The DARE Index includes 3 categories of variables in each participant country: country commitments (legal, regulatory, policies and programs), country capacity to implement (organization, processes, resources) and actual digital accessibility outcomes for persons with disabilities in ten areas of products and services.

Following, we summarize its results.

1. Country Commitments

These results show the considerable impact of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on the progress of countries legislations, policies and regulations. While a minority of countries had a general legislation protecting the rights of Persons with Disabilities prior to 2006, today 84% of the countries have legislation in this matter. Similarly, legal definitions such as “Reasonable Accommodation”, which existed in the legislation of 5 countries prior to the CRPD launch, is now present in almost two-third of the countries surveyed.
Country commitment     Global Average % of countries with Law/Regulation/Policy in Place
CRPD Ratification     93%
General law protecting the Rights of Persons with Disabilities     84%
Reasonable Accommodation Definition     63%
Definition of accessibility includes ICTs     49%
Universal Service Obligation includes People with Disabilities     35%
Country Commitments Global Average      65%

49% of countries have formally included Accessibility of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their definition of accessibility requirements compared to a handful when the CRPD was launched in 2006.

2. Country Capacity to Implement Digital Accessibility
Country Capacity to Implement     Global Average of Countries with Implementation Resources and Processes
Government Agency for Persons with Disabilities     84%
Government Agency for ICT     99%
Process to involve Persons with Disabilities in Policy Making on ICT Accessibility     23%
Participation in Standard Development Organizations     40%
ICT Accessibility Courses Available at Major Universities in the Country     37%
Country Capacity to Implement Global Progress Average     57%

It is disappointing to see the lack of involvement of persons with disabilities in the development of digital accessibility policies and programs. Without their involvement, the policies and programs created to address their needs are likely to fail and be discontinued.

Regarding ICT Accessibility Courses, just 37% of the countries have those available. This means that students in 63% of the countries graduate in computer sciences or related disciplines without knowledge of ICT accessibility. Several organizations are trying to close this gap, such as TeachAccess, which develops a college level accessibility curriculum, or the accessible AMAC MOOC in the United States. Meanwhile, in Europe, MOOCs have also been launched for university level students and cooperate in matters of curriculum.

For organizations and professionals seeking training and certification in ICT accessibility, G3ict promotes the programs of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.

3. Global levels of implementation by ICT accessibility area
Niveles de implementación y resultados por país     Ninguna política      Políticas sin implementación     Nivel mínimo     Nivel parcial     Nivel importante     Nivel completo
Web     55%     1%     20%     21%     4%     0%
TV     50%     3%     23%     21%     4%     0%
Mobile     67%     3%     14%     14%     2%     2%
E-Books     58%     2%     25%     15%     0%     0%
Promotion of Internet Usage by Persons with Disabilities     65%     2%     19%     14%     0%     0%
Inclusive ICTs in Education     52%     5%     22%     19%     2%     1%
Enabling ICTs for Employment      59%     3%     22%     13%     3%     1%
E-Government and Smart Cities     61%     4%     14%     17%     4%     0%
Assistive Technology and ICTs for Independent Living     66%     1%     17%     14%     2%     1%
Public Procurement     67%     1%     15%     16%     0%     0%
Global Average all areas of ICTs     60%     2.5%     19.1%     16.4%     2.1%     0.5%

Levels of implementation of ICT accessibility are globally very low, with 38.1% of countries in the process of implementing policies at various stages.  Only 2.5% of the countries report that they have a policy but that it’s not implemented. This seems to indicate that countries do try to implement ICT accessibility policies once they are adopted.

 

Source: “DARE Index 2017-2018: Global Progress by CRPD States Parties.”  G3ict, November 2018, https://g3ict.org/publication/accessibility-policy?submitted=email