DISABLED-FRIENDLY DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM – SOCIAL ISSUE
News: Shaping a more disabled-friendly digital
ecosystem
What's in the news?
● As
per estimation in Census 2011, 2.21% of
India’s population is disabled. This is a gross under estimation.
● According
to the World Health Organization, about 16% of the global population is
disabled. If it is applied to the Indian context, there are at least 192
million disabled people.
Key takeaways:
● India
had 750 million Internet/smartphone users in 2020.
● Applying
the 16% figure here, means roughly 12
crore Internet users with disabilities.
Status of Accessibility of Digital Space:
● A
report evaluates the accessibility of 10 of the most widely used apps in India,
across five sectors. These sectors were chosen based on broad stakeholder
consultation with people with disabilities.
● Based
on the number of violations, the level of accessibility of the apps was categorized
as “high”, “medium” and “low”.
● The
report found that four apps ranked low, five were in the medium category.
Government Measures:
1. Guidelines for Indian Government Websites:
● The
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has developed guidelines for making government websites
accessible to people with disabilities.
● The
guidelines cover various aspects of website
design and development, such as colour contrast, keyboard accessibility,
and assistive technology compatibility.
2. Accessible India Campaign/Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan:
● The
Campaign was launched by the Government in 2015 to make public spaces, including government buildings, transportation, and
information and communication technologies (ICT), more accessible to people
with disabilities.
3. Bharat Interconnectivity Limited (BIL):
● BIL
is a subsidiary of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) that provides accessible internet and telecom services to
people with disabilities.
● It
offers services such as audiobooks, sign
language interpretation, and accessible websites and mobile applications.
4. National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH):
● NISH
is an autonomous institute under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with
Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
● It
provides training and research in the
field of speech and hearing disabilities and also offers services like
audiobooks and accessible software.
5. Making assistive technology more affordable and
accessible:
● The
government has also taken steps to make assistive technology more affordable
and accessible to people with disabilities.
● For
example: The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities provides
financial assistance to purchase assistive devices and the Assistive Technology
Industry Association (ATIA) has been established to promote research and development of assistive technology.
Measures to Improve the Accessibility of Digital
Services:
1. Promoting education and awareness:
● Steps
must be taken to raise awareness about the needs and capabilities of people
with disabilities.
● This
could include providing training to developers and designers on how to create
accessible digital products and services.
2. Enforcing web accessibility standards:
● The
government should ensure that all websites and mobile applications comply with
web accessibility standards such as the Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
● This
will make it easier for people with disabilities to access digital services.
3. Encouraging inclusive design:
● Designing
products and services that are accessible to all users, including those with
disabilities, should be an essential part of the design process.
● Companies
and developers should be encouraged to incorporate inclusive design principles
into their products from the beginning.
4. Conducting regular accessibility audits:
● Regular
accessibility audits should be conducted to ensure that digital products and
services are accessible to people with disabilities.
● This
can help identify barriers and areas of improvement.
WAY FORWARD:
● There
is a need to work with these service
providers. They need help to design practices and processes that will not
only improve app accessibility but also educate their stakeholders about
accessibility and people with disabilities.
● This
will also help change attitudes of the
business community around disability in the country. They will move away
from a charity approach to a rights-based and investment outlook.
● Technology
is used to automate a large number of accessibility tests, and combine that
with in-depth manual testing to provide comprehensive accessibility feedback to
developers.
● AI
can help to further automate the accessibility testing process. Feedback from users with disabilities
can now be analysed at scale to provide actionable insights to developers and
companies.
● Everything
digital must be accessible to everyone. This starts with incorporating the principles of accessibility and inclusive
design into every digital offering from inception.
India
needs to be truly accessible for all people with disabilities. Organisations, companies, civil society,
the government and the courts must work upon it to make it a truly inclusive
society.