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G3ict

About Us

The Beginnings

  • Fall of 2006: As the last edits are negotiated at the United Nations to finalize the text of what is to become the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), advocates, industry leaders and United Nations officials start to brainstorm on the need to promote its innovative and far-reaching dispositions covering the accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
  • 4 December 2006: G3ict is formed one week prior to the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the CRPD with the support of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN GAID) and the Secretariat for the Convention at UN DESA. Seventy-five participants from disability advocacy organizations, the ICT industry and the public sector, including former members of the Ad hoc Committee which negotiated the text of the Convention, help shape its mission and objectives which have not changed since.
  • February 2007: The Global Alliance endorses G3ict as one of its four Flagship Advocacy Initiatives at a meeting of UN GAID hosted by Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corporation, who then served as UN GAID Chair.
  • 2006-2008: G3ict operations are carried as a division of World Times, Inc. which conducted programs for the United Nations in matters of social development. With no funding available from the United Nations system or any other public source, G3ict successfully relies to operate on private sector contributions, grants from philanthropic organizations, volunteer work from its trustees and officers and in-kind contributions from many organizations hosting its events around the world or lending personnel for its research and editorial activities.
  • September 2008: G3ict is incorporated as a standalone nonprofit corporation in the State of Georgia on September 30, 2008. H.E. Ambassador Luis Gallegos, past Chair of the Ad hoc Committee of the United Nations General Assembly for the CRPD, serves as Board Chair while Axel Leblois, former president of several high-tech companies and who led the formation of G3ict, serves as President and Executive Director.

The “Big Bang”

  • 30 March 2007: Eighty-four countries sign the CRPD, the highest number of signatures on the opening day of an international treaty ever recorded in history.
  • Opportunities for G3ict to work with international organizations, States Parties and multiple stakeholders grow at a very rapid pace with a continuous increase of CRPD signatures and ratifications.
  • G3ict develops a strategy of creating a strong knowledge base contributed by volunteer experts for free distribution through as many channels as possible, including joint publications, toolkits and events, starting with major United Nations System Specialized Agencies such as the ITU, UNESCO, the World Bank and ILO; Departments (UN DESA) and Research Institutes (UNITAR).
  • 2006-2016: During its first 10 years of operation, G3ict organizes, hosts or participates in more than 170 capacity building events around the world in cooperation with national governments, universities, industry and organizations of persons with disabilities.
  • G3ict also develops foundational resources for policy makers which are widely used around the world. Key resources include the G3ict-ITU e-accessibility Policy Toolkit for Persons with Disabilities, the model policy for Inclusive ICTs in Education with UNESCO, and more recently, model policies jointly published with the ITU for Television, Web, Procurement, Public Access Points and Mobile phones and services.
  • Besides several years of ongoing traffic on its online toolkit web pages, more than 1,176,264 downloads of G3ict’s leading handbooks and reports have been downloaded by experts from virtually all countries on the planet (as of January 2021).

Benchmarking ICT Accessibility Progress

  • 2010: G3ict undertakes to benchmark the actual implementation of the dispositions of the CRPD on ICT accessibility and assistive technologies by its States Parties. G3ict partners with Disabled People’s International (DPI) to research and produce the CRPD ICT Accessibility Progress Report.
  • Over the years, an extraordinary group of volunteers joins the research panel of the CRPD Progress Report which remains one of the few sources allowing for a global monitoring of the implementation of the CRPD.
  • 2018: Further step in benchmarking with the launch of the Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation index – DARE Index – which ranks countries’ actual implementation of key dispositions of the CRPD on ICT accessibility. Read the Press Release.
  • 2020: With the participation of more than 160 experts, G3ict releases the second edition of the DARE Index that brings the latest dataset on digital accessibility progress and rankings for 137 countries. Read the Press Release (Arabic, English, French, Spanish).
  • 2025: DARE Index 3.0 edition forthcoming (Fall)

