 Hello, I'm David Capose, Executive Director of the U.S. Access Board, and welcome to today's interactive program in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This designation for the month of October serves to recognize the creativity, innovation, and skill that people with disabilities bring to our workforce. The objective of National Disability Employment Awareness Month is to promote awareness of the needs of workers with disabilities and emphasize the importance of creating economic opportunity for all. We'll be discussing how businesses benefit from the expertise and skills that people with disabilities offer and how a lack of accessibility excludes them from the workforce and hinders economic growth. We'll illustrate examples and discuss best practices related to accessibility standards in transportation, buildings, and information communication technology, as well as diverse hiring practices. This will all be within the African context of disability employment and accessibility topics. One way to address these issues is to enable dialogue such as this and to encourage discussion about these topics. Joining me today to share their perspectives and answer your questions are Charlotte McClain Malapo, Global Disability Advisor at the World Bank Group, and Paul Schrader, Vice President, Public Policy and Strategic Initiatives at Ira. We are also joined by viewing groups around the world, including participants in Rwanda at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, and we'll introduce their audience in a moment. Good afternoon. Because before we get started, I just wanted to mention that if you have questions for our panelists, please ask them in the comments section next to the video player or on Twitter using the hashtag without limits. We'll try to answer as many of your questions as possible, and we'll also provide links to resources. Charlotte, welcome, and thank you for joining us. I think you're in Rome today. Can you briefly explain your role at the World Bank Group? Thank you, David, and good afternoon to everybody and good morning wherever you are. As mentioned, my name is Charlotte McClain Malapo, and I'm the Global Disability Advisor for the World Bank Group. And my work really is to provide technical assistance around disability inclusion for World Bank projects, World Bank operations, and very importantly, World Bank analytics. And so my work is to use a disability lens and help people think through what would a project be look like so that it is accessible to all persons with disabilities. So this is a large part of my work. I work across the different domains of the World Bank. So all of the sectors that the bank engages in, I work, again primarily looking to see where are the entry points where we can include in a meaningful way persons with disabilities. It's also very important, given the function of the bank, to also be in a space where we can create new knowledge. So a lot of the work that we do is to curate and develop new research around good evidence around disability inclusion. And we're always looking for good practices. And then of course, a very strong part of my work is to connect the people at the World Bank, the staff of the World Bank, with disabled people's organizations throughout the world. So it's really great to be reaching out to a range of African partners and persons with disabilities. Thank you, Charlotte. Paul, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit about IRA, what it is, how it works, and how it's being used in the workplace? Well, thank you, David. And thank you to the Department of State for making this opportunity available. We're so excited to be able to talk to other parts of the world about disability policy. I have been working in this field for almost 30 years. So I've had a long background on various aspects of disability and accessibility. And I'm delighted now to be working with a company called IRA that kind of exemplifies how things have changed for people with disabilities as modern technology, particularly mobile technology, has really shifted the way we are able to access and use information and be able to be engaged in ways that we never could have imagined even in my childhood. So IRA, and it's spelled A-I-R-A, is a company that uses this advanced mobile technology like a cell phone with its camera, the so-called smartphone, or using connected glasses, and I actually have a pair here next to me that have a camera right in the middle. And the concept is to take the camera and stream video from the location of the individual who's blind back to a sighted person who can really be anywhere that they have an internet connection. I mean, that's the marvel of this. So I can work with somebody in really all corners of the United States and theoretically anywhere in the globe to see through my video camera wherever I'm at and provide me the information that's around me. That could be reading signs, reading printed information, helping me operate an office equipment that maybe isn't accessible, but really shifting the balance so that myself and I should have said this up front, I'm blind, I can access those areas of life that still are inaccessible because they're visual, or can enrich what I know about my surroundings in a way by having this expertly trained human looking through the marvels of video camera and mobile technology to tell me the information that's happening right around me. So I run away is really a great example of how things are changing with technology and we'll get a chance to talk more about that today. Thank you. And lastly, I'll briefly describe my work and the role of the U.S. Access Board. The Access Board is the only federal agency whose primary mission is accessibility for people with disabilities. We develop guidelines and standards under a number of laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, so that buildings and facilities, transportation vehicles, information and communication technology, medical diagnostic equipment, and telecommunications equipment covered by these laws are accessible to people with disabilities. We assist the Election Assistance Commission in developing voluntary accessibility guidelines for voting systems and we developed best practices on access to information on prescription drug container labels for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. We provide