(a) whether the differently abled people have difficulties in accessing information from Government websites;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether Union Government has issued guidelines for making websites disabled friendly;
(d) if so, the details thereof and the reaction of the State Governments thereto; and
(e) the action taken by the Government for strict compliance of the said guidelines?
MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) and (b): Some Ministries/Departments/Organizations have made their websites accessible to persons with disabilities and some are in the process of making their websites accessible.
(c), (d) and (e): Yes, Sir. The following steps have been taken by the Government to make Government websites disabled friendly:
(i) Govt. of India had released Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) in February, 2009. The guidelines are based on the internationally accepted standards such as ISO and Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as adapted in the Indian context. The objective of GIGW is to ensure that Indian Government websites conform to the UUU trilogy, i.e. User-centric, User-friendly and Universally accessible.
(ii) Cabinet Secretary has written to the Secretaries of Central Government Ministries and Chief Secretaries of States to make the websites compliant to these guidelines.
(iii) The Cabinet had also approved the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility and the same was notified in October, 2013. The policy recognizes the need to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disabilities and to facilitate equal access to electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
(iv) Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment provides grants-in-aid to Central/State Government offices, Universities, Institutes etc. for making their websites accessible to Persons with Disabilities.