Building Hong Kong as a digitally inclusive society
15 - 05 - 2004

The government has reaffirmed its commitment to building Hong Kong as a digitally inclusive society and ensuring that all sectors of the community can benefit from the advancement of information and communications technology (ICT).

Officiating at the Joint Web Care Award and Cyberport Website Design Competition Award Presentation Ceremony today (May 15), the Director of Information Technology Services Department, Mr Alan Wong Chi-kong said bridging the digital divide was a major component of the Digital 21 Strategy.

"All government websites are in compliance with the international standards with regard to web accessibility, in order to facilitate access and navigation by the visually impaired," he said.

A pilot Sound Portal was launched this year to further assist the elderly and visually impaired to obtain government information on the Internet.

Employing the latest text-to-speech technology, the portal enables users to "read" out the content of the websites of four government departments in Cantonese, Putonghua or English. These departments are the Department of Health, Social Welfare Department, the Space Museum of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and the Information Services Department.

The government has been working with the industry, academia and social service community in carrying out measures to bridge the digital divide.

The Web Care Campaign was one of these collaborative measures. Regular seminars and workshops are organised to encourage the adoption of barrier-free web design in the private sector.

Mr Wong expressed his appreciation to award-receiving organisations for their efforts to promote a barrier-free Internet environment.

Also presenting awards to students winning the Cyberport Website Design Competition today, he recognised the importance to maintain Hong Kong's competitiveness by grooming future ICT talents locally.

Mr Wong added that the government would work closely with the educational and vocational training institutions, as well as the ICT industry, to enhance the training and skills of the workforce and the next generation.

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