technical assistance by responding to inquiries through telephone and email and by producing manuals and other publications, including a series of online guides to the ADA and Architectural Barriers Act accessibility standards. We conduct in-person training sessions and offer 18 webinars a year and we maintain a research program that develops technical assistance materials and provides information needed for rulemaking. Finally we enforce the Architectural Barriers Act, which requires that most buildings designed, constructed, altered or leased by the federal government be accessible to people with disabilities. Then we have jurisdiction and find that the applicable accessibility standards were not followed. We request a corrective action plan and monitor the case until the barrier is removed. Okay, so let me set the stage for this discussion. From early initiatives here in the U.S. such as the Architectural Barriers Act in 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, through the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 and ongoing legal campaigns across the country, coalitions have come together to press for disability rights and expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. The result has been a visible transformation of public spaces and accommodations and workplaces. Over time, social attitudes have also changed, recognizing the ability of persons with disabilities to determine the course of their own lives. Within this context, I'd like to start the conversation with a broad question. What roles do businesses, governments and civil society organizations play in advancing disability employment, particularly as this relates to Africa? Charlotte, what are your thoughts on this? Thanks, David. That's a great question. So I mean, I think it's important to indicate that each one of those entities play a role in terms of ensuring that employment is inclusive for persons with disabilities, but their roles are distinct. I think the role of business really is to develop policy to ensure that they implement policies, that they actively seek persons with disabilities to join their workforce, to train persons with disabilities, very importantly to retain persons with disabilities, to make sure that the environment is accessible so people with disabilities can reach their fullest potential. And I think that that's a really important role for business. Business also is in the business of developing technologies. And so thinking about new technologies and promoting technologies to make it easier for persons with disabilities to participate in the labor force is clearly something that business is responsible for. On the other hand, government plays a more regulatory role. Government's responsibility is to ask for the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is to create an environment in which persons with disabilities have the legislative frameworks to thrive and be able to empower themselves and be employed. And so government needs to look at setting up legislation, legislation that's enforceable. It has to put in place mechanisms to ensure that that legislation is in fact implemented. It has a responsibility to monitor legislation and it has a responsibility to fund projects and support persons with disabilities in large-scale projects, many of which the World Bank funds around workforce development and skills development. And so it's very important that we understand the role of government and what government has to do in relation to the development of policies and laws. Government also has a responsibility in many countries to fund the employment of persons with disabilities, particularly when we're looking at skills development projects and or apprenticeship projects that many persons with disabilities in Africa find themselves in. And then lastly and certainly not least is the role for civil society. And within that I think about the disability sector. And I think, you know, the disability sector and civil society's role is really to A, keep government accountable to the legal obligations that they have around the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, around a number of the ILO conventions. But it's also the responsibility of civil society to put forward good examples, good ideas of what works. I think what I find often is that civil society has or DPOs have has a good idea of some projects that are working. And these are excellent projects that potentially be taken to scale. And so having that interface between government, the policymakers and civil society is very important because it really helps policymakers who may not understand what it really means to be inclusive, to really think through what inclusion means. So there is definitely a role for each of the entities and where they work together and work seamlessly, then we really see advancements in the space of disability inclusion. Thank you Charlotte. Paul, what are your thoughts? You know, I think Charlotte summed up a lot of the efforts that the three sort of components laid out in this question. The only thing I would add would be a couple of points. One would be that I think government can play a very critical role as an information repository or a place where resources can be vetted and understood. And I think there's many places in the U.S. and your work at the access board, David, I think is a great example of one where collecting not only standards that are sort of enforceable from a policy perspective, but also guidance on how to do things. And I think a lot of times entities don't really know how to carry out accessibility. And they may well want to do it, but they're uncertain as to the specifics around physical accessibility or certainly the specifics around technology accessibility. And in the absence of really having the information themselves, I think they need to look for places that have studied and can be that sort of validator of good accessibility practices. I think government has a good role to play in that regard. I think the organizations of people with disabilities, of course, also are critical in ensuring that they have that level of expertise that they've actually worked through the accessibility components, again, understanding from a very sort of gut level as someone with disabilities how things work, how they should work, and what's achievable within the environments that we have. I