Are we really making India digitally accessible for all, including the differently abled?

An uproar of joy was experienced on 2nd of July, 2015 when our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched the Digital India Campaign to make Government services a virtual-reality for the citizens of India. While this initiative was no doubt a transforming one, it hasn’t really accounted for the people with special needs. The state of affairs even after two years is worrisome. See the condition of the banking sector, for instance. Till date, there have been unanimous complaints by differently abled people of being discriminated and denied availing the banking services which ironically is “accessible” to all. The RBI had issued a guideline regarding the same, back in 2011 of making it mandatory for banks to install talking ATMs with Braille keypads. But this has been far from being implemented since not even one-third of the banks have actually paid heed to it. The banks today don’t even have the provision of Braille documents for the differently abled to open a bank account even after having the guidelines in place, let alone providing the promised amenities of ramps in ATMs for the physically challenged, magnifying glasses for the people with low vision or even the functional e-services that should be accessible to all. With such issues at hand, we need to redirect our priorities and ensure having accessibility enforced throughout.

Feeling pity for the ones with special needs is understandable, but again, what are we actually doing in order to bring a change in their lives in this ever “transforming digital world”? These people have in fact, through their own hard work and mettle, made a standing for themselves in the society. One of the most inspiring examples can be seen in organizations like ours, at QA InfoTech, where they are working for making products accessible to other people with special needs. With their grit of doing day-to-day tasks with ease and sometimes possessing more knowledge than the abled, they work with dexterity and finesse. Even so, there is a lack of infrastructure and the readiness to implement this initiative in its purest sense. With mandates like Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 in place, wherein India follows the Level A compliance for Indian Government Web sites, the implementation is next to zilch when it comes to making everything accessible. But a change needs to be sought after. We truly believe that the government needs to implement a legislation in the interest of the differently abled, directing the organizations working in the digital domain to ensure that their products are accessible. The accessibility of all consumer websites needs to be ensured. For this, the organizations should be mandated to get their digital initiatives tested for accessibility by organizations such as QA InfoTech which engages differently abled people to test and certify these digital initiatives for accessibility. By providing compliance certificates to such sectors, we can ensure that they adhere to the given mandates since we, as independent QA vendors, have already pioneered in providing realistic user feedback by engaging differently abled people in our organization.

The people with special needs are capable enough of helping themselves and are proving this each and every day, such as their expertise in the testing domain for instance. But what they do require is, is their basic fundamental right to not get discriminated on the grounds of their disability or mental health. Let’s ensure that we work towards bringing a change and spark a stir in the functioning of the Government to enforce the set regulations, in order to safeguard the interests of the differently abled.