Centre Seeks Better Access To Information For Persons With Disabilities

Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has appealed to the federal government, throug ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), to ensure that their websites and digital platforms comply with accessibility standards, enabling persons with disabilities (PWDs) to access public information and services without barriers.

The call was made at a stakeholders’ validation meeting organised by CITAD to review findings from an assessment of about 150 government websites and portals on their accessibility to persons with disabilities.

At the meeting in Abuja, the coordinator of Persons with Disabilities at CITAD, Hamza Aminu, said the assessment revealed several challenges confronting persons with disabilities when accessing government digital platforms.

Aminu said visually impaired persons using screen readers often encountered difficulties because some website content was incompatible with assistive technologies.

He added that persons with albinism and those with low vision also faced challenges caused by poor colour contrast and inappropriate text presentation on some government websites.

According to him, such barriers could prevent persons with disabilities from accessing important government information and benefitting from available opportunities.

He said, “Those with visual impairments find it difficult to access some content that is not screen-reader compatible.

“People with albinism who have challenges with their sight or those with low vision also find it difficult when it comes to colour contrast. The combination of colours on some websites makes it challenging for them to access the content.”

Aminu urged government agencies to work closely with organisations of persons with disabilities and ICT-focused organisations to strengthen their personnel’s capacity to develop accessible digital content.

He said CITAD would embark on advocacy visits to relevant government agencies and MDAs following the validation exercise.

He added that the comprehensive report would be presented to the affected agencies to enable them to take corrective measures and bring their websites and portals into compliance with identified accessibility standards.

The initiative, according to the organisers, aims to promote digital inclusion and ensure that government services delivered through online platforms are accessible to all citizens, including persons with disabilities.

Similarly, a System and Data Analyst with CITAD, Yusuf Babagana, said the exercise aimed to validate the organisation’s research findings with relevant stakeholders before the publication of a comprehensive report.

Babagana said stakeholders were given the opportunity to scrutinise the findings, make corrections and provide explanations that could lead to updates to the research.

He said CITAD was particularly concerned about digital inclusion and about preventing persons with disabilities from being excluded from government services due to inaccessible websites.

He said, “The main theme of this project is auditing websites that governments have, so that we can see whether they are accessible to the layman and to people with disabilities, like visually impaired people.

“Had it been that the website was accessible, the individual with visual impairment would have been able to do it himself.”

He explained that inaccessible government portals could prevent persons with disabilities from independently accessing public services, updating their information and benefiting from government programmes.