ENG-2011 — Page 436

376 Communications, the Media and Information Technology

Internet Learning Support Programme

The Government launched the five-year Internet Learning Support Programme 'I learn at home' in July 2011 to help students in need to undertake web-based learning at home. The programme assists low-income families to acquire affordable computer equipment and Internet access services for their school-age children to gain access to the Internet at home, and provides them with user and social support. By the end of 2011, a total of 32 099 eligible families had enrolled in the programme.

Promoting ICT Adoption among Persons with Disabilities

The Government launched a funding scheme in early 2011 to support the development of information and communications technology-based assistive tools and applications for persons with disabilities. Nine ICT projects, costing $3.3 million, are being carried out for persons with different kinds of disabilities. The end products, such as software development and upgrade, design of input and control assistance device, web-based service and rehabilitation tools, will be available for free downloading, free distribution to needy groups or further development with a proven concept upon completion by mid-2012. The Government will organise an exhibition in May 2012 to showcase the project deliverables and encourage further development of ICT-based assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.

To facilitate access to online information and services by persons with disabilities, the Government launched a 'Web Accessibility Campaign' in October 2011 to drive adoption of accessibility design in both public and private-sector websites. A series of seminars for corporate management and website managers were held to raise awareness of, share good practices and impart know-how on web accessibility. A management handbook has been published and a web accessibility portal has been developed to provide relevant guidelines and resources. To set an example, government websites will be required to conform to the Leve! AA standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) through all practicable means by 2013, making the HKSAR Government one of the earliest governments in the world to implement the latest international standard.

Encouraging ICT Adoption among the Elderly

A dedicated portal for the elderly, called 'eElderly', was launched in 2010 for elderly people to obtain information of particular interest to them. It was developed further in 2011 to incorporate more interesting and useful material. The portal records about 40 000 visits a month and over 20 000 elderly people have enrolled as members. The Government will also engage three non-profit organisations to arrange a series of activities in 2012 to create greater interest in ICT among the elderly and to improve their ICT skills.