with disabilities in society and developing their skills through ICTs Providing of computers and software for vision and hearing impaired students at inclusive and special education schools Providing technology training for those working in the training and education of people with disabilities Availing telemedicine services for people with disabilities, particularly in remote areas Eradicating computer illiteracy among people with disabilities Promoting efforts to increase accessibility to information and knowledge, including the provision of electronic documents by government entities Providing of computer training for people with disabilities to increase their employability Adapting the work environment to the needs of people with disabilities 18 19