A blind user a braille terminal. Photo: Sigmund/Unsplash
To cement accessibility as a central goal of progression, seeing accessibility as an intelligent global audience is helping to drive the precept of inclusion in Internet accessibility.
“Full and effective participation and inclusion in society” is one of the general principles underpinning the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its articles.
The 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development involve particular references to persons with disabilities (Sustainable Development Goal 4, SDG 8, SDG 10, SDG 11 and SDG 17), linking them to the CRPD.
The internet is a must-have tool for accessing and delivering data and services, especially during a global pandemic. Lack of online data on how to avoid transmission of the virus by following guidelines, etc. It can have fatal consequences for other people with disabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities and other people with disabilities are disproportionately affected. Read the UN’s inclusive response to COVID-19.
Following the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 13 December 2006 (resolution A/RES/61/106), the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to progressively implement criteria and standards for the accessibility of services and the United Nations system.
An implementation group, composed of members of the Web Services Section of the Global Communications Directorate (DGC), has these standards ready to assist all departments and offices in the production of content available on the Internet. See list of resolutions and reports of the General Assembly.
The Department of Global Communications has developed this website to assist United Nations formula content delivery offices in implementing Internet accessibility standards. Content providers, designers and developers will find rules for comparing and/or accessibility of their website.
The remediation features and techniques detailed in this adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative (W3C WAI), Version 2. 1, Level AA.
These accessibility functionalities obtain advantages for users with transient or long-term disabilities, to which are added the blind or visually impaired, with reduced mobility, with hearing impairment, neurodiversity, and those who require changes due to characteristics related to aging or restrictive environments. .
We suggest that you ensure that it meets the accessibility criteria while it is still in development, as this is a prerequisite for deploying it in production.
Remember, accessibility isn’t a project, it’s a process!
Organized into 4 guiding principles: perceptible, usable, understandable and physically powerful (FOR), and referenced on this website, they provide the basis for addressing Internet accessibility.