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User Experiences of Digital Financial Risks and Harms
The reach and use of digital financial services has risen in recent years without a commensurate increase in digital literacy and access. Through this project, supported by a grant from Google(.)org, we will examine the landscape of potential risks and harms posed by digital financial services, and the disproportionate risk that information asymmetry and barriers to access pose for users, especially certain marginalised communities.
Making Voices Heard
We are happy to announce the launch of our final report on the study ‘Making Voices Heard: Privacy, Inclusivity, and Accessibility of Voice Interfaces in India. The study was undertaken with support from the Mozilla Corporation.
Making Voices Heard: Privacy, Inclusivity, and Accessibility of Voice Interfaces in India
We believe that voice interfaces have the potential to democratise the use of internet by addressing barriers such as accessibility concerns, lack of abilities of reading and writing on digital text interfaces, and lack of options for people to interact with digital devices in their own languages. Through the Making Voice Heard Project supported by Mozilla Corporation, we will examine the current landscape of voice interfaces in India.
Groundbreaking disability rights activist Javed Abidi dies at 53
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) expresses profound regret at the demise of Mr. Javed Abidi, a groundbreaking disability rights activist.
Comments on Guidelines for Indian Government Websites
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India has published the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW). Nirmita Narasimhan on behalf of the Centre for Internet & Society gave comments on GIGW.
Why GST Is A Step Backward For The Disabled
Imposing taxes on assistive devices is unfair. The countdown has begun to the implementation of the GST in India. Over the past month, discussions about the GST have dominated the scene with several groups protesting in strong measure about the impact on their business.
GST - A Barrier to Human Rights for Persons with Disabilities
The Centre of Internet & Society made a submission on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which will be coming into play from July 2017 onwards. In this blog post Nirmita Narasimhan assesses the impact of GST on persons with disabilities.
Comments on the draft Policy on IT Accessibility for People with Disabilities
The Centre for Internet & Society gave inputs on a document on implementing digital accessibility to Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on May 2, 2017.
Mobile Accessibility Practices
Over the past few months the Centre for Internet & Society along with some like minded organizations had been working on framing a feasible accessibility guidelines for mobile apps which they could recommend to the Government of India, since there is no single standard in existence at the moment.
Comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted comments on the draft Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules for the consideration of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Government of India.
Comments on Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities 'Vision Document 2030'
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted comments for the consideration of the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPD) on the Vision Document 2030 brought out earlier this month.
Digital accessibility in the Rights of Persons With Disabilities Act 2016
This post summarizes the provisions for digital accessibility in the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016
The Quest for Education – Persons with Disabilities, Severely Challenged
Education is the fundamental building block of development; it leads to an improved quality of life, employment, social acceptance and inclusion, national development and intellectual growth.
Where Are There So Few Books For The Print-Impaired?
India publishes approximately 90,000 books each year in 24 different languages. We have over 16,000 publishers, and are one of the top nations for English book publishing in the world. Clearly we are a nation which values and fosters a culture of reading and passing on knowledge in different domains ranging from literature, to yoga, language, education, science, fiction and many others.
Mobile Apps Are Excluding Millions Of Indians Who Want To Use Them
If someone were to ask you how many apps you use in a day, you might need to stop and count. You use apps to book cabs, to order groceries, make payments online, buy diapers, connect with friends... the list goes on. In fact apps, are becoming so intrinsic to daily life that without one handy you may have to think twice about how to complete a transaction.
We Tested 18 Government Apps, and Most are not Fully Accessible to the Disabled
When you wake up in the morning, the odds are one of the first things you look at is your phone. You might check WhatsApp, review the news, look at the day’s schedule, and book a taxi to work.
Accessible ICT Procurement
Today in India there is an excellent opportunity to address the needs of persons with disabilities through accessible ICT procurement. There is a growing body of evidence globally to demonstrate that governments are successfully using accessible procurement as a means of ensuring the human rights of persons with disabilities,. They are amongst the largest purchasers of IT in any country and by requiring accessible products and services, ensure that all citizens with disabilities and government employees who are disabled are able to access and use public infrastructure and communication. CIS along with 20 other organisations petition the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Technology to bring in accessibility considerations within the draft Procurement Bill.
Report on eSpeak with NVDA Screen Reader and Assistive Technology for Visually Challenged
The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore and National Association for the Blind, New Delhi in collaboration with Centre for Differently Abled Persons, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli organized a workshop on eSpeak with NVDA Screen Reader and Assistive Technology for Visually Challenged at Centre for Differently Abled Persons, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli on January 21, 2016.
Report on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library
With the objective to sensitize and impart the skillset in handling NVDA – the Screen Reader and the usage of BookShare Online Library for the print disabled to the Special Educators, Karna Vidya Technology Centre in collaboration with Computer and Internet Society conducted a one-day Workshop on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library on 27 02 2016 (Saturday) at Karna Vidya Technology Centre. Special Educators from Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur totaling 48 have participated actively and got benefited from the Workshop.
National Compendium of Laws, Policies, Programmes for Persons with Disabilities
This compendium was compiled by the Centre for Internet & Society in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India. Prasanna Kumar Pincha, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, has written the Foreword.
