G3ict and Knowbility Release Results of their Joint Research on "The Impact of Digital Accessibility Innovations on Users’ Experience"

ATLANTA (June 10, 2019) —

G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs and Knowbility, award winning pioneer in digital accessibility announce today the release of the results of a joint survey conducted in preparation of the 2019 M-Enabling Summit to gain insight on the impact of digital accessibility innovations on the experience of users with disabilities. One hundred and fifty nine digital accessibility experts provided their feedback via a detailed questionnaire in March and April 2019. Survey participants are members of Access Works, Knowbility’s network of accessibility testers with disabilities and are involved in digital innovation as developers, reviewers, or potential users.

The survey provides unique insights on the actual usage and perceived usefulness of multiple digital accessibility features and assistive technologies that have become widely available to persons with disabilities. Survey results identified the main barriers experienced by users with disabilities to access essential digital content and web services due to their lack of conformance with global accessiblity standards and usability good practices.

The report describes what areas and types of innovation respondents are involved with, their roles, how they assess the utility of those innovations, and what they perceive to be opportunities for further innovation in digital accessibility.

The survey identifies:

Accessibility innovations that have had over the past few years the most positive impact on users with disabilities and for which types of applications.
The type of virtual/remote customer services most appreciated by persons with disabilities with examples.
New digital products, services and contents that create the most accessibility challenges for users with disabilities and why.
Specific organizations/companies perceived as most effective at implementing accessibility policies, products and services from a user’s perspective.
The degree to which accessibility features of mainstream products are used by persons with disabilities and the reasons why they may not use them.
Identification of most desired functionalities to be further developed by industry to improve the experience of users with disabilities.

“This survey brings a much-needed hands-on reality check on the actual benefits and challenges of recent digital accessiblity innovations for persons with disabilities. We are very pleased that our collaboration with Knowbility brings such useful insights to both industry and advocates. We look forward to rich discussions of those results at the M-Enabling Summit” said Axel Leblois, President of G3ict.

Sharron Rush, Executive Director of Knowbility added: “Our sincere appreciation goes to the 159 experts members of AccessWorks who participated in this research. This collaboration with G3ict brings the unique insights and perspectives of our members to a broad audience of decision makers. Our hope is that this study will help foster deeper understanding and contribute to the development of digital accessibility innovation that serves users of all abilities.”

The report of this joint survey can be downloaded from the Publications and Reports section of the G3ict web site or the Knowbility web site.

About G3ict

G3ict – the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies – is an advocacy initiative launched in December 2006, in cooperation with the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at UN DESA. Its mission is to facilitate and support the implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) promoting digital accessibility and Assistive Technologies. Participating organizations include industry, academia, the public sector and organizations representing persons with disabilities. G3ict promotes good practices in digital accessiblity policies and programs and provides tools for advocates around the world including its Digital Accessiblity Rights Evaluation Index (DARE Index) designed to benchmark countries progress. Through its division IAAP, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, G3ict offers professional development resources and certification to more than 2,000 members in 46 countries. Since 2011, G3ict organizes the M-Enabling Summit in cooperation with E.J. Krause and Associates which promotes innovation in accessible technologies and environments. For more information: www.g3ict.org.

About Knowbility

Knowbility is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Austin, Texas and working around the globe. Our mission is to create a more inclusive digital world for people of all abilities. We serve the mission by creating programs that make the internet and other technologies accessible to people who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hearing impaired, who have mobility impairments and cognitive or learning disabilities. Program areas include:

Awareness: The Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR), held annually for more than 20 years; publications; Instructional blog posts, conference appearances; service on global standards bodies
Education: AccessU annual accessibility skills training, online course delivery, K12 Access Toolkit
Commercial Services: employ experts, including many with disabilities, to provide assessment and audit services; perform document remediation; design and deliver inclusive usability studies.

We work collaboratively with organizations of all kinds to create a barrier-free world of information technology so that people with disabilities can fully and equally participate in entrepreneurial, educational, employment, social, civic and cultural opportunities of the web.

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