Seminar on AI-powered accessibility seeks ways to promote inclusivity

Experts and scholars from home and abroad shared their research and best practices on AI-powered accessibility and building a digitally inclusive society at a seminar in Beijing on Wednesday that was jointly organized by UNESCO and the Communication University of China, or CUC.

The AI-Powered Accessibility: Redefining Digital Inclusion seminar aimed to explore ways in which digital technology can be used to promote information accessibility, and to provide practical solutions to and innovative service models for the development of information accessibility and digital inclusion on a global scale.

Professor Lin Haibo, vice-president of CUC, said in his opening speech that, as a university included in the "double world-class project", CUC has been very active in the construction of universal accessibility in the era of artificial intelligence, and has built a "five-in-one" communication matrix that includes information accessibility.

He said the university has contributed to the development of smoother, barrier-free communication and the construction of a more inclusive environment.

Professor Shahbaz Khan, director of the UNESCO regional office for East Asia and UNESCO representative to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan, Mongolia, People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea, highly commended the CUC's "Guangming Cinema" and "Guangming Museum" project in his speech, which was delivered by video.

He pointed out that by making films and museums more accessible to people with disabilities, the initiative showcases how technology and innovation can be harnessed to create inclusive educational and cultural experiences for all.

Khan added that the benefits of AI can only be fully realized by ensuring its development and application are guided by the principles of inclusivity, diversity, and equity. And he noted that, through the Information For All Program and other initiatives, UNESCO aims to foster a global dialogue on the ethical use of AI and promote the development of inclusive policies and practices.

At the seminar, barrier-free movie clips in both Chinese and English produced by the "Guangming Cinema" team at CUC were also shown, putting forward a Chinese proposal for building a disability-inclusive society to the international community.

In 2017, the CUC, in cooperation with Beijing Gehua CATV Network and Dongfang Jiaying Television Cinema Media Co Ltd, jointly lunched "Guangming Cinema" public welfare project. More than 800 teachers and students have since volunteered to produce more than 700 barrier-free films for the visually impaired. Volunteers insert voice descriptions about the images in the movies in between dialogue and sound from the films, so people with visual impairments can enjoy them.

The seminar was held at the Academic Center of the CUC, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the university.

Professor Fu Haizheng, executive director of the Research Institute on Information and Communication Accessibility, hosted the event.