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The purpose of this toolkit is to share a selection of tools and recommendations pertaining to the accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Based on international standards and a scan of available technologies, these tools and recommendations are intended to contribute to the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities by ensuring that information is equitably accessible.

The goals of this toolkit are:

• To outline the key international frameworks around digital accessibility and why it is critical for inclusion of persons with disabilities.
• To link people with tools, practice examples, free online training, and other resources so that their practice is digitally accessible.
• To ensure that digital accessibility is an inherent aspect of daily practice.
• To align the practices of those working with and for CBM. 

This toolkit is intended to be used as a guide and practice resource by people working with and for CBM so that we produce accessible digital content and communications, and place accessibility at the centre of our ICT procurement processes. We hope that the toolkit will be a resource for the wider community of persons with disabilities, Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs).

Mental health problems are commonplace and affect more than one in four people worldwide. They are responsible for a quarter of all disabilities. This document aims to provide a basis for exploring these concepts as part of more in-depth work, including an update of the 2011 mental health framework document.

A seminar was held in Kigali, Rwanda on 7 - 9 December 2017. It brought together 45 participants from 12 countries to think about and discuss community mental health concepts and practices. The objectives of this document are twofold:

• Set out analysis by an external expert, with a focus on community mental health at HI, in light of the literature and concepts and practices within the sector

• Undertake preliminary work to identify new concepts for implementation, based on the aspects covered in the seminar, as part of ongoing in-depth work in this area, including the updating of the 2011 mental health framework document.

Case histories from Rwanda, Lebanon and Madascagar are given. There is an extensive bibliography in the Annex

This document is intended for HI and partner staff members who work in the mental health and psychosocial support sector. It is also intended for HI staff working on mental health strategy. It can also be used to feed into the work of field staff developing, implementing and assessing mental health and psychsocial support programmes

There is limited quantitative evidence on livelihood opportunities amongst adults with disabilities in Low and Middle Income Countries. This study adds to the limited evidence base, contributing data from one African and one Asian setting. A population-based case–control study of adults (18+) with and without disabilities was undertaken in North-West Cameroon and in Telangana State, India. It was found that adults with disabilities were five times less likely to be working compared to age-sex matched controls in both settings. Amongst adults with disabilities, current age, marital status and disability type were key predictors of working. Inclusive programmes are therefore needed to provide adequate opportunities to participate in livelihood prospects for adults with disabilities in Cameroon and India, on an equal basis as others

Using current evidence and testimony from more than 60 WASH experts in 30 countries, this technical paper highlights evidence to argue that accessible and inclusive WASH is achievable at low cost, by using universal design, community-driven change, and existing knowledge, expertise and methods. The paper provides starting points to understand the impact of and case for accessible and inclusive WASH.

Evidence on strategies/pathways for strengthening people with disabilities’ leadership in political and public life, at all levels of governance (formal and informal) is reviewed.

Topics discussed concerning participation in political and public life include: UNCRPD; barriers; strategies to support inclusive electoral and political processes; womens empowerment; capacity building and training; the role of disability movements and DPOs; affirmative action and quotas; election observation and increasing the visibility of people with disabilities 

K4D helpdesk report

This rapid review looks at examples of existing literature on the availability of assistive technologies and efforts to make these technologies more affordable and accessible in developing countries. Needs and access to assistive technologies are overviewed. The discussion of market characteristics of assistive technologies covers availability, affordability, quality, appropriate design, and awareness and demand.  Efforts to increase the affordability and accessibility of assistive technology are discussed covering: The Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE); the WHO Priority Assistive Products List; and EYElliance and eye health initiatives. Market shaping and community based approaches are discussed in this context.

This is a K4D helpdesk report. This report was commissioned by the UK Department for International Development (DFID)

This is a practical manual about mental health care, aimed at community health workers, primary care nurses, social workers and primary care doctors, particularly in low resource settings. It describes more than 30 clinical problems associated with mental illness, using a problem-solving approach to guide the reader through their assessment and management. It addresses the lack of understanding of mental health among many health workers. Mental health issues as they arise in specific contexts are described - in refugee camps, in school health programmes, as well as in mental health promotion. The final section helps the reader to personalise for a particular location, for example, by entering local information on voluntary agencies, the names and costs of medicines and words in the local language for symptoms.

This product is an update of the first edition 2003. It is also available as Open Access.

UNICEF has issued an Assistive Products guide which addresses needs in four impairment groups: mobility, vision, hearing, and communication.  It provides details of some assistive products currently available on the market and information on when and how they are to be used. It covers a range of devices, from low-tech (e.g., walking sticks, pencil grips) to more complex (e.g., specialized computer software/hardware or motorised wheelchairs). This publication provides practical information to guide UNICEF, partner agencies and Governments in procurement planning and provisioning of assistive products. The information is designed to help with decision-making on the most appropriate assistive products to meet programme objectives and realise the rights of children with disabilities. The selection of assistive products in this overview is based on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 2016 Assistive Products Priority List (APL). References to particular brands and models are only illustrative examples available at the time of publication and do not constitute an endorsement of the manufacturer by UNICEF. Indicative prices listed are in US dollars.

Persons with a disability are among the population groups most likely to suffer from exclusion from education but data that permit an analysis of the links between disability and education remain scarce. This paper examines educational disparities linked to disability based on data from 49 countries and territories for five education indicators:

● Proportion of 15- to 29-year-olds who ever attended school

● Out-of-school rate (primary school age, lower secondary school age)

● Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education)

● Mean years of schooling of the population 25 years and older

● Adult literacy rate (population 15 years and older)

The education indicators were calculated with data from three sources, collected between 2005 and 2015: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) sponsored by USAID, School-to-Work Transition Surveys (SWTS) by ILO, and population census data compiled by IPUMS-International. Comparability of the data across countries is limited because only some of the surveys and censuses used questions developed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics to identify persons with a disability. The accuracy of the indicator estimates is also affected by sampling and non-sampling errors in the data, the small sample size of many of the surveys that were analysed, and the relatively small proportion of persons with disabilities in each country’s population. Moreover, because of the scarcity of national data, it is currently not possible to generate statistics on the status of persons with disabilities with regard to education that are regionally or globally representative.

Information Paper No.49