mean, a lot of environments are difficult to make accessible for lots of different reasons. And then I would say the third point is for business to be welcoming of partnerships. And it's something I hope we get a chance to talk a little bit more about. But I think where we've seen success, certainly in the U.S. and elsewhere around accessibility, is where we have an environment that welcomes partnership among business, government and disability working towards that common end. And I think that's especially true for the corporate or business sector to be open to an embracing of partnerships with disability organizations and with government agencies, not seeing them as intrusive, but really seeing them as an assistance, a place of support and assistance for accessibility. Well, so I agree with both of you that each group has a role to play, government, business, disability organizations. As a person with a disability and someone who's worked in government for over 25 years, one of the things that we've found is that laws, regulations, and clear and enforceable standards are really needed to advance accessibility and disability employment. And achieving economic and social integration of people with disabilities depends on the level of commitment and action taken by federal agencies, state and local governments and businesses that are required to comply and enforce various laws that guarantee the civil rights of people with disabilities. And I'll just give you an example. So before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, public buses in America were sort of accessible. About 60%, 60% of buses in America were accessible to people with disabilities in 1990. Today it's 100%. And one of the reasons for that is because we had a clear legal obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act with good enforcement. So sometimes without laws and good standards and regulations and enforcement, you're not going to see that dramatic change in accessibility. So that's just one example. So turning to Paul now. How have innovations both with physical and technology accessibility presented opportunities that weren't previously possible? And how can these be more readily adopted by businesses, governments and organizations? Thanks Dave. I think you actually just put forward a good example of that with buses where because of a clear requirement there was a great deal of effort around how do we actually make this large vehicle that's on city streets? How do we make that something that people with wheelchairs can board, can use, can actually be in safely? And there was a whole lot of work around how do we actually address these challenges from a physical standpoint? How do we address getting on the bus? How do we address making sure that people can stay in place and not move around as the bus moves? And to me that really sums up where I think the best example of setting a standard, setting a requirement and then putting people in place who can innovate and think through design issues. We've seen a lot of this in the technology space and that for I think those of us who are blind to visually impaired, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, even people with intellectual disabilities, we've benefited a great deal from the advances that have taken place in technology that in terms of changing our world, getting much better control over the information in our environments. And if you, just for example, both of the leading cell phone operating systems, that would be iOS for Apple and Android for a large cluster of other phones, both have significant accessibility components built in. And if you buy an iPhone or an Android phone or procure one or get one given to you on your job, within that device is a great deal of accessibility that you can turn on. There's settings to ensure that people who are blind can hear with speech or even through braille devices what's on the screen and use the phone fully accessibly for all of its components right alongside their sighted peers, similarly for people with hearing loss and again increasingly now for people with intellectual disabilities, technology companies are beginning to build in accessible designs and ways of ensuring that people can use these technologies to have full control and access the information. The other thing that's kind of cool that's happening with technology is that throughout the world individuals can begin to control some of their own environments through open source and crowdsourced and other ways of building the technologies. And so if you're using a computer or a mobile system, many times you can actually build in your own solutions to products and make those available, which is great for alternate languages and other challenges that parts of the world might face where they're normally not going to get an accessible system available. And so that's been one of the cool developments that I think has happened around the advent and customization of mobile and computer technology. Okay, thank you. Now before we turn to viewer questions from Rwanda and the larger global online audience, let's dig into a poll we shared on social media and the days leading up to this discussion. We asked, where do you think efforts to promote disability employment could be most effective within a business? You can see the results on the screen. The top answer was implementing diverse and inclusive hiring practices followed by workplace inclusivity trainings, then improving physical accessibility and improving information technology accessibility. What are your reactions to this poll? Charlotte, let's start with you. Thanks, David. So I mean, I'm not surprised by the results. I think they're pretty universal. What surprises me is that the issue around stigma and discrimination doesn't really appear because I know that that's a major issue in terms of how people with disabilities interact with the employer or with potential employees, or just picking up on the earlier point around accessibility, if you live in a city where the buses are not accessible, even if you get a job, you may not be able to get to your place of employment. And so I think when we think about inclusion and when we think about disability and work, we need to think about an ecosystem. We need to think about how we access transportation. We need to think about how we access sidewalks. I use a wheelchair, so