Comparative analysis of e-accessibility policy in four Arab States

ITA E-accessibility Policy 5.1,^a a national mandatory guiding policy issued in  2014.

The agency responsible for implementing Oman’s e-accessibility policy is the Information Technology Authority (ITA), established by Royal Decree No. 52/2006 of 31 May 2006. Answerable to the Minister of the Economy, the ITA is an independent body with legal personality and its own budget and administration.

ITA is in charge of implementing the Omani Digital Society and e-Government Strategy (known as “e-Oman”). It carries out infrastructure projects and supervises all projects related to the Strategy.^b

Oman has incorporated the fundamental principles of human rights, as stipulated in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, into its Constitution and laws. Oman signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on March 30, 2008. The Convention was ratified under Royal Decree No. 121/2008 of November 5, 2008, and has been in force in Oman ever since. According to Article 35 of the Convention, Oman must submit a report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on measures taken and progress made in implementing the Convention. Additional supporting legislation includes the Law on the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled (No. 63/2008).^c

1. Government agencies and State-owned companies shall ensure that public information and online services are accessible to persons with disabilities and the elderly.
2. Government agencies and State-owned companies shall ensure that ICT-based public facilities are fully accessible to persons with disabilities and the elderly.
3. Government agencies and State-owned companies shall ensure that internal information and applications are made accessible to disabled and elderly employees.
4. Government agencies shall lead efforts to explore how information technology can be used to fulfil the needs of persons with disabilities and the elderly in their fields of work.
5. Government agencies that regulate areas such as banking, education, employment, communications, and transport shall ensure that Government bodies and private entities that fall within their regulatory remit comply with e-accessibility rules in Oman and any other related regulations.^d

The e-accessibility policy has the following two main areas of focus:

1. Using ICTs such as computers or mobile phones.
2. Access to digital data, information and services and mobile applications.

The policy does not cover physical accessibility. For national security reasons, the e-accessibility policy does not apply to civil service positions linked to national defence or security.

According to press reports, ITA adopted the e-accessibility policy in September 2012 in cooperation with 10 Government sectors (labour and employment, health, education, transport, communications, e-government, the media, banking, internal affairs and the Ministry of Social Development).^e

Oman has adopted WCAG 2.0 (issued as part of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative) without specifying the conformance level to be met (A, AA, or AAA).

While Oman’s e-accessibility policy does not specify any governance mechanisms to be used in its implementation, it does note the following best practices:

1. The needs of all groups of society must be taken into account when making information available to the general public, setting up online services and establishing ICT-based public agencies.
2. Persons with disabilities – in particular blind and deaf persons, and individuals with motor disabilities – must be involved in designing and testing websites, online services and ICT-based public agencies.^f

All State institutions are responsible for enforcing and overseeing the policy, in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology. The Ministry is also responsible for providing oversight, facilitating cooperation among the various stakeholders and helping them to fulfil their e-accessibility-related functions.

To implement the e-accessibility programme, ITA used the working methods and structure of the National Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, which was created in accordance with the Law on the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled (Chapter Three: the National Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons, article 13). This Law provided for the establishment of a committee chaired by a minister and composed of representatives of relevant Government agencies, the private sector, rehabilitation centres, and persons with disabilities, with the exact composition of the Committee to be decided by the minister. The Committee was established under Ministerial Decree No. 1/2009, and later restructured pursuant to Ministerial Decree No. 179/2014.

A representative of persons with disabilities was appointed to the Oman Human Rights Committee under Royal Decree No. 24/2016, and the Oman Human Rights Committee acceded to the National Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons in 2016.

According to article 14 of the Law on the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled, the objectives of the National Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons are to examine and draw up a general plan for the care and rehabilitation of disabled persons; set up specialized programmes for the care, rehabilitation, development, and employment of disabled persons; and strengthen programmes for raising awareness about disability in all its forms and preventing discrimination.

The Committee – which is chaired by the Minister for Social Development and includes representatives of all relevant ministries, the private sector, disability rehabilitation centres, and persons with disabilities – has begun working towards its above-mentioned objectives.

In addition, a technical commission was established by Ministerial Decree No. 193/2015 to follow the work of the Committee. This technical commission is chaired by the Director General of the Directorate General for Persons with Disabilities in the Ministry of Social Development. The technical commission is composed of officials representing the same stakeholder groups as those represented in the aforementioned National Committee for the Welfare of Disabled Persons.