Promoting Innovation

  • 2009-2010: G3ict witnesses the breakthrough that mobile technology innovation brought to the world of digital accessibility. For the first time in history, persons with disabilities can use anytime anywhere a versatile, affordable, portable device with embedded assistive features such as text-to-speech, voice recognition, geo-positioning, Near Field Communications and many others, with the sky as the limit.
  • G3ict launches the M-Enabling Summit, in partnership with E.J. Krause and Associates, which gathers every year hundreds of participants, attracting leading advocates, corporate executives and accessibility professionals.
  • Today, the M-Enabling Summit, fully owned by G3ict since January 2022, is an all-inclusive conference and showcase offering rich networking opportunities, fostering innovative technology that benefits more than one-billion Persons with Disabilities and an expanding population of aging adults globally. Conference website.

Addressing Implementation Challenges

  • 2015-present: G3ict research shows that progress has occurred in countries’ commitments to ICT accessibility in terms of legislation, regulations or programs. Capacity to implement and outcomes, however, from an organization, financial or technical standpoint remains weak, including a lack of participation of persons with disabilities and private sector stakeholders in the design, implementation and monitoring of ICT accessibility policies and programs.
  • 2016: G3ict’s focus evolves from awareness raising to supporting implementation by States Parties. Besides its Institutional Advocacy and M-Enabling divisions, G3ict launches its Global Policy Center in support of policy makers. Together with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and DPI, G3ict launches the Digital Accessibility Decennial Call for Action.
  • 2016-present: G3ict acquires and operates as one of its division the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). IAAP is a not-for-profit membership-based organization for individuals and organizations that are focused on accessibility or are in the process of building their accessibility skills and strategies. With an expanded international footprint of IAAP Regional Chapters and representatives (Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, D-A-CH German-speaking countries, India, Mexico, and Israel), and a membership counting 7,700 professionals involved in ICT accessibility in 110 countries (as of June 2025), IAAP drives the development of accessibility training and certification programs, an essential success factor for CRPD implementation.
  • April 2019-present: The Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments (GAATES), leading international organization promoting Accessibility and Universal Design for the built environment and public spaces, redeploys its activities under G3ict. In 2019, GAATES' certification program has transitioned to G3ict and is now managed by IAAP through its portfolio of certification offerings. Previously referred to as ICAP-BE, the new name of the certification is Certified Professional in Accessible Built Environments (CPABE).

Next Steps

With a higher level of awareness of the imperative for digital accessibility, many dedicated accessibility experts around the world and a solid institutional framework in place, G3ict looks forward to continuing its advocacy for the years to come, cooperating with governments, local advocates and private sector stakeholders around the world.

One benchmark at a time, one new standard at a time, one new program and successful implementation at a time: Digital accessibility is achievable. From media to e-books, the Internet, IoT, computers, electronic kiosks, e-government or e-commerce, G3ict helps promote and realize, for a billion persons with disabilities, one of the most significant opportunities for independent living, inclusion in our society and our world at large.

Board of Directors

Chairperson

  • Shilpi Kapoor, CEO, BarrierBreak (incoming as of July 1st, 2025)

Directors

  • Monica Ackermann, Finance & Investment Board Committee Member
  • Daniel Aghion, Co-Founder, W2i
  • Mohammed Al-Tarawneh, Founding Chair, UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
  • Christine Forget, Treasurer
  • Akiko Ito, Executive Director, CIFAL Japan, UNITAR; former Chief, Secretariat of the CRPD, UNDESA
  • Susan Mazrui, Director, Global Public Policy, AT&T (outgoing Board Chair as of June 30, 2025)
  • Irene Mbari-Kirika, Executive Director, inABLE
  • Mark McCusker, Finance & Investment Board Committee Chair
  • Sharon Spencer, Past Managing Director, IAAP (IAAP, A division of G3ict)

Ex-Officio

President & Director Emeritus

  • Axel Leblois, Founder, G3ict

Honorary Chairperson

  • Ambassador Luis Gallegos, President, Global Initiative on Ageing (GIA), and Chair of the Board, World Institute on Disability (WID)

Board of Advisors

The role of the Board of Advisors is to provide early thought leadership to G3ict's programs, projects, and initiatives.

