The elderly in Qatar stand to gain from Mada’s (Qatar Assistive
Technology Centre) ‘guides to ageing and technology’, scheduled to be
launched on November 12 and 28 with the aim of improving their quality
of life, it has been announced.
Mada policy expert Ahmed Habib said yesterday that the new programmes
would guide the elderly in using technology more effectively, further
helping them live independently.
“We recognised that as we grow older, we may lose our vision, our
hearing, our ability to move independently, many of the same principles
that apply to people with disabilities (PWDs) will also apply to
ageing,” Habib said, adding that this guide can be used by policy
makers, service providers, caregivers and people who work with the
elderly, among others.
Mada, a non-profit organisation established in June 2010 by the Ministry
of Transport and Communications dedicated to connecting PWDs to the
world of information and communication technology (ICT), is also
currently working on how to support the elderly.
The centre is collaborating with caregivers and professionals by
providing expert advice and assessment on a wide variety of ‘assistive
technologies,’ which cater to persons with physical, hearing, visual and
learning disabilities.
Mada provides technology through a ‘Universal Loan Programme’, whereby
Qatar residents with disabilities can be provided with different access
technologies based on their needs and abilities.
Habib said their new programmes and policies have been well researched, developed and published on a national level.
“Our understanding of disability is that it is caused by
inaccessibility, we don’t see disability as a medical condition. So, we
don’t use the medical model in understanding disability, we use what is
called as the social model,” he said.
“We believe that if you would create accessible spaces, an accessible
ecosystem in that environment, then PWDs will not have disabilities,”
Habib pointed out. “Their functional limitations will not be an issue
for them to be active participants in education or healthcare or any
kind of social activities as well.”
The centre is also working on a project with the banking sector,
particularly with Qatar Central Bank, aimed at improving the
accessibility of automated teller machines (ATMs) to PWDs.
He said they want to ensure that ATMs, an important digital platform, he said, meet international standards for accessibility.
On December 10, the centre will be hosting the national government
e-accessibility awards to recognise government websites that are most
‘e-accessible’ in the country.
Habib said they work in the area of e-accessibility – the study of
creating digital content according to international e-accessibility
standards.
“For example, if a person is blind and is using a screen reader to read
contents on a website, because he is unable to see it, that website
needs to be designed in a way that meets international standard for web
accessibility,” he explained.
Mada policy expert Ahmed Habib shows some of the customised equipment and machines for PWDs.