obviously I think about that. We also need to think about attitudes. How people with disabilities are perceived in work. Is there stigma? And those are very real issues. And so I was a bit surprised not to see them on the screen. Paul, your thoughts on this? I liked the concept, and I think laying out these four items, but diverse and inclusive hiring. To me, if we are ensuring that everything else is in place, that we're ensuring that if we're training people with disabilities to have the skills and to, in many cases, as a disability is acquired, if you will, as an adult or an older child, the individual needs to learn how to function in the world with that disability. With those systems in place, and I can't really overstate the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have that there are programs in place to ensure that individuals can learn those skills, I think bringing individuals into the workplace who come from these, who operate from different perspectives. In my case, I operate in a world where a visual screen is not a good information device for me because I can't see it. I need alternative ways, but there are times in life where everybody has an inability, even if you're fully sighted, you can't use a visual screen. Of course, the classic example is while you're driving, you shouldn't be using a visual screen. And so there may be environments where you're working and you don't have access to a visual screen because your eyes are doing something else. And so even in those environments, I think learning or having the ability to use technology in a different way is helpful. And I think understanding and creating an environment that is welcoming for somebody who is blind and using information in a different way also makes the environment stronger and better and more capable for individuals who need to sometimes use different strategies for accessing information. And I think that's where having well-trained and capable individuals who are functioning very effectively with their disability in the workforce really does kind of help change the dynamic. I'll say, I wasn't really surprised by the poll. And I just wanted to acknowledge one issue that we've had a problem with here in the United States, and that is really making a difference in the overall numbers of people with disabilities that are employed. So before the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, about two-thirds of adults with disabilities were unemployed. Today, about two-thirds of adults with disabilities are unemployed. We've made tremendous strides in physical access, access to buses and transportation, technology. But employment is still one of the toughest areas to make a difference. So with that sad note, let's now go to our online viewing group at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, where American Spaces Director Tiese Robachnika will introduce the group. Then we'll take a couple of questions from the audience. Hi, Tiese. Hi, this is Tiese Robachnika, I'm the American Center Director. Thank you for organizing this important discussion and for allowing Kigali audience to be part of it. So today we are with different organizations, including people working with disabled people and promoting awareness of the needs of disabled people. Some of the organizations represented today are the National Council of Persons with Disabilities, Media for Deaf Rwanda, Rwanda National Union of the Deaf, Association of Disabled Journalists. We are also with students from the National University of Rwanda in the Department of Inclusive and Special Needs Education, as well as with regular patrons from this center. Thank you. Thank you. Does your audience have a question for us? Yes, our first participant is ready for the question. Okay, thank you for the important, this presentation. My name is Nepomsen from Kigali Rwanda. My question is, I want to ask where there is an international organization that is promoting or helping disabled people to do, to run their own business so that they can all find what to do, instead of begging out, begging for help for some people and they don't care about them. Charlotte, can you? That's a great question and thank you. And you know, there are a number of international organizations that support persons with disabilities in terms of livelihoods, in terms of skill development. Some of those include Humanity International, sorry, they've changed their name, they used to be called Handicap International, you know, CVM is a good example of an international organization that does that. But I would say the central organization, in terms of the UN, that does that would be the International Labor Organization. And then the World Bank has a number of projects that we support through the government that support livelihoods and skills development for persons with disabilities. In fact, in Rwanda and Burundi, the World Bank has supported projects where we worked with disabled ex-combatants and in that project, we were able to assist disabled ex-combatants to train and find innovative ways to start a new livelihood. And some of those livelihoods were very basic. They were setting up a chicken farm, they were setting up a mushroom farm, they were setting up a barber shop. But these were things that people could do and they had various types of disabilities. So there's a number of that, there's a number of those type of organizations that happen throughout the African continent and certainly throughout the world. A point that I did want to make in relation to Africa is that in many African countries, governments have actually put out quotas, quotas for persons with disabilities. And we know that in many African countries, governments don't meet these quotas. And one of the reasons they don't meet these quotas is that you don't have sufficient number of persons with disabilities who are coming through the education system, who are being trained in skills to actually take on these positions. And so, you know, this is a very important point to think about because I know in countries where they don't have quotas, there's often a big push to go towards quotas, but it'd be worthwhile thinking about how effective quotas have been within the African context. Those are some really great examples, Charlotte. Thank you. Paul, did you want to? I just wanted to add one quick point. It's not it's not precisely answering