Enabling E-Democracy - Disability, Social Exclusion and ICT
Conclusion and recommendations
5.1. There is a substantial overlap in ICT exclusion between those defined classically as "socially" excluded and those defined as disabled, particularly in the area of cognition.
5.2. A demographics of ICT functional limitation is a necessary precondition for the "optimal" or "inclusive" design of ICT systems.
5.3. Some people will be excluded by "optimal" or "inclusive" systems and they will require special access hardware, software and/or human intermediaries. The Government should broaden its provision of these facilities from the narrow base of education and employment to include all activities but particularly those involved in citizenship.
5.5. Authorial expression requires a high degree of customisation either by the author or by recognised intermediaries; the latter should not be thwarted by the former's exercise of copyright if initial customisation is inadequate.
5.5. As the essence of the Internet is that it is interactive, simple access to public documents is not enough; citizens must have the facility both to respond and initiate.
5.6. Education and training is vital in improving ICT skills and decreasing exclusion but this must be promoted in tandem with the development of customisation and accessibility tools. Those incapable, for whatever reason, of benefiting from the former are still citizens who require the assistance of the latter.
5.7. The rise of open network consultation (ONC) is a serious threat to traditional civil society consultative mechanisms which have been particularly valuable to disabled people. New consultative processes must be analysed to see how they affect participation and the role of trusted intermediaries requires urgent review.
5.8. Increasingly sophisticated tools for transmitting and filtering digital messages is to the increasing advantage of professional lobbyists over individual citizens and gives an advantage to the wealthy over the poor. The technologies of lobbying require continual review.
5.9. The 'target culture' tends to discriminate against difficult cases into which category socially excluded and/or disabled people are frequently placed. This tendency must be guarded against.
5.10. The role of trusted intermediaries in the digital environment must e addressed as a matter of urgency, particularly in respect of digital signatures and data protection.
5.11. As all the matters raised above cross many Government Departments, Parliament and local government, there should be a central function in the Cabinet Office to co-ordinate policy and implementation in respect of all these matters.