Laws, Guidelines, Policies and Regulations

According to a Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) report on the progress of ICT accessibility^[8], 93% of the participating countries do not involve organizations who work in the field of e-accessibility during the development life cycle of laws and policies. The report clearly shows a low (42%) average of general legal and regulatory compliance with CRPD ICT accessibility and a very low (21%) capacity for Implementation and an average of (41%) implementation and impact^[9]. Furthermore, the report asserts that 69% of countries have general regulatory framework while 27% have policies that cover accessibility for a specific ICT products or services. Similarly, 16% of the countries have clear policies to promote accessible and assistive technologies. Table 1 below shows levels of implementation of laws, regulations and policies related to accessibility in ICT and assistive technologies. The report confirms that most countries have partial implementation of laws or regulations regarding most disabilities. Noticeably, 69% have public procurement policy for promoting accessible ICTs.

Table 1. Laws, regulations and Policies Levels of Implementation

Existing Laws, regulations and Policies?	Not Implemented	Partially Implemented	Fully Implemented
Laws/Policies supporting the participation of Disability Organizations in regulation development	34%	63%	2%
Accessible ICT Procurement policy	69%	30%	0%
Existing services and policies for Assistive Technology (Vision and Hearing impaired)	32%	66%	1%
Have policies for ATs and Services by Type of Disability: Cognitive?	42%	57%	1%
Existing services and policies for Assistive Technology ( Physical and Mobility Impairment)	33%	65%	1%
Using Braille or sign language in official public communication	53%	46%	0%

Source: G3ict report on the progress of ICT accessibility 2017

https://g3ict.org/publication/2016-crpd-ict-accessibility-progress-report

The report also indicates that 78% of the countries have a dedicated government body for persons with disabilities but only 20% of those institutions get any findings to support digital accessibility.

The creation of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in 2008 by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an important and direct result of the CRPD. These guidelines have the greatest influence on Web accessibility and became the reference guideline for other International standards, guidelines, policies, or regulations in the context of Web accessibility for disabled persons. The status of e-accessibility for persons with disabilities is greatly influenced not only by the significance of both article 9 and the WCAG but also with the commitment by the vast majority of countries. Despite some low indicators in many world regions, this sentiment of momentum was echoed in the UN report on accessibility ^[10] in which 64% of countries in the Americas, 95% in Europe, 48% in Africa, and 71% in Oceania have accessibility standards or guidelines. The report also claims that as a direct result of reluctance in adopting or enforcing sound standards or guidelines, 61% of government websites are inaccessible.