Lok Sabha Question No. 3559 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-22
Subject: Websites and Applications accessible to Differently Abled People
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: S. Jothimani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3559

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 22.03.2023

## WEBSITES AND APPLICATIONS ACCESSIBLE TO DIFFERENTLY ABLED PEOPLE

## 3559.   MS. S. JOTHIMANI:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  any  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  that  all  its  websites  and applications are accessible to differently-abled people;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the details of funds released and utilized in this regard during the last five years;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted an audit or assessment of its websites to ensure that they are accessible and easy to use for differently-abled people, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  encourage  and  support  private  corporations  and  website developers to make their digital offerings accessible to differently-abled people; and
- (e) the    steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  promote  research  and  development  for  the  purpose  of creating innovative digital accessibility solutions for differently-abled people?

## ANSWER

## MINISTRY OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a):  A  number  of  steps  have  been  taken  to  make  websites  and  applications  accessible  to  differently abled persons. These include the following:

- (i) 95 websites of Central Government Ministries and Departments have been made accessible by the Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY)  under  its  Content  Management Framework project.
- (ii) The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has informed that it has made 676 websites of various States and Union territories accessible under its Accessible India Campaign, in coordination with ERNET, an autonomous scientific society under MeitY.
- (iii) MeitY  along  with  BIS  has  published  the  Indian  Accessibility  Standard  for  ICT  IS  17802  that comprises of two parts namely:
- a. Part 1 - Requirements; notified on 24th December 2021
- b. Part 2 - Determination of Conformance; notified on 4th May 2022

(b): During the last five years MeitY has initiated a project named Content Management framework for making  the  Central  Government  websites  accessible,  wherein  a  fund  of  Rs.15.82  crore  has  been released and utilized.

(c):  The  Standardization  Testing  and  Quality  Certification  Directorate  (STQC)  audits  and  certifies compliance of websites  of Indian Government Websites, which include guidelines for making websites accessible and easy to use for differently abled persons.

(d):  The  National  Informatics  Centre  Services  Incorporated  has  empanelled  agencies  for  testing  and development of accessible websites. In addition the, Ministry of Electronics and IT  has also sent letters to private organizations and industry associations such as NASSCOM, Broadband India Forum, India Cellular  &  Electronics  Association,  Manufacturers  Association  for  Information  Technology  and Cellular  Operators  Association  of  India,  to  encourage  and  support  private  corporations  and  website developers to make their websites and applications accessible to differently abled people.

(e): An Integrated browser-based tool with Text-to-Speech and Text-to-Braille System that provides a verbal description of all events of a web page, including links, buttons, check box, text etc, which are keyboard-event-driven,  and  provides  'keyboard  only'  accessibility  using  a  minimal  set  of  keys,  has been  developed  under  a  research and  development  initiative focused  for persons with visual impairment.

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