the organizational question, but it is something that we care about a lot at IRA. And so one of the things that we've done and again, IRA is currently available in the US and Australia and Canada. So we haven't we haven't gone global. But the importance of small business and business ownership by people with disabilities and one of the ways we have decided to support that is actually working with a company called Intuit that does quick books and tax help software. And they're very keen to have people with disabilities, people who are blind using business. So what often happens for a blind business owner is how do they access the tons of visual information, whether it's inspecting their business and making sure that the products, if they're selling products, that they look good and they sell by dates and things like that are taken care of or whether it's making decisions about the look of the office or the products. I mean, you can imagine there's a number of ways in which vision does play a role. And for a blind business owner, often getting access to that information, having somebody to assist with that is not readily available. And so using mobile tech, using the video streaming technology that IRA has, an individual can with a push of a button connect to an agent anywhere in the country for whatever time they need in order to do visual information, visual inspection. And I think as we move into the global context and as we see mobile technology is more available to people, that opens up huge opportunities for people with disabilities to be able to access information and expertise, I would add, from a remote location, even if that's not available to them at their location. Thank you. Rwanda, do you have another question? Yes. I have a small question for Sherrod. And I'm called Jennifer. You work with the USAID program that works in the agriculture sector that focuses at inclusion of women and children in the area of nutrition, but also bringing about opportunities for them so that they are productive in the sector. So my question goes to Sherrod. And I would like to know how World Bank really brings about the balance of gender in their programming to make sure that the women, as you know, they share the burden of poverty, of looking after their families and the economic hardships. They are beaten right, left, and center. So how has the World Bank brought about this gender inclusive programming in their projects? And I'm so happy about Paul seeing how technology has really revolutionized the disability world. It's good to know and I'm sure everyone liked it here. Thank you. Can I go? That was a really great question. And the bank has actually done quite a bit in terms of making gender central part of the work that we do. The bank has a strategy, as does USAID. And these strategies really guide and govern how we engage with our clients. So it's important to recognize that the bank itself does not implement projects. The bank supports projects. We provide technical assistance. We provide soft loans to governments. But we do not implement ourselves. The implementation happens by way of the government. So we work with governments to ensure that projects are in place. But we have a very strong gender policy. It's something we have a gender tag. And so any project that we put out has to address gender. It is a corporate responsibility. It's monitored. And I would like us to see a similar case in relation to disability. So now let's take some questions from the chat space or those following along on Twitter using the hashtag without limits. So here's a question from the US Embassy in Nairobi. How can we change perceptions of how society views people with disabilities? Paul? You know, from my experience in working in the disability field for these many years, including working for organizations that are disability run, I think one of the most important paths to changing perceptions is to ensure that we have strong disability organizations, organizations that represent the interests of people with various disabilities. And sometimes that's done well through what we might say as a pan disability or across disability organization. And sometimes it's done well through an organization that is focused on the needs of a particular group. But it's so important to have these organizations to be disability run. Part of that is, of course, learning to be a leader and training leaders. Part of that is learning responsibility for running and handling an organization, not just from a leadership standpoint, but all of the other kinds of decisions that need to get made. And I think the strides that I've seen made here and elsewhere in the world often, in terms of the attitudes toward people with disabilities, often come from having, ensuring that there are strong disability organizations and leaders who can command, respect, and work as a peer with people in business and government. There's a lot of other things that need to be in place as well, policies, and obviously good training programs and education programs. But I really do think that a critical aspect of awareness raising is strong organizations represented and run by individuals with disabilities. I mean, I agree with that. I think it takes visibility of leaders with disabilities of being out front. And there's a saying, nothing about us without us. And I think that what you just said really underscores the need for people with disabilities to be their own advocates. And that's really what will change perceptions is by being visible, by being active members of society. So there's another question, and this is for Paul. What's the role of mobile applications in areas where the internet is not readily available? So I think we've seen a lot of places on the globe where there isn't necessarily good internet connectivity jumping straight to mobile, often because it is easier to set up cell service than it is to put in place cabling or other systems for more traditional internet. And so to me, that's when I talk about the changes in technology, the mobile and accompanying wearable space. So you've got cell phones that can connect virtually anywhere. And generally, it's much easier. I mean, there are challenges to getting cell towers and now the sort of micro sites for cell connectivity. There are still challenges, of course, in making that happen. But it tends to be much easier and much more