Doha: Mada Center and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, are working together to educate students about digital accessibility in information and communication technology.
Mada Center strategy 2019-2021 in the education sector aims to enable this sector to ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning through information and communication technology in order to unlock the potential of persons with disabilities.
Based on its role as a strategic enabler in the field of information and communication technology access, Mada Center, in cooperation with strategic partners, is leading the development efforts in the field of ICT access and digital inclusion in order to emphasize the pioneering role of the State of Qatar in this field, which contributed to Qatar ranking first worldwide in The Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation Index (DARE 2020) issued by the Global Information and Communication Technologies Initiative (G3ict).
Given that the main success indicators in this global index assess the outputs of policies and programs according to the areas of ICT accessibility, level of implementation, and several other criteria the most important of which is the provision of inclusive ICT for all in education, and in the context of the strategic partnership between Mada Center and Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University offers its students the new course “ A Web for Everyone” with the aim of providing specialized subjects for capacity building and training specialists in digital access and inclusion.
The digital accessibility experts at Mada Center and academics at CMU-Q have collaborated to design the content for the course, which aims mainly to provide an integrated curriculum that ensures enabling students and professionals to become familiar with the concept, requirements and standards for ICT accessibility, and to prepare qualified cadres capable of implementing digital access policies and requirements to ensure universal access for all segments of society to digital content. This course contributes to ensuring access to information and inclusive education for persons with disabilities and the elderly in accordance with articles 9 and 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and articles 5.6 and 5.7 on assistive technology and access to digital content in Qatar’s Digital Access Policy.
By providing content for this course, Mada Center aims to improve digital inclusion in the education sector by preparing students who are aware of the importance of ICT access and assistive technology, and are able to identify the obstacles and challenges that persons with disabilities and the elderly face while using digital platforms. This course will enable students to develop accessible websites and mobile applications, including accessible digital content such as multimedia.
The course focuses on promoting and building capacities in the field of ICT access by focusing on various topics aiming to develop the skills necessary to review and evaluate the accessibility of digital platforms including websites, mobile phone applications and even electronic self-service kiosks in accordance with international best practices and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines “WCAG”.
