Digital accessibility: A must for inclusion

Ubiquitous digital access is seen as a pre-requisite for inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth highlighted by G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, United Nations Global Digital Compact, and Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development; also under Digital India Programme, National Digital Communications Policy, National Broadband Mission and even state-level policies.

After all, digital transformation is underway everywhere – healthcare to hospitality; education to entertainment; communication to commerce; governance to gaming.

What about Persons with Disability (PwD)?

While digital access is necessary, it may be inaccessible for persons with disability (Divyangjan) – physical, neurological or developmental; temporary or permanent. The impairment can impact motor movement or mental faculties as well as in terms of intellectual or sensory perception.

Examples include but are not limited to limitations in vision, movement, speech or hearing as well as dyslexia, autism, cerebral palsy, etc. Every disability creates challenges or barriers, but multiple disabilities have a compounding impact. 

Extent of disability in India?

According to the Government of India’s Office of Chief Commissioner for PwD, 2.21% of India’s total population as per the 2011 census was disabled, implying that on average, one out of 45 Indians was disabled. However, one out of every 12 households had at least one disabled person!

Moreover, such data likely did not include persons with temporary disability caused by a fracture, hospitalization or even post-surgery. 

Policy landscape for PwD?

Notwithstanding the fundamental rights to equality, life and liberty enshrined within the constitution, inequalities of different kinds continue to persist across various axes such as gender, income, caste, education and even disability. Affirmative action and positive discrimination have been used to address such inequalities through various laws, programmes and schemes.

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 came 14 years after the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYPD) observed in 1981.

Besides the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities in 2006, various schemes for scholarships, reservation, healthcare and travel concessions debuted. Braille publications have been delivered free of charge by the postal department for decades.

The underlying objective has been to ensure equal opportunity, protection of rights and full participation of PwD and provide them the requisite assistive devices and services based on the principle of ‘Universal Design’ so that they can lead a healthy and productive life with dignity within an inclusive society. 

Digital empowerment and inclusion of PwD?

Initiated around 2005, the Union government’s project to set up 100 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) vocational training centres across the country did open job opportunities for PwD with IT skills. However, it could not address the monumental challenge of access, affordability, usage and adoption of digital devices and services by PwD at large.

Recognizing the need to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disabilities as well as to facilitate equal access to electronics and ICT, on 3 October 2013, the Union Cabinet approved the ‘National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility’ (NPUEA), following a multistakeholder consultation process. In addition to the Constitution, the 1995 law and the 2006 national policy, it also referred to multilateral proclamations including the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by India on 1 October 2007. 

I had co-drafted the NUEPA, 2013 but admittedly, it remained largely persuasive in nature.

What transpired over 2013-2023?

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPwD Act) replacing the 1995 law was a major landmark in India. According to the Section 2 (ze), “universal design” means the design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design and shall apply to assistive devices including advanced technologies for particular group of persons with disabilities.

While the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities administers it, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) may facilitate implementation of Section 42 that calls upon the central and state governments to ensure—Availability of all digital content in accessible format; Access to electronic media for PwD via audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning; and, Universal design for electronic goods and equipment. 

Further, theSection 46 of RPwD Act mandates that everyone, whether Government or private should ensure accessibility within two years from the date of publication of the rules. Though the rules had been notified in 2017, the Bureau of Indian Standards approved IS-17802 for ‘Accessibility for the ICT Products and Services’ spanning ‘Requirements’ and ‘Determination of Conformance’, respectively in 2021 and 2022. 

It has also been a decade since adoption of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)-administered Marrakesh Treaty in 2013. It eases the production and international transfer of specially-adapted books for people with blindness or visual impairments. India had ratified it in 2014 and it came into force effective 30 September 2016.

Does ‘Universal Design’ benefits only PwD?

One-time password (OTP) and captcha are used to enhance security. While Gen Z digital natives often finish faster than they wink, an elderly person with some motor difficulty or poor vision may be frustrated by repeated incidents of ‘time-out’ or simply locked out! 

If a person with normal vision may be confused between the letter ‘O’ and the number ‘zero’ in a captcha, or, between ‘the letter l’ (lowercase of ‘L’ ) and the number ‘1’ (one) just think of the challenges for a person with dyslexia! Remember Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Taare Zameen Par’? Would it not help if the duration for such actions could be calibrated to users’ respective situation and the captcha is in dyslexia-friendly font rather than a confusing ‘eye vision test’?

Examples abound:

• A keyboard with larger keys not only enhances visibility, it also helps people with the ‘fat finger’ challenge. 
• Use of ‘Reverse contrast’ makes reading of text easier for everyone, reduces the exposure to ‘blue light’ for everyone and yes, is relatively less taxing on the battery. 
• A ramp may help a person on a wheelchair or a stretcher but also those using crutches or sticks. 

How do you read Digital Books?

While the idea of an eReader was first propounded way back in 1930 and many prototypes did debut from time to time, it was in the 80s that screen readers became commercially available but often used proprietary formats thereby limiting choice of publications rather limited. 

Considering that Braille publications were voluminous, heavy, and costly, the technical standard called EPUB was developed to enhance and ease access to publications for people with visual challenges. However, its wide-spread adoption in screen reading software across popular operating systems for mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and laptops benefited everyone—even those with normal vision. In 2022, the leading global vendor of e-book readers incorporated EPUB replacing its own propriety file format!

The way forward?

The onus is now on all the stakeholders to ensure commitment to compliance to the tenets of universal design and accessibility through action in letter and spirit of the extant laws and policies by 2024. This must include but not be limited to implementation of relevant standards across the spectrum of digital products and services, websites, contents, and applications. 

Time to ‘Walk the Talk’!

The article has been written by Deepak Maheshwari. He is a public policy practitioner and had co-drafted the National Policy on Universal Electronics Accessibility