ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND TECHNIQUES FOR WEB BASED EGOV IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Electronic government (eGov) is intended to serve the whole spectrum of the Population. To be able to access services and thus benefit from eGov, many users require assistive technologies and techniques (ATT). This demand is implied by auditory, visual or other impairments but also by low literacy skills. Thus, in the context of this paper the term ATT is interpreted in a broader sense compared to the classic definitions of the term "assistive technology" that relate to impairments or other special needs. This paper explores the range of ATT on the background of the special conditions found in developing countries. We investigate which types of users benefit from ATT in which ways and discuss which categories of users have requirements that arc not yet covered by the current stage of development of ATT. The reasons for the remaining problems regarding access may be due to factors related to the country context or due to current technological limitations. Some lessons learned from our findings will be presented which indicate directions for further research.
assistive technologies egov hci