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What better way to announce the new award name than to actually give the award itself.

Thus, the “Award Recognizing Accessible Websites” or simply called ARAW Awards were given to top-level government agencies that complied with the minimum web accessibility recommended standards last July 17 coinciding with the nationwide celebration of 34th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week held at OSCH Auditorium in Quezon City.

After the Catholic Mass and announcing of call for nomination of the Mabini Awards, PWAG President and MCCID Training Director Jojo Esposa Jr. gave a brief presentation on the history of web accessibility initiatives of the Philippines as well as how the awarding was conceptualized. He explained that prior to PWAG, it was National Computer Center Team who evaluated the accessibility compliance of websites. Then, they created a recognition scheme and named it as “Disabled Friendly Website” awards. The House of Representatives Official website received the first award in 2004 followed by ATRIEV School for the Blind in 2005 and MCCID in 2006.

For her part, NCDA Division Chief Nelia De Jesus introduced this year’s of awardees. She explained that after careful and meticulous evaluation of PWAG web designers and manual validation of one of it’s visually impaired member, Lourdes Borgonia, three government websites passed the minimum web design criteria. They are:

1. www.doh.gov.ph – Official Website of the Department of Health
2. www.comelec.gov.ph – Official Website of the Commission on Elections
3. www.dilg.gov.ph – Official Website of the Department of Local Government

The awards were part of the approach set by the National Computer Center (NCC) and National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) encouraging government agencies to design their websites making it accessible to everyone especially the Persons With Disabilities. Through NCDA Board Resolution No. 13 Series of 2008 and NCDA-NCC Joint Circular No. 1 Series of 2010, they deputized the Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG) to conduct web accessibility trainings, monitor compliance and recommend sites which passed their set of standards.

During PWAG’s time, thirteen more websites both from the government and the private sector received the awards. The last awardee was the Department of Social Welfare and Development Website in 2011.

However, during the last ICT Sub-committee meeting, a better awarding system was developed focusing mainly on web’s access to everyone as a whole and not just for concerns of Persons With Disabilities. Thus the ARAW Awards were conceived.

Ma’am Nelia reiterated that the awarding will be an continuing activity. The team will also constantly monitor the websites of those awarded to see if they are still complying with the recommended standards set.

You can download and view the entire presentation here.

Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG), NCDA’s online advocacy group on web accessibility, represented by its President and MCCID Institute of Technology Training Director Mr. Jojo Esposa, as Resource Person, shares hands-on techniques to make websites accessible to persons with disabilities .

IFES Philippines’ Project Officer Ms. Mae Butoy warmly welcomed everybody to fast break COMELEC’s “PWD-friendly” website for disability-inclusive elections. Held for COMELEC’s IT Team at the Bayleaf Intramuros on March 22, 2012, this was in tandem with the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) and the Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG).

NCDA-Technical Cooperation Division Chief Nelia de Jesus thanked IFES Coordinator Mae Butoy for sponsoring the training that gave momentum to COMELEC’s initial efforts to bolster registration of voters with disabilities. This year, the Council will hold similar workshops for other GOs and selected LGUs, to expand web accessibility of citizens with disabilities to government’s programs and services.

The Philippine Web Accessibility Group promised to assist the government in coming up of a unified web template which would have a common look-and-feel features and complies with existing memorandum circulars and directives.

In a seminar called for by Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) and National Computer Center-Information and Communications Technology Office (NCC-ICTO) last December 14 at the NCC Work Hall, their web development team introduces sample templates including descriptions and interface requirements of homepage, inner page and content area placeholders sections to the attendees mostly from various government agencies. This develops as the Philippines positioned itself by interconnecting all government agencies, government owned and controlled corporations, local government units and state colleges and universities. Both ASTI and NCC-ICTO are under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The goal is to be able to share resources and data for efficient and effective public service.

PWAG President Jojo Esposa Jr., proposed some suggestions which include the use of accessible PDF files on all government documents as well as not discounting the distinct personality and individuality of each agency or LGU websites. He also committed PWAG to assist in the development of the web templates incorporating its accessibility and usability.

This initiative started when on June 23, 2011 an Executive Order 47 was issued, ordering ICTO to spearhead the program. After a series of consultations between ICTO, ASTI and partner government agencies, the iGovPhil Project was launched in June 2012. The goal, as stated in the EO, is to establish and use relevant mechanisms for interactive, interconnected and inter-operable government applications.

According to their official website, “Among the benefits of an interconnected government is the elimination of long queues in government offices that deal directly with the citizens. Imagine, for example, the crowds that form at the National Statistics Office, the Land Transportation Office or the Department of Foreign Affairs. The long lines will be eliminated as well as traffic congestion outside the government offices if people will do the transactions through their computers at home, office, Internet cafes or even malls.”

This will be possible if government agencies link up and share information and resources. And this is where iGovPhil comes in. It sets up the hardware, software, applications and everything that is needed to make the scheme work.

