Supreme Court to ensure digital accessibility to physically challenged citizens
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In December 2020, the e-committee headed by Justice D.Y.Chandrachud had encouraged all High Courts to make their digital platform accessible to physically challenged individuals. The committee said that the access is their "constitutional and statutory entitlement".
Earlier, the captchas on the websites were not designed for the visually challenged. The High Courts will now have accessible captchas that will act as entry points to essential facets. The visual captchas are accompanied by text audio captchas.
The committee is also preparing a Standard Operating Procedure for generating accessible court documents. It will serve as a user guide to stakeholders. Those who visit the site can seek help to address watermarks, entering content by hand, improper placement of stamps, and inaccessible pagination of stamps files.
The initiatives are aimed at legal professionals with disabilities to participate like their able-bodied colleagues.
The e-committee in charge has devised six parameters in the first phases of the programme to ensure accessibility. The first phase will ensure that the High Court website provides access to judgements, cause lists, and case status. There will also be a contrast colour theme, text size, and screen reader access, reported Live Law.
All 32 High Courts in the state now have contrast colour themes and text sizes A+ and AA-. All courts except Delhi, Guwahati, Gujarat, and Bombay have screen reader access as well.
In collaboration with the National Informatics Centre (NIC), a judgement search portal is also underway to facilitate access to the physically challenged community, said the Live Law report. Users can find judgements and final orders passed by all High Courts in the country in the portal. It will also provide the option to use an audio captcha and accessible combo boxes.
