Influential websites such as the websites of the BOCOG and the CDPF were made disability friendly prior to the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games. Ten other portal websites of national prestige, including xinhuanet.com, cctv.com, china.org.com, sina.com, baidu.com, youth.cn and 21cn.com, also met accessibility requirements after adjustments. These efforts enabled people with disabilities to participate in the Olympics and Paralympics via the Internet and share in the joy of pursuing the Olympic motto -- Citius, Altius, Fortius ( Swifter, Higher, Stronger). The ISC is currently working on a new program that calls on websites to join hands to assist the disabled in accessing online information.
In recent years, the ISC has sponsored some other events to make websites more accessible to the disabled. These included a contest of software and web page design for the visually impaired nationwide and computer education programs for 100,000 visually impaired people across the country. It also has selected and awarded organizations that excelled in promoting information accessibility and held an exhibition to showcase China's achievements in this regard. All these exemplify the ISC's efforts to narrow the digital divide and facilitate the sharing of the benefits from the IT boom.
(5) Promoting Social Development and IT Application in Poor Regions
In terms of economic development, there is a big gap between China's urban and rural areas and between its eastern and western regions. To narrow the digital divide and fulfill its social responsibility as an industry regulator, the ISC designated May 25 of each year as the Social Service Day of the Internet Industry in 2005. Over the past four years, it has set up 10 Internet labs for 10 primary and secondary schools in six western provinces including Qinghai Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, with donations from Internet companies---nearly 700,000 yuan (US$100,000) in cash and more than 150 computers. The ISC also takes part in a national initiative aimed at making basic educational resources available to west China via the Internet. It has provided 1,238 hours of online broadcast of 929 pieces of courseware using P2P technology, benefiting 667,000 students in some 100 primary and secondary schools in six provinces including Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and southwestern Guizhou Province. The ISC also has established a Social Service Award. From 2005 to 2008, it presented the award to 43 websites, including qq.com and tom.com, and two entrepreneurs to honor their remarkable contributions to public welfare.
Internet content reflects a country's national, cultural, legal, social and ideological characters. Bridging the digital divide is our eternal pursuit. With future uncertainties far outweighing what we have known, this pursuit is likely to be the most complex and distinctive one in the world of the Internet. China's Internet industry cannot develop in isolation to outside world. We hope to promote the healthy and harmonious development of the Internet industry as we explore standards to assess Internet content and as content providers take their own initiatives.
We sincerely hope that more people benefit from the safe, healthy and harmonious environment on the Internet.
Thank you.
(China.org.cn November 8, 2008)