But government's draft National Policy for Electronic Accessibility
offers some hope
Last month, Deepak Kumar (name changed on request), a visually-impaired
businessman, logged on to check out for some information on the
newly-created Rajya Sabha website.
Given the government's assurance this February that at least 50
important government websites would be made disabled-friendly and
accessible, he should have faced no problems. However, there were
accessibility problems galore.
For instance, there were inappropriate alternate texts, no means to
control the moving content, missing form labels, and code (XHTML) that
did not match the world wide web consortium (W3C) specifications - all
in violation of guidelines provided by the Indian government itself.
Moreover, links leading to external websites existed but users were not
informed about the same in advance, thus creating more problems for
disabled people. The very title for the homepage of the website "Rajya
Sabha - Parliament of India" failed to describe that it is the homepage.
CHECKLIST TO BE DISABLED-FRIENDLY...
* Include an 'ALT' attribute for all images and image map hotspots
* Users should be able to tell where links are taking them without
having to read the surrounding text
* Text links are distinguished from regular text in a way that is
consistent, and does not rely solely on colour
* Avoid using frames in web pages
* Provide accessible alternatives for interactive and multimedia content
The world over, as new websites are created, countries like the US, the
UK, Canada and Australia have enacted legislation to make it mandatory
for creators of web pages to follow the minimum standards for
accessibility adopted by
those countries. Access to information is mandated by the United Nations
Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that India
has ratified and also by the Disability Act, 1995.
Yet, for the estimated 60 million disabled people like Kumar in India,
these are major hurdles to be crossed. For one, the estimated 5,000
government sites and portals (with the exception of a couple of sites
like india.gov.in and bharat.gov.in) are not fully accessible to them.
This, of course, does not include the thousands of websites run by
Indian companies which do not comply with Web Access Guidelines (WCAG
2.0).
National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP)
Director Javed Abidi points out that even the Common Admission Test
(CAT) for entry to the premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) -
which will be a computer-based test this year - "...completely ignores
the interests of students with disabilities, who will face a great deal
of difficulty appearing for it. From paper to online exams, disabled
people will still be dependent on humans rather than technology."
The Indian government, though, appears to be finally waking up to these
problems, admits Abidi. India's draft National Policy on Electronic
Accessibility (NPEA) is a case in point. It acknowledges that though the
electronic age can benefit persons with disabilities, persons with
disabilities are being excluded and thereby facing discrimination.
For example, a person with visual impairment can't access an ATM; a
person with hearing impairment can't enjoy TV programmes; and physically
challenged people cannot access kiosks at railway stations.
The Department of Information Technology, too, convened a meeting late
last month to discuss the draft NPEA, as prepared by the NCPEDP along
with BarrierBreak Technologies. Once the core group approves the final
draft, it will be put up for comments on the internet for a month, after
which the final draft policy would be submitted to the government for
approval.
The objective of the NPEA is to provide a person with disabilities equal
access to electronic and information and communication technology and
services, according to BarrierBreak Technologies Managing Director
Shilpi Kapoor.
"We were pressurising the government earlier this year to adopt WCAG 2.0
for making all Indian websites accessible to people with visual
impairment. We were inspired by the prompt response from the Ministry of
IT, when it made a declaration making all important government websites
disabled-friendly. This has motivated us to expand our horizons beyond
web accessibility, and we are now looking at the entire domain of
electronics and ICT to enrich the lives of persons with different forms
of disabilities," adds Abidi.
The draft policy emphasises on a 'universal design' which will not
exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with
disabilities.
The reason, explains Abidi, is that hardware such as mobile phones can
be used for communication, as well as to access the information highway.
Similarly, the classification for software is no longer as simple as
desktop-based or web-based application.
Software applications can be used on desktops, kiosks, mobiles and the
web. Due to this convergence in technology, the NPEA segregates
electronics into Hardware, User Interface and Content.
Content, too, is available in various formats, be it in the form of
textbooks at school or in the form of support document for filling up an
application form.
Access to content and information is important. However, persons with
disabilities face different barriers in accessing the information
available in print, electronic format and audio, as well as video.
For instance, persons with visual disabilities find it difficult to
access information from a printed textbook or newspapers.
Persons with visual disabilities require the text books or newspapers to
be made available to them in accessible formats, such as Braille, large
print, digital talking books and e-text to help them read the
information.
Similarly, for a person with hearing impairment, content provided in
audio or for a visually impaired, content provided in audio-video needs
to be provided in an accessible format such as captioning and audio
description.
In addition, information in India is available to the public in several
regional languages and it is essential to make the information available
in accessible formats. By adherence to web accessibility standards,
these problems can be avoided, Kapoor points out.
Source:
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/indian-websites-flout-guidel
ines-fordisabled/369762/
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