quickly to build that infrastructure because it's a lighter infrastructure. So you've got cell phones, but then you've also got the accompanying technologies, like the glasses that we use at IRA or other kinds of sensors that individuals can wear that enable connectivity that ensure that people who are older, perhaps can feel safer in the world because they're connected to via mobile technology if there's a fall or if there's some other incident that takes place. An individual who, of course, the changes in cell phone technology have really enabled individuals who are deaf to have communication capabilities much more available than ever before using text and other visual means. And as I said earlier, even for individuals with other disabilities, including intellectual or cognitive disabilities, the use of technologies to change and modify information in a way that makes it more usable for individuals, as well as to change the way you're getting. If you like speech from a device, of course, mobile makes that much easier. If you like visual and you want to change the appearance of a screen, that's much easier. But in general, I'm very excited about the fact that the mobile space can connect people with disabilities much more quickly maybe than some of the traditional means that we've had before. Thank you. So here's another question from online. What are the largest legal and regulatory obstacles to creating an accessible and inclusive workplace? And how can we overcome them? So let me take a stab at that. Just recently, last month, we celebrated at the Access Board the 50th anniversary of the Architectural Barriers Act. It was passed in 1968. It was one of the first laws in America that really addressed accessibility. And we found, as many countries have, that we should start with or we started with access to federal buildings. That's how we started in America. Today, we've branched out to covering almost everything. So we started with access to federal buildings. And then section 504 was passed of the Rehabilitation Act that applied that same concept to recipients of federal funds and federally conducted programs. So we started with federal government and then those that received federal funds. And that was true until 1990 when the Americans with Disabilities Act expanded that concept from federal and those that received federal funds to the private sector. So it wasn't until 1990 that we expanded disability rights to the private sector. And I see that as kind of a natural progression. But one of the things that we've found over time is that it's one thing to have a law. The law needs to be clear. It needs to, unless it's very specific, it needs to have good regulations and standards that measure what you mean by accessible. And I'll give you an example about that in a second. And then finally, you need to have enforcement. So a law without an enforcement remedy is really no law at all. So getting back to why you need clear standards. And this goes back to technology. So back in 1990, our agency issued the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility guidelines. And one of the things that it covered was access to ATMs, automatic teller machines. And at the time, our standards just said make them independently usable by people who are blind or visually impaired. And what happened? ATM manufacturers put Braille all over the ATM machine, and they weren't really very usable by people who are blind or visually impaired. And it wasn't until much later that after some litigation and some changes in technology that we were able to then update our accessibility requirements to require voice from an ATM. And now ATMs across the United States at least are mostly voice enabled so that a person who's blind or visually impaired can walk up to an ATM, plug in their headphone, and have the ATM voice to them instead of trying to read a placard full of Braille. So it's important to have good law standards that define accessibility in a clear way, and then good enforcement also. Paul, did you want to add anything to that? I think I was funny, I was going to use the ATM example, but I think enforcement and the ability to investigate is so important and entities that do that. And I think I don't want to overemphasize because ultimately, hopefully with investigation and enforcement, ultimately comes compliance and readily acceptance of accessibility. But until that happens, I think that's where so often we fall down and elsewhere. The policies, there's a good general policy in place, not necessarily good specifics on how to make it happen and then definitely not much of an investigation or enforcement authority. And when it comes to making that tough decision and mandating that a business or a community actually take the steps and spend the money to make something accessible or to address a discriminatory conduct, that's where I think we often fall down whether it's here in the U.S. or elsewhere is actually carrying that forward and doing a meaningful job of investigating and then enforcing and penalizing action that was discriminatory. So here's another question. And before we get to the question, I think we've lost Charlotte and we're working to have her rejoin us. So Toko asks, in Africa, many persons with disabilities are illiterate. How can we improve inclusive and education, inclusive education and job training opportunities for persons with disabilities? Paul, do you want to try? Yeah, I don't want to overstate the importance of technology. But I also think it would be wrong to not be very clear that I think getting technology, whether it's computers or mobile devices into the hands of individuals, including kids, is so critical. I know there are many programs now that are working toward whether it's one laptop or child or computers in the classroom or ensuring that individuals have access to technology from a very young age. I think there's a lot of components and we struggle with with literacy here in some instances in the U.S. for people, particularly for people who are blind arguing over the importance of Braille and I'm sitting here with a device in my lap that is a Braille device. Braille is critical to me but like any skill and any representation of written language, I needed to learn Braille. I needed to have somebody capable of teaching me that and that's certainly going to be true of sign language. It's going to be