What's the article about?
- It talks about ensuring digital accessibility for the disabled people.
Relevance:
- GS2: Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the population;
- GS3: Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life;
- Essay
Context:
- As per Census 2011, 2.21% of India’s population is disabled. But this data is too old now.
- According to the World Health Organization, about 16% of the global population is disabled.
- In the Indian context, it would mean at least 192 million disabled people.
- While technology has enormous potential to level the playing field for the disabled, it can, at the same time, reinforce the barriers that the disabled otherwise face if it is not designed with their needs in mind.
- India, it is reported, had 750 million Internet/smartphone users in 2020. Applying the 16% figure here, this works out to be roughly 120 million (12 crore) Internet/smartphone users with disabilities.
- Thus we need to take steps to remove this digital disability and ensure digital accessibility to everyone.
What is digital accessibility?
- Digital accessibility is the design of technology products and environments to help people with various disabilities not be impeded or otherwise unable to partake in use of the service, product or function.
Analysis: To make apps more accessible for the disabled following steps can be taken:
- Awareness:
- Making the most popular apps developers aware about the fact that their apps are inaccessible to almost 16% of the global population.
- This will start discussions on digital accessibility, product design and the development process.
- Developing accessibility index:
- The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (a set of globally recognised parameters to determine how disabled friendly an app or website is) can be used to evaluate these apps.
- Based on the number of violations, categorise the level of accessibility of the apps as “high”, “medium” and “low”.
- Integrating accessibility aspect into app development process:
- This will improve design and development practices so that the apps are accessible right from the inception and we do not have to remediate for accessibility. Here we can also use AI.
Way Forward:
- Core to the objective of securing a more disabled friendly digital ecosystem must be the conviction that, “everything digital must be accessible to everyone”.
- This starts with incorporating the principles of accessibility and inclusive design into every digital offering, right from inception.
- India needs to be truly accessible for all people with disabilities. Organisations, companies, civil society, the government and the courts must make this happen.