Qatar’s eAccessibility Policy^a was published in 2011. This mandatory national policy is part of ictQATAR’s Strategy ICT2015,^b a package of digital initiatives.

• The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology^c (now the Ministry of Transport and Communications).
• Mada, Qatar’s Assistive Technology Center.^d

• Law No. 2 of 2004 on Persons with Disabilities (2/2004).
• Qatar signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on May 3, 2008.
• Qatar Central Bank (QCB) Decree No. 73 of 2009 on provision of banking services to persons with disabilities.
• The founding document of Qatar’s Assistive Technology Center, named Mada, a private institution for public benefit (Chapters 9 and 10 of Qatar’s General Strategy for the Family, issued by the Supreme Council for the Family in 2010).
• In 2014, the Ministry of Transport and Communications unveiled its digital inclusion strategy.
• In 2017, the above-mentioned Ministry launched the Government website and online services framework to guide Government agencies in developing their websites.
• In the same year, the Ministry launched the operational framework for Government mobile services to help Government agencies design and deploy mobile phone services based on best practice and international standards.
• In 2019, Qatar’s e-accessibility policy was updated to include reasonable efforts to accommodate the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The policy covers the whole ICT sector. Mada Center is responsible for overseeing e-accessibility activities. The Center also provides oversight and advisory support, and builds partnerships with the private and public sectors and not-for-profit civil society organizations with a view to achieving e-accessibility in Qatar.

Ensuring that the provisions and requirements of the national e-accessibility policy are practical and achievable without entailing undue expenditure that would overburden the implementing agencies. The policy centred on the following actions:

• Require communications providers to supply telephones enhanced with e-accessibility applications, as well as digitally accessible ways of contacting the emergency services via smartphones and, in some cases, public telephones.
• Work with e-government to provide accessibility-enhanced online governmental services.
• Oblige the public sector and banks to comply with the e-accessibility policy and improve the accessibility of their online services. This includes services provided via the Internet or through self-service kiosks and ATMs located in clearly advertised locations that are easily accessible for persons with disabilities.
• Work with Mada Center to promote, integrate and provide training on e-accessibility software and implementation tools, and encourage the procurement of assistive technology to promote e-accessibility;
• Call on the media and content creators in Qatar to make their web content more accessible.^e
• Focus in particular on Arabic language web content.

• All public-service Government websites must comply with WCAG 2.0, conformance level AA;
• All public service Government websites must comply with W3C best practices and Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0.^f

The implementation matrix set out in Qatar’s e-accessibility policy summarizes the roles, responsibilities and powers of its various stakeholders, who should work accordingly to reach the objectives stated in the policy.^g

The provisions of the policy came into effect as soon as it was issued.

The policy included the following implementation deadlines:

• New websites were required to apply the standards as of 2013, and existing websites had to be brought in line with the standards by 2015.
• The deadline for adapting online public service platforms and self-service kiosks was 2015.
• The policy earmarked funds for supporting assistive technology and services, and creating guidance manuals to that end.
• All web content creators are required to endeavour to increase the proportion of accessible content in English and Arabic, to reach at least 5 per cent of the digital content on their sites.
• All digital video programme distributors in Qatar must formulate a plan for providing programmes with open or closed captions.
• All materials produced are published under a Creative Commons License.^h

Accessibility is mentioned under pillar four of the National Policy to Empower People of Determination^a (a term used in the United Arab Emirates to refer to persons with disabilities), with goal 4.2 stating that modern technology is to be used to facilitate access to information for persons with visual and auditory disabilities.

The Higher Committee for Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Article 6 of Law No. 2 of 2014 Concerning Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stipulates that:

"A permanent committee named the ‘Higher Committee for Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ shall be formed, pursuant to a resolution issued by the chair of the Executive Council, to ensure integration and coordination of work among the entities concerned with the affairs of persons with disabilities. The Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Government entities concerned with implementing the provisions of this Law. This resolution shall define the functions of the Committee, the duties of its chair, the procedure for convening its meetings and voting on its resolutions, and other related matters".

• Federal Law No. 29 of 2006 Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and amendments thereto.
• Law No. 2 of 2014 Concerning Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Emirate of Dubai.
• Federal Decree No. 116 of 2009 on Ratifying the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
• Cabinet Decision No. 7 of 2010 regulating non-governmental welfare and rehabilitation institutions for persons with disabilities.
• Law No. 3 of 2003 establishing of the Executive Council of Dubai.
• Law No. 12 of 2008 establishing the Community Development Authority in Dubai, and amendments thereto.

