Tech & People with Disabilities in India: A Few Baby Steps and a Long Way to Go

When I was asked to write a short feature on how technology has shaped the lives of people with disabilities in India, I warned the editors that being an activist it would be far from 'celebratorial'. As I sit down to write I realise that the picture may not be all rosy and happy, but it is not completely cheerless. I am what most people call technologically challenged. So, therefore I will not pretend to know the jargons and mechanisms behind the technological advances which have impacted the lives of people with disabilities. What I can tell you are lived examples: changes, or in some cases the absence of it, on the ground, in the lives of common people.

Not so long back, people with visual impairment were denied the right to the printed word. Braille books were few and not available everywhere. Reading would mean coaxing your family or friends to read out for you. Today, we see visually impaired people not only reading books but newspapers, magazines and surfing the internet on their own. Thanks to digital books, speech softwares and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which mandate constructing websites in a manner which makes them accessible to a person with visual impairment.

The Ministry of Information Technology has also come out with Guidelines for Indian Government Websites which mandates WCAG compliance.

Communication is one big challenge for people with hearing impairment. Imagine getting in touch with a deaf family member or friend once they are out of the house or vice — versa. Now, with cell phones and texting, deaf people are no longer forced to go incommunicado. And with 3G technology, you can actually see deaf people signing away on video calls. That's how technology has shaped lives!

The lives of people with severe disabilities, who were/are thought to be beyond hope, have seen a silver lining through technology. People who are non-verbal can communicate with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). The world of AAC is vast, exciting, interesting and a yet unchartered area in India. But whatever little research and development has happened has shown us that they have life changing impact.

Technology has made this world more liveable, more accessible and less discriminatory for disadvantaged people like those with disabilities. A poetic me would say, it is a great leveller. Then why the pessimism that I started with?

As I speak, less than 0.5% of the printed material is available to the print impaired. Websites are still getting constructed day in and day out that are not compliant with WCAG, even Government of India websites. Visually impaired people even now cannot book railway tickets online or fill up their Income Tax returns or a passport form. All the mundane routine things we do online, even me as a wheelchair user, and take so much for granted are inaccessible to a person with visual impairment.

The same companies who make websites for foreign clients adhere religiously to WCAG as laws abroad are strict. But when it comes to building Indian websites, they happily cut corners. If that is not hypocrisy then I don't know what is.

3G technology may be all the rage but how many people can afford the services which are extremely costly. Let's not talk about the 10-20% urban population, let's talk about the average disabled Indian in the poorest areas.

The less we talk about AAC the better. Most of the effective technology has to be imported and therefore has a cost to it. And sometimes, these are not suited in the Indian context. The locally available devices are either so sub-standard that you would not wish it upon your enemy or are just not there. Research, if at all, is very, very minimal in this particular field.

Life changing technology has to be subsidised and more research needs to go into their development. This is not just for the Government to do but also the private players, who otherwise bask in the glory of their 'Corporate Social Responsibility' achievements.

India maybe a technology superpower, but the underbelly is something that we overlook. As we celebrate the tremendous change that technology has brought to our lives, and rightly so, let's also spare a thought for the millions who are still deprived of it.