Qatar Assistive Technology Center (Mada) is launching ‘Ageing and Technology’ guide aimed at improving the life of ageing people through the use of technology, Ahmed Habib, policy expert at Mada has said.
To be launched on November 10, the guide focuses on how to use technology to increase independent living to the elderly. It is part of Mada’s series of initiatives in the field of policy and best practices related to technology to be shared with government and other stakeholders in the country.
“The guide can be used by policymakers, service providers, caregivers and people who work with the elderly on some of the best ways in which they can use technology to improve the quality of life for ageing people. We recognise as we grow older we will lose our vision, hearing and our ability to move independently, and that many of the same principles that apply with people with disabilities will also apply to the elderly,” Habib told local media yesterday.
Another guide on “Independent Living and Technology” will be launched on November 29.
“These are all things and policies that we have researched, developed and published on a national level,” he said.
“At Mada, our understanding of disability is that it is caused by inaccessibility. We don’t see disability as a medical condition so we don’t use the medical model of understanding disability; we use a social model. We believe if we are to create accessible spaces, accessible ecosystem and environment, then people with disabilities would not have a disability. Their functional limitations would not be an issue for them to be active participants in education or healthcare or any kind of social activities as well,” he added.
Mada is also working with the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics and the World Health Organisation to conduct and execute a model accessibility. “We will now be conducting a robust survey on a national level that will give us a much better understanding of the needs that face people with disabilities and how we can better serve them,” said Habib. Being under the Ministry of Transport of Communication, Mada is also working to see how it can support accessibility in the new metro system and Doha’s transport system in general, he noted. On assisting persons with disabilities to get employment, he said: “We have a very large programme that we launched this year called Empower. The idea is to partner with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs to work with a group of 60 young Qataris to provide them with necessary ICT skills that they can use to enter the job market.”
Mada is also working in the area of e-Accessibility which is the study of creating digital content according to international e-Accessibility standards.
“Our team works directly with web developers and designers to ensure websites are designed according to the standards. On a daily basis, we monitor all of Qatar’s government websites to make sure they meet e-Accessibility standards and continue to improve their e-Accessibility scores,” he explained.
A national government sector e-Accessibility Awards will be held on December 10 to acknowledge the government websites that are most accessible in the country. Founded in 2010, Mada aims to connect people with disabilities to the world of information and communications technology. Any Qatari or non-Qatari with disability living in Qatar for two years can come to come to the centre, get assessed and provided assistive technology free of charge.
“Last year alone, around 1,800 people with disabilities benefited from us,” he said.