The policy applies to Government websites and public services in all of the emirates.

Amending legislation and developing sectoral policies to empower persons with disabilities, with a focus on the following:

1. Health and rehabilitation.
2. Education.
3. Vocational training and employment.
4. Accessibility.
5. Civil protection and empowering families.
6. Public life, culture and sport.

However, the policy does not explicitly mention e-accessibility.

Government public services websites have committed to successive initiatives in support of persons with disabilities – the latest of which is called “My Community… A Place for Everyone”^b – and to comply with conformance level AA of WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1.^c

Some Government-public service websites comply with W3C Best Practices and Guidelines version 1.0.^d

According to Federal Law No. 29 Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (and amendments thereto), ministries including those of social affairs, employment, education and health are to adopt the necessary decisions to implement the provisions of the Law using the relevant implementation mechanisms.

All of the emirates (Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Dubai, Ajman, and Umm al Quwain) have their own service centres and initiatives for persons with disabilities, as well as their own Government websites and e-government systems. As a result, it is difficult for the federal Government to establish a federal authority to coordinate implementation of the disability policy.

The Law makes no mention of penalties for governmental or private institutions for non-compliance with disability initiatives, including those related to e-accessibility.

Egypt has no binding policy on e-accessibility; however, e-accessibility is referenced in Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018  in Law 10 (issuing the Implementing Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).^a

Under Article 4 of Law No. 10 of 2018, Egypt commits to protecting the legal rights of persons with disabilities. According to this Law, the State shall do the following: Guarantee the right to life and development of persons with disabilities to the greatest extent possible, by taking steps to guarantee respect for their human dignity by ensuring fulfilment of their basic needs such as food, housing, health care, mental health support, and social care (paragraph 1). Ensure that persons with disabilities are able to exercise the right to education, employment and recreation, the right to use public facilities and services, the right to obtain information, and the right to freedom of expression and opinion, among other fundamental rights and freedoms, both collective and individual (paragraph 10). According to paragraph 12, the State shall: Take the necessary steps to enable persons with disabilities to access and use the built environment, public transport, information and ICT (paragraph 12). Ensure that ICT is accessible for persons with disabilities, and promote the provision and use of accessible technology (paragraph 12).

In addition, Implementation Regulation 2733/2018 on e-accessibility, issued under Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018 Concerning the Issuance of the Implementation Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, sets out the responsibilities of Government agencies and ministries as follows:

• In accordance with article 2, all ministries and other parties involved in implementing the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Law No. 10 of 2018) commit to issuing the regulatory decisions necessary for implementing the provisions of the Law.
• In accordance with article 8, all governmental and non-governmental agencies commit to using assistive technology to provide information and services to persons with disabilities, and to take appropriate steps towards using assistive technology in education, training, professional development and employment programmes.

The above requirements apply to all relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies that provide any disability-related services to persons with disabilities.

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities.

• Law No. 10 of 2018b Concerning the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018 Concerning the Issuance of the Implementation Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
• Egypt signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on April 4, 2007 and ratified it on April 14, 2008, but is not party to its Additional Protocol. The Government of Egypt expressed reservations on paragraph 2 of article 12, which stipulates equal recognition of persons with disabilities and other persons before the law; according to Egyptian law, persons with disabilities are able to acquire rights and bear legal responsibility, but do not have legal capacity.

Governmental and non-governmental agencies (in particular those specializing in education, vocational training and employment) and all providers of services for persons with disabilities.

To promote e-accessibility, Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018 Concerning the Issuance of the Implementation Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities focusses on a number of different areas including the following:

1. Higher education and professional training

Ministries dealing with education, technical training, higher education and scientific research, educational establishments within the Al-Azhar system, and all other relevant ministries and stakeholders commit to making education accessible to persons with disabilities by making the following arrangements:

