Government support for assistive technologies and eInclusionMr. Jiri Prusa (jiri.prusa@mvcr.cz); Ministry of Interior

Prague, Czech Republic

Support for assistive technologies

Financial support

Provided for purchasing of assistive technologiesProvided by

Health Insurance CompaniesGovernment

Legislation support

Providing financial support for assistive technologies is a legal requirement.Broad legal support is provided for wide-spread e-Inclusion and assistive technologies, e.g.

Supporting people with disabilities by dealing with public administrationUsing subtitles in TV programmingAn accessible websiteSupporting telephone communication for disabled

Financial support for ATs

Disable people can receive following financial support to purchase assistive technologies such as hearing sets, particular software, phones with functions for people with disabilities etc.

Fully covered by Health Insurance Company (e.g. electronic glucose meter)

Partially covered by Health Insurance Company

Maintained by the government (self-government) as a special type of social support

Special phones for the hard of hearing 70% (max. 7 000 CZK)Individual induction loop 50%STTR Software e.g. MyVoice 50%Reading Machine with touch output 100%Watches for the blind with voice/touch output 100%Printer with embossed characters facility 100%

Dealing with public administration

Supporting deaf or deaf-blind people by dealing with PA

Special law focused on rights of deaf and deaf-blind people (Act No. 155/1998 Coll. on sign language)

According to this law, these persons have a right:

To have support when dealing with public administration, e.g. by the court, dealing with public administration or doctor´s visits.

To choose a communication tool according to their needs such as:

Sign languageBraille signsSTTR (Speech to Text Reporting)

Using subtitles in TV programming

According to the law (Act No. 231/2001 Coll. on radio and TV broadcasting) there is an obligation to ensure sub-titles/sign-languages interpretation:

by 70% of programmes for public broadcasters (Czech TV)by 15% of programmes for private broadcasters (Nova, Prima etc.)

Accessible website

According to the law (Act No. 365/2000 Coll. on public administration information systems), all public authorities shall provide on-line information in a form that allows for people with disabilities to access it.

Web-accessibility guidelines published by the Ministry of Interior provides 33 rules based on WCAG 2.0.

Keeping rules is regularly checked (manual control) by the ministry.

The new topic: How to ensure web-accessibility not only within public administration but also on other websites, especially in the view of implementing UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Conclusions

Deployment of assistive technologies and their use in the daily life is not possible without legislation support as well as financial support. The governments play the crucial role in both issues.