Among the team's objectives is to strictly implement the Joint NCDA-NCC Memorandum Circular of 2010 institutionalizing accessibility of Persons With Disabilities on all government websites. Other existing laws include the non-inclusion of Philippine flag, government seal and the transparency seal. To know more about their other projects, visit their official website at i.gov.ph or download their general web template guide presentation.

The presentation files used during web accessibility workshops/seminars conducted by PWAG President Jojo Esposa can now be freely downloaded in this official website. Here are the links:

• What is Web Accessibility? – All about Information and Communications Technology related issues of Persons With Disabilities
• Skip to Content – Technical explanation on how to make a “Skip to Content” link
• How to Write a Good Alt Text – Explanation and samples of putting ALT text on images and photos
• ARAW Awards 2012 – Brief explanation on PWAG's history and Criteria in Recommending ARAW Awardees

You may also view other useful information shared by PWAG members inside the Resources page.

The Philippine Web Accessibility Group requested the Official Development Assistance (ODA) of Japan to allocate funds for the monitoring and evaluation of accessibility compliance of key government websites during a consultation and orientation forum held last November 7, 2012 at UPAA Bahay ng Alumni, Diliman, Quezon City.

PWAG President Jojo Esposa was one of those organizations invited from the Persons With Disabilities group to present their achievements and challenges in performing their objectives. PWD groups also gave overviews about their statistics, situations and possible ODA collaboration.

Among those who presented include the Resources for the Blind, PAVIC, Deaf-Blind Community, Philippine Blind Union and UNESCAP. Government agencies who attended the event were from the Department of Science and Technology, National Computer Center, Department of Education, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the National Council on Disability Affairs.

PWAG requests funding assistance for the following:

1. Continuous training of web designers and evaluation of all government websites;
2. Continuous assistance in development of accessible websites;
3. Continuous monitoring of evaluated websites;
4. Monitoring of downtime of key government websites

For ODA’s part, Mr. Hiroshi Kawamura, Leader of ODA Needs Research Mission challenged the PWD sector to come up with a joint proposal which can be submitted to them for further study. The approved proposals will then be provided with financial grant and support. ODA is currently targeting on four countries, namely; India, Brazil, Thailand and the Philippines. The ODA group are scheduled to return to the Philippines in January to accept those proposals.

Aside from Kawamura, the Digital Access for Information System (DAISY) was again presented as well as the Non-Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) Screen Reader Open Source Software was demonstrated.

ODA is part of Japan’s International Cooperation under their Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They provide financial, technology know-how and expertise to various developing countries. Visit their official website at http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/oda/index.html. You may also download the presentation here.

The United Nations through the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technology (G3ICT) recognized the Philippine initiative as one of their identified best practices as highlighted in their White Paper research called “Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective,” (Revised Edition 2012).

The paper was researched and edited by Nirmita Narasimhan of Centre for Internet & Society, India, in collaboration with accessibility and disability policy experts from around the world. The paper seeks to identify some of the initiatives and best practices which have been adopted by 14 countries and the European Union as a first step towards policy formulation for countries.

The paper highlighted the activities and initiatives made by PWAG. Here are excerpts included in their research:

The Philippines is making progress towards developing a policy and enacting legislation for web accessibility. The Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG)40 is tasked with overseeing and implementing relevant programs on accessible ICT. PWAG together with concerned government agencies has begun formulating an official set of Philippine Web Accessibility Design Recommendations based on a distinctly Philippine web accessibility regime rather than adopting the WCAG. The PWAG aims to develop standards that it feels are calibrated to the country’s needs and capabilities. The Philippines has signed and ratified the UNCRPD but not signed the Optional Protocol.

The Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG):

Originally founded as a government-affiliated ad hoc working group in 2006, the Philippine Web Accessibility Group (PWAG) is now formalized and government-supervised through the Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Council on Disability Affairs (DSWD-NCDA) and the National Computer Center-Commission on Information and Communications Technology (NCC-CICT). The PWAG is now tasked with overseeing and implementing relevant programs on accessible ICT in the Philippines. It fosters dialogue among activists, web designers, academics, the government and other relevant actors in the field; evaluates websites for accessibility; and together with concerned government agencies (NCDA and NCC-CICT) has begun formulating an official set of Philippine Web Accessibility Design Recommendations. Accessibility in the Philippines context has to be viewed in light of the fact that the dominant ICTs used are cell phones and short-message systems (SMS). Only a small fraction of the population is using computers, and almost nobody uses or can afford screen readers. The Philippines standards are being formulated based on this situation, and given the high cost of website remediation, the PWAG recommends adopting accessible designs primarily in conjunction with website design, redesign, or update.

The United Nations Economic and Social Affairs is actively campaigning for the promotion of web accessibility especially all the UN websites. It has also released a Global Audit on Web Accessibility this 2012 through NOMENSA. The Philippines is also among those that are included in the survey. You may also view the complete white paper here.

You may download the complete Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective (Revised Edition 2012) white paper jointly researched by G3ict, The Centre for Internet & Society and The Hans Foundation in this link in PDF format.