• Ensure adequate space in education institutions and enable persons with disabilities to learn using systems, software and languages that meet their needs.
• Adapt the learning environment to enable persons with disabilities to learn and participate in the regular education system.
• Provide a sufficient number of trained specialists to teach persons with disabilities in ways that suit their various needs.
• Provide a sufficient number of sign language interpreters in all governmental and non-governmental education institutions to accompany deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
• Use assistive technology, accessibility tools, resource rooms, appropriate educational content, syllabi, teaching methods, examinations and schedules to best fulfil the varied needs of persons with disabilities.
• Make the websites of governmental and non-governmental education institutions accessible to persons with disabilities.
• Integrate the concepts of disability and awareness into all levels of curricula, adapting to the needs, rights and particular situations of persons with disabilities, and adopt varied and sophisticated ways of working with them;
• Facilitate access for students with disabilities to various university services by establishing a disability services office within every university in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
• Subject home-schooled students with disabilities to the same entrance examinations as students from mainstream schools, and guarantee them the right to be accompanied by an assistant during the examination.

2. Literacy

Article 23

Relevant ministries and the General Authority for Literacy and Adult Education must tackle illiteracy amongst adults with disabilities who have missed out on schooling, by adapting learning programmes and using sophisticated methods and technology, and by advertising those programmes on a continual basis via their websites and all forms of audio, visual and print media.

3. Banking

Article 77

Banks must establish appropriate systems to interact with persons with disabilities in compliance with the Law, its Implementing Regulation and global standards, and assist them in every way possible. To that end, banks shall do the following:

• Further develop ATMs to meet the needs of persons with disabilities.
• Research state-of-the-art banking applications for persons with disabilities worldwide, and investigate the possibility of using them in banks in Egypt.
• Set up account creation and transaction procedures that can be adapted to facilitate banking services for persons with disabilities.
• Facilitate access for persons with disabilities to loans and credit facilities.
• Recognize sign language as an official language for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, and provide documents in Braille, as well as voice recognition as a signature replacement, for individuals with visual impairments. Where those facilities are not available, persons with disabilities may nominate someone to carry out certain tasks on their behalf; deaf individuals may be assisted by a sign-language interpreter as they deem appropriate.

4. Media and culture

Article 78

All governmental and non-governmental media outlets must respect the following rules and procedures:

• Produce communication media appropriate for persons with and without disabilities.
• Use enhanced communication media and state-of-the-art technology to reach persons with disabilities.
• Use language in all its forms, including ICT, spoken and signed language, Braille, written and audio text, simplified language and narration.
• National and private media outlets must issue content in the languages necessary for persons with disabilities to understand it and facilitate their interaction with and active participation in media content.
• Agencies responsible for monitoring the performance of media outlets and their efforts to address disability-related issues must establish accountability mechanisms and disciplinary procedures to deal with non-compliance with the professional standards set out in codes of ethics.
• Public and private television channels must broadcast health information aimed at persons with disabilities in all relevant languages.
• Ensure that issues relating to disability rights are addressed intelligently and as a matter of course in all media production and the day-to-day functioning of the media.
• Provide sign language interpreting for television programmes.

Article 79

The Supreme Media Council, the National Media Authority and the National Press Authority monitor the progress of governmental and non-governmental media outlets in implementing the commitments set out in the Law and its Implementation Regulation.

5. Legal proceedings

Article 80

The National Council for Persons with Disabilities is committed to working with investigative bodies to make all legal proceedings accessible to persons with disabilities by accommodating alternative forms of communication such as sign language interpretation and Braille. Such measures enable persons with disabilities to formulate a defence and testify at all stages of criminal proceedings including preliminary enquiry, investigation and trial.

While Egypt has no law or prime ministerial decree on e-accessibility standards, they are mentioned on the e-government portal of the Egyptian Government. The accessibility statement mentions adherence with W3C standards but provides no further details.^c

In Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018 (issuing the Implementing Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), a number of articles refer to the management of relations among agencies and ministries that provide cross-ministry services. For example, article 14 states that governmental and non-governmental agencies must notify the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Health of any changes to the social, health, or employment situation of persons with disabilities.

The majority of the articles in the Implementation Regulation (including articles 15, 17, 19, 22, 38, 39, 41 to 44, 48, and 53 to 65) relate to regulation of the work of each ministerial committee in the various specialist areas.

Prime Ministerial Decree No. 2733 of 2018 (issuing the Implementing Regulation of the Law of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), and the implementing regulation itself, stipulate that each minister shall oversee the work of their ministry. In most cases, this is done through a committee chaired by the minister and comprised of representatives from all relevant departments.

The regulation makes no mention of penalties for failure by governmental or private institutions to comply with disability-related initiatives in general, or e-accessibility requirements in particular.