Inclusiveness has become an important part of organizations around the world. There has been a strong focus on racial and gender issues but other groups are often overlooked.

In particular, people who have physical or mental disabilities are among the groups often not considered when discussing inclusion plans. If we are going to live in a world where everyone is equal, then people of all types need the same access to information.

That’s where technology comes into play because it can create ways for disabled people to perform many tasks they might find difficult. In particular, advanced communications can help disseminated information in a variety of different ways. Most people will use traditional voice communications, but what about those who can’t? For the hearing-disabled, technology can help make things better. For example, sign language chatbots can be used to give people with hearing disabilities access to key services.

This is the approach Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology took recently to deliver emergency services and COVID-19-related information to people who are hearing-impaired. MCIT partnered with the United Nations Development Programme and communications services provider Avaya to create a virtual chatbot accessible via the Tamkeen website or via a mobile app called WASEL, currently available on Android devices and soon Apple devices. The term “wasel” means connected in Arabic, and both the app and website act as a web-based interface to a specially designed contact center for the deaf. 

The new chatbot expands the capabilities of WASEL, which launched late last year. Designed as a way to ensure those with hearing impairments could access emergency services — through sign language delivered over video calls — its capabilities have now been extended to help with COVID-19 response efforts among the hard of hearing. 

The chatbot is powered by artificial intelligence that interprets sign-language and interacts with users. It was initially created to give Egypt’s 7 million hearing-impaired citizens access to emergency services and first responders. COVID-19 response was later added as another service, which starts with a chatbot that takes users through a symptoms questionnaire and links them to a contact center if needed. This video posted by the UNDP is in Arabic but shows a citizen contacting the center and communicating with the agency using sign language.

A person with hearing disabilities can call a contact center from the app with single click. The contact center is staffed with agents who relay requests to police, ambulance services and fire departments based the caller’s sign language dialogue.

On the agent side, there’s a widget that starts a call using Avaya’s contact-center solution, Oceana, for assisted chat. Agents with camera-enabled PCs launch a window within the Oceana interface to video chat with WASEL users.

Hearing-impaired individuals had difficulty accessing COVID-19 information at the start of the pandemic, so adding COVID-19 emergency services to the contact center service was the logical next step. The chatbot has helped MCIT reduce the workload on call center agents in sectors like healthcare, banking, education and government — all of which saw a spike in service requests from concerned citizens during the COVID-19 crisis.

The contact center and the WASEL app are part of a larger effort to reach all members of society and provide them with technical support. Beyond COVID-19 and emergency response, the service will expand in the future to include additional features like banking and general government services.

This is just one example of how AI-based information and communication technologies can serve different groups, including people with disabilities. Any organization or government agency can create similar chatbots by embedding Avaya’s application programming interfaces into their apps or web pages.

The world is comprised of a wide range of different kinds of people, many of whom are challenged in accessing information. Chief information officers and business leaders need to think of how to use technology to broaden their organizations inclusiveness plans. The focus on inclusivity is stronger than ever and it’s incumbent upon everyone to ensure people are not being discriminated against.

Technology has evolved greatly over the past few years and it’s important we use all of this AI-based innovation to make the world a better place for everyone.

Image: Oliver Peters/Pixabay