obviously true of Braille and I think one of the ways that we really can change the dynamic very quickly is by using technology and getting technology into people's hands including mobile tech again as we stated before because oftentimes the access to cellular networks is just much easier to achieve and once you have that information can flow much more freely and then it becomes a little bit easier to acquire and use and master literacy. Thanks for sending in these great questions. Before we go back to our group in Rwanda, I wanted to ask the panel in this case, Paul, if you could provide some examples of accessibility features and standards in transportation, buildings and information and communication technology that you think has helped reduce barriers to employment here in the United States and could be adopted more widely in Africa. Paul? I'm going to turn this back to you after I say one that we haven't really talked very much about David because this is really your expertise, you've been involved in so many of the standards that have changed life here in the United States but one that we haven't talked very much about but I think it's arguably one of the greatest successes we've had over the last 25 years and that's the work of the World Wide Web Consortium and its Web Accessibility Initiative. This is a largely, well it is voluntary group now some of their work has found its way into standards but in particular the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that that group created so the WCAG work of the World Wide Web Consortium, that set of guidelines has shown us how to make websites accessible for people with disabilities both natively but also using the technology that those of us with disabilities might use to browse the web and to make the web pages available to us and I'm thinking again of people who are blind who are using speech or braille or large text to access a website and one of the features and the values of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is to make clear in a very detailed way how to make a web page that is usable by somebody with a disability but also retains the features that people love about the web, the dynamism and the connectivity and the way to make a website that really works for commerce or for information for people but also works for people with disabilities and so I would point to and I would say if people haven't had a chance to look at those guidelines I would strongly encourage you to do so because it's hard to argue that there's anything more important than the web in terms of information in ease and speed of getting information out to individuals. That's a great point we actually have done a lot of work over the years to harmonize our requirements for technology in the United States with those in other countries primarily in Europe but I think the same could be true in Africa. One example that I'm proud of that we've done at the Access Board in terms of working with African countries is in Addis Ababa the new light rail system that recently opened. We started several years ago working with the engineers in Ethiopia to review the plans for both the facilities, the stations and the vehicles to make sure that those were accessible and that started with Judy Heumann who had previously worked at the State Department. She had hooked us up with individuals in Ethiopia and so I was very proud when the light rail opened and showed how so many people in Addis Ababa were able to use this accessible light rail system for the first time. Now let's go back to our viewing group in Rwanda Kagali. Do you have any more questions for the panel? Yes please. Yeah well, thank you very much. My name is Samero Mulana, Executive Director of Rwanda National Union of the Deaf. The question I'm asking is more of technical support in the workplace. I'm wondering which kind of support do you provide to deaf people who are the employees in the workplace? In this I mean the communication support that you provide to those who are deaf and hard of yelling in the working places. Thank you. Paul, do you want to start with that? Yeah please jump in. I think I would start here. One of the most important and maybe overlooked aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act was the title that established the telephone or telecommunications relay system which there were already efforts even prior to 1990 to connect people who were deaf to the telephone system using these intermediary operators so somebody who's deaf would use a texted device, connect to an operator who would then speak the text to a hearing individual on the other end of the telephone and this really made the telephone accessible. What was so great about the title in the Americans with Disabilities Act is it really distributed relay and made it something that was supported on a national level. So that began a means by which people who were deaf could use the telephone system and eventually the wireless phone system as well. Obviously sign language interpreters are a critical component of communication whether it's in the workplace or elsewhere and again and I would just close my comments here by saying again I think we're seeing technology step in to enable individuals to sign and have sign converted into text for somebody who's not a sign language person on the other end so sort of have that immediate communication capability among individuals, among co-workers. Thank you Paul. So one of the things that is required under the ADA is what's called reasonable accommodation and so private employers, state and local government employers and the federal government all have an obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation to a person with a disability which could include sign language interpreters and other technology that can help people do their jobs. I will point out that the Department of Justice who is the agency that enforces most of the Americans with Disabilities Act has a number of settlement agreements and lawsuits against primarily hospitals, state and local governments and businesses on the issue of sign language interpreters because that has been a difficult issue along with access to 911 services as well. So communication access has been an area that has seen a lot of enforcement in the United States. Rwanda, do you have another question? Yes, please. My name is Ramadan Harerimana. I'm co-founder