Corporate Leaders

  • Matt Ater, Vice President, Vispero
  • Adobe Systems
  • Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer, Microsoft
  • Suzan Mazrui, Director, Global Public Policy, AT&T

Committee Chairs

  • John D. Kemp, Esq., President & CEO, Lakeshore Foundation
  • Debra Ruh, Chair, G3ict EmployAbility
  • Frances West, Chair, G3ict Committee on Digital Inclusion and Accessibility for Older Persons, and IAAP East Asia Liaison

International Advisors

  • David Berman, President, David Berman Communications; PDF/UA committee member; Chair of the Carleton University Access Network
  • David Banes, Director, Access and Inclusion, David Banes Access, Director, DATEurope
  • Seth Bravin, Director, Strategic Alliances, Accessibility, T-Mobile
  • Gerald Craddock, CEUD - National Disability Authority, Ireland
  • Alireza Darvishy, Professor, Head of the ICT Accessibility Lab, Zurich University for Applied Sciences; Center of Accessibility, Credit Suisse Group
  • David Dikter, CEO, Assistive Technologies Industry Association (ATIA)
  • Simão Ferraz de Campos Neto, Counsellor, ITU-T SG 16 International (ITU)
  • Larry Goldberg, Accessible media and technology consultant
  • Mohamed Jemni, Professor, Director of ICT, Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO), Tunisia
  • Shane Kanady, Senior Fellow, G3ict
  • Pina D’Intino, Principal Owner and Accessibility Consultant, Aequum Global Access Inc.
  • Irmgarda Kasinskaite, UNESCO
  • Fernando Laguarda, Faculty Director, Program on Law and Government, American University Washington College of Law
  • Dipendra Manocha, DAISY Consortium
  • Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo, The World Bank
  • Mike Paciello, Founder of WebABLE, Inc., web site consultancy
  • Victor Pineda, President, The Victor Pineda Foundation and World ENABLED
  • Katherine Seelman, former Professor Rehabilitation Science and Technology, Associate Dean of Disability Programs School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburg
  • John J. Sullivan, Senior Fellow, G3ict
  • Jonathan Thurston, G3ict Fellow, CEO, Infinite Access, Head of Accessibility, Syntegence
  • Roxana Widmer-Iliescu, Digital Inclusion Division, BDT, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Observers

  • Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero, Senior Expert, Disability & Inclusion, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
  • Eric Zhang, Social Affairs Officer, Secretariat for the CRPD / UN DESA
  • Dónal Rice, Ireland

Vision

We aim to create a world where all persons with disabilities will have equal access to digital content, products, services, and environments according to the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the eighth Human Rights treaty of the United Nations.

Mission

Building a global community to advance the fundamental human rights of persons with disabilities to digital access.

Objectives

G3ict's objectives and global outreach are aligned with the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on the accessibility of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Assistive Technologies. G3ict’s objectives are to:

  • Promote awareness of the ICT accessibility dispositions of the CRPD and of effective public policies, private sector initiatives, and accessibility standards;
  • Support advocates and policy makers with capacity building programs, policy development tools and benchmarking;
  • Facilitate and share good practices and innovation in accessible and assistive technologies;
  • Foster harmonization and standardization to achieve lower costs and interoperability on a global scale by promoting the work of W3C, ISO, ETSI, ANSI, DAISY/EPUB3, ITU, Public Procurement standards - Section 508, EN 301-549 - and other leading Standards Development Organizations;
  • Define and promote the accessibility profession through networking, education and certification in order to enable and mainstream the creation of accessible products, content and services.


Learn more about the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and how it defines and promotes the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Digital Age. Explore the work of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the body of independent experts which monitors implementation of the Convention by the States Parties. The Committee meets at the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.