Online community puts competitive pressure on online services to be more accessible

A11yID is an online community of digital product developers and people with disabilities, initiated by the NGO Suarise in Indonesia. In addition to providing exchanges on the topic of digital accessibility, reviews of websites, apps, and more are shared under the Hashtag TantanganAksesibilitas.

Suarise is an Indonesian social enterprise whose mission is to change the digital industry to create accessible online services. In 2020 it started A11yID, an online community that brings together people involved in creating digital products and persons with disabilities. One of the main activities is videos that analyse the accessibility of websites, apps, and content, which is shared by using the hashtag #TantanganAksesibilitas (Bahasa for Accessibility Challenge). By mid-2021, 337 people were involved in the community.

Problems Targeted

There is little awareness about digital accessibility, and regulations on accessibility are slow to develop. Many websites and apps are therefore inaccessible to persons with disabilities.

Solution, Innovation and Impact

The A11yID community has created a unique method of encouraging companies to ensure that their products are accessible. Using the hashtag #TantanganAksesibilitas, the online community creates and shares videos reviewing how accessible a company’s website, application, or content is in comparison with its competitors, thereby applying pressure to improve current products. The hashtag has gained traction within banking services, higher education institutions, as well as local tech boot camps, and these organizations have engaged with the A11yID community to incorporate accessibility in their products and services. A11yID also organizes monthly online sessions during which members learn from each other’s work on digital accessibility, such as interface design or web development. The A11yID community has grown from three people in 2020 to 337 in 2021; and it has organized 18 sharing sessions since June 2020, each attended by 50 to 100 people.

Funding, Outlook and Transferability

A11yID is self-financed by Suarise as well as through donations from community members, which amount to as little as $500 a year. Suarise aims to secure external corporate funding to scale up its sharing sessions. Suarise organized its first digital accessibility hackathon in December 2021, which will be held annually. #TantanganAksesibilitas can easily be replicated in other countries, even where accessibility regulations do not exist, due to its model on product competitiveness. A11yID plans to expand its accessibility challenge to target public services and the education, financial, commerce, health, media, transport, and logistics sectors.

Pictures

A community jointly testing the accessibility of a corporate website, sharing it with #TantanganAksesibilitas

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