As public services move online, digital platforms have become the new front door to government. What once required a visit to a town hall or welfare office is increasingly managed through websites, portals, and mobile apps.
And yet, for over 1.3 billion people, about one in six globally, who live with a disability, that door is often locked.
When a person cannot renew benefits, read an emergency alert, or submit a complaint because the interface was not designed with them in mind, this is not a technical oversight. It is a form of administrative discrimination. On Global Accessibility Awareness Day (21 May), that is the uncomfortable truth digital government must confront.
The promise and its condition
Over the past two decades, governments have invested heavily in digital public services.
The Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) E-Government Survey 2024 documents steady progress: more countries than ever provide services online and integrate digital tools into core administrative functions, with digital government now a cross-cutting enabler of the Sustainable Development Goals. Residents can submit tax returns, apply for social protection, or renew licenses from home.
The promise is real: a state that is more reachable, more responsive, and more equitable. But it rests on one basic condition: that people can use the systems being built for them. If the digital front door is too narrow or effectively invisible to a large share of the population, the result is not inefficiency; it is exclusion.
The invisible barriers
Data confirm that this pattern is widespread, not exceptional. WebAIM’s 2024 “Million” study found that almost 96% of high-traffic home pages had detectable failures against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). An unlabeled button, an uncaptioned video, or dense bureaucratic language, particularly for users with cognitive disabilities, can make public platforms impenetrable for users with visual or hearing impairments.
These barriers are not distributed evenly. They compound with poverty, limited connectivity, age, and geography, and they will only grow. As the population ages, it means that more people will experience vision, hearing, mobility, and memory-related impairments. When digital services are built without accessibility in mind, they are built against a significant portion of the public they are meant to serve.
A governance obligation, not a design preference
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities makes the legal position clear. Articles 9 and 21 make digital accessibility a binding obligation, not an optional feature, by requiring equal access to information and communication technologies.
The technical knowledge to meet that obligation already exists. WCAG sets clear standards for making web content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Many countries have incorporated these into national law, and DESA’s Online Services Index now factors accessibility into its assessments. The gap is not knowledge; it is implementation, enforcement, and accountability.
Addressing this requires assigning clear institutional responsibility, budgeting for accessible design from the outset, and integrating accessibility checks into procurement and development. Crucially, it means involving persons with disabilities in the design and testing of services, so that digital doors are built with, not merely for, the people who need them most.
Why this benefits everyone
Accessibility is not charity; it is good administration. High-contrast text helps many users reading on a phone in sunlight. Captions serve anyone watching a video in a noisy environment or in a second language. Clear language reduces errors and abandoned forms for all users. People are also more likely to use online services rather than queuing in person, as when they are confident, they can complete tasks independently. That means fewer errors and fewer complaints for administrations.
Many of us will experience disability over a lifetime, whether temporary or permanent. Designing for accessibility is, in a real sense, designing for our future selves.
A concrete checkpoint
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is not just an occasion for statements; it is a practical prompt. Administrations can ask: Are our portals compatible with assistive technologies? Are forms navigable by keyboard alone? Are official videos captioned and available in national sign languages? Are emergency alerts accessible to all?
DESA has stressed the importance of “digital inclusion by design.” The Disability Inclusion Strategy frames accessibility as a system-wide responsibility. The commitments exist. The question is whether everyday practice, portals, apps and content actually live up to them.
Digital transformation is ultimately about who gets to participate in public life. The real measure of a digital government is not how advanced its technology appears, but how inclusive it truly is.
Are we using this moment to open public doors wider than ever before, or quietly closing them to those who have always had to push the hardest to enter?