Shaping a more disabled-friendly digital ecosystem

Context: 

The Indian government estimates that only 2.21% of the population is disabled, but the World Health Organization suggests that the figure is closer to 16%, which would mean at least 192 million disabled people in India. 

• With the increasing use of digital technology in daily life, it is essential to make apps and websites accessible to people with disabilities.

The Need for Accessible Digital Infrastructure:

Apps and an Evaluation:

• Aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, we get habitual to use apps to order groceries, food, medicines, in dating, socialising, entertainment and education. 
• A group of disability advocates and technologists evaluated the accessibility of ten of the most widely used apps in India, across five sectors. 
• They used a set of globally recognized parameters to determine how disabled-friendly the apps were.
• The reports was launched by the secretary, Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Government of India which found that four out of the 10 apps ranked low, while five were in the medium category. 

The project has two phases. 

• First phase: It objectively assessed the digital accessibility of the apps.
• Second phase: To work with these service providers and help them design practices and processes that will not only improve app accessibility but also educate their stakeholders about accessibility and people with disabilities.

Use of AI and algorithms:

• AI can help to further automate the accessibility testing process.
• There have been positive developments on the need for accessibility across sectors.

Way Forward:

• The goal of creating a digital ecosystem that is friendly to people with disabilities requires the belief that all digital products should be accessible to everyone.
• To achieve this goal, accessibility and inclusive design principles must be integrated into the development of all digital offerings from the very beginning.

News Source: The Hindu