of Hope Initiative Rwanda and I'm a volunteer. We have a mission to eradicate streetism in Rwanda including those people with disabilities. My question is you talked about the government contribution and the other organization. I want to know as youth or young people what can we contribute on this issue or this case. Thank you very much. Thank you Paul. So the question is about youth. Yeah, I think we've seen in the U.S. young people have really changed much of the dynamic including young people with disabilities. They're kind of changing the way they interact with the world. There's a lot more thinking inclusively and reaching out to other groups and joining in with other groups that have sometimes not been welcomed in society and I'm thinking particularly of LGBT and minority groups and it's delightful to see that we're beginning to have youth with disabilities really think through and I think this is happening across the board with young people that there's a much more welcoming environment working together and understanding that there's a common cause across disability and other minority groups. Then the other thing I would say is ensuring that there is strong support for educational policies that ensure that people students and children with disabilities are able to learn with their peers who do not have disabilities and have the supports that they need to participate in education and I know this is a challenge anywhere in the world and it's still a challenge here in the U.S. even where we've had laws in place for many years to ensure that people with disabilities can be in the classroom and I've just closed by saying it wasn't until early in the 2000s that we passed a law in the U.S. that required that textbooks be available at the same time for blind kids as they were for sighted kids in a form that they could use whether Braille or technology so it took that long to get there it's a struggle but I think we're you know we're moving in a place where we we see a stronger support for education across the globe okay and I know we're almost out of time so thank you Kigali for these great questions we've got some more questions from our online viewers here's a question from the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia federal laws mandate affirmative action for persons with disabilities especially in cases of hiring and promotion but these laws are not implemented how can we fight for the rights of people with disabilities by promoting the implement implementation of existing laws and I think Charlotte actually touched on this earlier when she was talking about quotas and quota systems and we don't have that similar system here in the United States we have for federal agencies and for federal contractors they have goals that are to be met in terms of hiring people with disabilities but we don't have a quota system but I think it goes back to the larger issue of how do you implement a law and that's with leadership from the agencies that are responsible for implementing it it takes a commitment from the leaders and it requires a law that actually has some teeth to it so you know we have the right in the United States to file complaints and lawsuits to ensure that our laws are are implemented but you know I think you need to have that leadership you need to have a law that provides you with a remedy so that you can implement your existing laws Paul do you have any quick thoughts yeah just quickly I would say doing your best to make sure that government officials are aware of the challenges and and to the extent that you can try to hold individuals and government accountable for the actions that they take or don't take and I know that's easier said than done so final question from the US Embassy in Ghana children with who are have albino or people children with who are albinism are finding it difficult to go to school in Ghana what support and advice can be provided to boost enrollment and combat stigma Paul do you have any yeah it's a it's a it's a tough issue and I don't know that in a very short time I can come up with a great answer I think you know it's it's all of what we've said this morning about this afternoon about the importance of of respecting and engaging and welcoming people with disabilities into the environment and people with albinism albinism particularly children have had it very tough in many parts of the world because of not only the difficulties that usually relate to vision loss but also the difficulties that relate to appearance and that you know that's a challenge no matter where we are in the world and I don't have a better answer other than to keep working away at it in order to to bring disability into the to the fabric of all parts of our society so it looks like we're almost out of time Paul would you like to share any final thoughts well again I we've talked a lot about disability and technology and physical accessibility and there's a there's a lot of great stuff happening I think use the resources that you can find whether they're from the US or elsewhere in the world in order to change the environments where you are to make them more welcoming physically to make them more welcoming in a technology space and then hopefully that also just leads to a more welcoming set of attitudes for people with disabilities I want to thank everybody for joining us both in person in different embassies and locations throughout throughout Africa and elsewhere thank you for joining us online thank you to Paul and Charlotte for contributing your expertise and insights to this important conversation and a special thanks to the organizers and Rwanda at the US Embassy in Kigali and thank all of the online viewers including those watching with viewing groups across the world at various embassies throughout Africa including in Nairobi, Kenya, Dar es al Salaman, Tanzania, in Ghana, in Uganda, in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia and the American spaces throughout areas in Africa including Ethiopia and and we hope that this conversation will continue and the Department of State is committed to facilitating dialogue on this and other disability rights issues so please don't hesitate to reach out to us and our colleagues at our diplomatic missions to share ideas and suggestions of additional steps we might take thank you for participating today and keep the dialogue going. Goodbye