Literacy is about more than reading and writing - it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. Literacy…finds its place in our lives alongside other ways of communicating. Indeed, literacy itself takes many forms: on paper, on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Those who use literacy take it for granted - but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of literacy as freedom.
UNESCO, Statement for the United Nations Literacy Decade 2003 - 2012