Wantanee Phantachat, chief of assistive technology at Nectec, said the agency has completed 90 per cent of the national guidelines needed to develop websites for the disabled, to encourage government agencies and the private sector to assist those with disabilities.

The idea is to allow five million people in Thailand the same access to information and knowledge via the Internet as others, and ensure they have universal access to services.

"So far, five organisations from more than 250 government agencies have developed websites to support the disabled. These sites will provide an opportunity for disabled people to access information and reduce the gap for access to information technology," said Wantanee.

She said the national guidelines will be aimed at ensuring telecom companies and service providers develop communications services that are available to everyone on an equal basis. The guidelines will also determine the format and standard for the development of telecommunications and information services for disabled people so it will be easier for them to use new technology and services.

"The guidelines will focus on how to ensure opportunities exist for elderly and disabled people to gain access to information and communications services," said Wantanee.

The guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with disabilities and are intended for all Web content developers and developers of authoring tools.

She said the guidelines will help people more quickly find information on the Web, and do not discourage content developers from using images and video. They also explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide audience including techniques for document validation and testing, with an index of HTML elements and attributes.

Jirapan Boonnoon

The Nation