The Case of E-accessibility- Qatar

Two Arab countries were ranked among the top ten accessible countries in the world in 2016. Both countries, Qatar and Oman, have embraced the general issue of accessibility for people with special needs not only to public places and services, but also to information and e-services. They developed their own regulations and legislations that are in line with international standards, thus becoming an example to be emulated in the issue of accessibility.

While Qatar was ranked 5th in 2016, it leaped to first place in 2020 according to the G3ict ranking of e-accessibility (DARE index 2020). As part of the government commitment to the overall initiative for Accessible Qatar; e-accessibility has received great attention from government organizations and from the private sector. This is reflected on official government websites that implemented the minimum needed accessibility function such as text resize. For example, the Government Communications Office (GCO)^[58] has an accessibility page explaining the web accessibility design priorities and the adopted guidelines.

The Supreme Council of Information & Communication Technology “ictQATAR” in 2011, issued "Qatar’s e-Accessibility Policy ^[59] "based on Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016 ^[60] which emphasized on the role of ICT as an important enabler for inclusion of persons with disabilities, mainly children and elderly people. It identified a number of barriers to accessible ICT ecosystem in Qatar and called upon all stakeholders to reduce these barriers in 5 years. These technical barriers include inadequate and inaccessible Arabic websites and Arabic content since many Assistive Technologies do no support Arabic such as the case in screen readers, translators or text-to-voice convertors. Likewise, inaccessible telecom services and their underlying technologies for persons with disabilities, and the physically inaccessible kiosks and automated bank tellers have great effect on e-service suitability and accessibility.

As a result, many programs and initiatives addressed the issue of e-accessibility and advanced Qatar to its current ranking. As an example, Mada ^[61], the center for the inclusion of people with disability was founded in 2010, is considered as the world’s center of excellence for Arabic e-accessibility. Mada has built three major components to help not only people with disabilities, but their families, schools and the community at large. The Mada Assistive Technology portal offers people with disabilities a wide range of information about Assistive Technology, in both Arabic and English. The Mada Innovation Program is a regional incentive to encourage innovation in finding Arabic accessibility solutions to overcome some of the challenges facing persons with disabilities in the region. The third component is a digital accessibility consulting services and a platform to provide accreditation and compliance testing for different platforms including websites, mobile phones, kiosks and public sites in accordance with international standards.

Part of corporate responsibility, Saso, the international integrated chemicals and energy company, developed, with local Qatari business and International partners, accessible Qatar initiative ^[62] ,to raise societal awareness of the importance of persons with disabilities inclusion and to promote social acceptance. It implemented a smart phone application and website to promote understandings through sport events, cultural activities, art and education.