E-accessibility in the Arab Region

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which has been signed by certain Arab States and ratified by others, serves as a legal reference for those States alongside their own domestic legislation on disability rights. Many Arab States have passed specific legislation to guarantee the right to e-accessibility for persons with disabilities, and have adopted e-accessibility policies and regulations in sectors such as banking and employment. In addition, a number of Arab States has issued guidelines on designing government websites and mobile applications in line with e-accessibility standards, and some have devised an integrated national approach to e-accessibility.

As an example of Arab progress in this domain, Oman and Qatar have both ranked highly on the DARE Index[1] in recent years, with Oman ranking number one in 2018, ahead of advanced countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, and Qatar taking the top spot in 2020.[2]