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G3ict

Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation Index (DARE Index)

The Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation (DARE) Index — in its second edition, DARE Index 2020 — is a benchmarking tool, developed by G3ict, for disability advocates, governments, civil society, international organizations and policy makers to trace country progress in making Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) accessible for all, in compliance with Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Data collection for the DARE Index 2020 was completed in cooperation with Disabled People’s International (DPI) and its National Assemblies, along with the support of other organizations of persons with disabilities (European Disability Forum and national disability organizations) and experts in countries around the world where DPI correspondents were not available.

With 90% of the world population covered, the second edition of the DARE Index comprehensively documents the advances made by 137 countries, among the 182 States Parties to the CRPD, in eight regions: Africa, Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific, Europe, Latin American and Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Northern America, and South Asia.


We are grateful to our corporate and institutional funders and partners for their ongoing support and enthusiasm for the DARE Index and for making this work possible.

Feedback

G3ict is providing the DARE Index Country Dashboard as an open resource. We welcome your feedback. Suggestions, including for data updates, should be reported to the G3ict Research Team at [email protected].

DARE Index Data Sharing-Acquisition Guidelines

The DARE Index is an independent research program of the G3ict's Institutional Advocacy Division. Access to statistical tables and Country Profiles database is subject to copyright. Customary attribution should accompany any use of the data and should include "DARE Index 2020, G3ict, www.g3ict.org"

If you wish to acquire DARE Index data, access and permission to such may be granted. For guidance and instructions, please download the G3ict DARE Index Data Sharing-Acquisition Request Form.

DARE Index 2020 - Frequently Asked Questions


What is the purpose of the DARE Index?

Unrestricted access to digital devices, contents, information and services is a necessary condition for persons with disabilities to enjoy their full rights. Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities obligates its 182 States Parties to ensure that information and communication technologies, which support everything digital, are made accessible. The DARE Index was created by G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Technologies, an advocacy organization launched in cooperation with UN DESA in 2006, to provide a global benchmark for governments, advocates and private sector organizations to assess their progress and identify opportunities in promoting and implementing digital accessibility.

What does the DARE Index measure?

The DARE Index measures three categories of variables in each country: country commitments (legal, regulatory, policies and programs), country capacity to implement (organization, processes, resources) and actual digital accessibility outcomes for persons with disabilities in 10 areas of products and services. This three steps analysis – commitments – capacity to implement – outcomes, is consistent with Human Rights monitoring principles and allows for useful gap analysis and linkages between variables. Variables were derived from the G3ict – ITU Model ICT Accessibility Policy Report and the joint Digital Accessibility Decennial Call for Action issued at the United Nations on 3 December 2016 by the International Disability Alliance, Disabled People’s International and G3ict.

Which data sources are used to build the DARE Index?

As there are no consistent data sources available around the world on digital accessibility, G3ict collects data in close cooperation with Disabled People's International (DPI) and persons with disabilities worldwide considering their best position to assess and report on digital accessibility matters. Research panel members are identified in each country and are responsible to provide data on their own country ICT profile. When DPI does not have local representatives available, G3ict calls on other advocacy organizations, researchers, disability community leaders or accessibility experts. List of the DARE Index Research Panel.

For cross-tabulation purposes, G3ict analysts use UN OHCHR, World Bank and International Monetary Fund country classifications. Country Classification.

How is the evaluation conducted at country level?

Local panel members are asked to fill in a questionnaire and provide back-up information and references in support of their answers to the greatest possible extent. For country commitments, links to laws, regulations or program web pages; for country capacity to implement, links to web pages, reports or articles are most often used. To evaluate the degree to which digital products and services are made accessible to persons with disabilities, questions include a normalized scale to guide respondents in their answers to be as close to reality as possible. For instance, a “Minimum level of implementation” would be described as “pilot projects only”. A “partial level of implementation” would be defined as “a national program is being deployed but does not yet reach a majority of beneficiaries”, so on and so forth.

Is the data verified?

Most panel members are experienced advocates who volunteer their time and effort and are unlikely to volunteer erroneous data. However, due to language, terminology and other unforeseen data input factors, a systematic pre-publication validation process takes place by analyzing data variances and anomalies such as discontinuity of historical data or unusual relations to Human Development Index and income per capita. When such anomalies are detected, G3ict analysts double check through desk research and with national panels how to interpret the data received. Ultimately, all country evaluation data is posted in the Country Dashboard section of the G3ict web site with an option for visitors to provide feedback for updates or anomalies.

Our Story: Benchmarking ICT Accessibility Progress (2008-present)

2008-2010: G3ict undertakes to benchmark the actual implementation of the dispositions of the CRPD on ICT accessibility and assistive technologies by its States Parties. G3ict partners with Disabled People’s International (DPI) to research and produce the CRPD ICT Accessibility Progress Report.

Over the years, between 2010 and 2016, an extraordinary group of volunteers joins the research panel of the CRPD Progress Report. The publication, with its four editions, establishes itself as one of the few sources allowing for a global monitoring of the implementation of the CRPD.

Past editions of the CRPD ICT Accessibility Progress Report:

2018-present: Further step in benchmarking with the release of the Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation index – DARE Index 2018 (1st edition) and 2020 (2nd edition) – which ranks countries’ actual implementation of key dispositions of the CRPD on ICT accessibility.

Peruse the DARE Index 2018, 121 Country Report Cards (in English, tab 2018 in each country profile) and the two accompanying key report highlights:

Explore the DARE Index 2020, 137 Country Report Cards (in English, tab 2020) and the two accompanying key report highlights in multiple languages (Arabic, English, French, Spanish).