Headlines
Internet Society joins leading global organisation for the hard of hearing
ISOC demonstrates commitment to enabling access for all internet users
31 July 2008 - The Internet Society (ISOC) has this month been accepted as a member of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing People (IFHOH) and the EFHOH, which comprises the European members of the IFHOH.
ISOC's membership in the IFHOH and EFHOH, the leading global organisations for hard of hearing people, provides new opportunities for ISOC and its global chapter network to work with local hard of hearing organisations on Internet-related projects.
"Becoming a member of IFHOH and EFHOH reflects ISOC's commitment to the needs of Internet users with disabilities and special needs," said ISOC's Disability Projects Coordinator, Arnoud van Wijk.
"The membership will open up new, more direct, communication channels between ISOC, its Chapters, and the user groups who are deaf and hard of hearing," said Mr van Wijk.
ISOC's work is underlined by a core belief that the Internet has the potential to improve the quality of life for all people around the world. But these benefits can only be realised if the Internet is accessible. So, under its Enabling Access Initiative, ISOC promotes a diverse range of projects aimed at breaking down the barriers to Internet access around the world.
One such project, related to improving access for the deaf and hard of hearing, was launched earlier this week.
The project, the Real-Time Text Task Force (R3TF), aims to improve the accessibility of online services by defining techniques for Real-Time Text. Mr van Wijk, along with co-editor Guido Gybels, Director of New Technologies at RNID (UK), documented this technique in 'Framework for Real-Time Text over IP Using the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)', which the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has just published in its official 'Request for Comment' document series as RFC 5194.
