Digital accessibility: Designing a future that includes us all

By Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU

Every year on 3 December, we mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For me, it is a moment to reflect on our progress in building inclusive societies and renewing our commitment to leaving no one behind in the digital age.

What is digital accessibility?

When a person cannot read their computer screen, and special features are readily available to read the content aloud, that is an example of digital accessibility. The same applies when a deaf person uses captioning and sign language to enjoy a video, or a person with visual impairment uses keyboard navigation as an alternative to a mouse.

But digital accessibility does not happen by itself. We must prioritize it when developing national digital strategies, procurement policies, and technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).

Building momentum for digital inclusion

I have been very encouraged this year by the energy and enthusiasm that national governments and other stakeholders have poured into bringing about a more digitally accessible world – particularly through their involvement at the major regional forums on accessibility organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

At the Accessible Arab Region event in Amman, Jordan in April, policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, civil society, and youth came together to scale up digital accessibility strategies and advance inclusive digital transformation in education, employment, and public services.

In October, at Accessible Americas in Guatemala, regulators, industry leaders, and representatives from civil society collaborated by sharing good practices on policies and strategies to strengthen regional collaboration on information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility and explore concrete solutions to address the digital divide.

Now, in Brussels, Belgium, policymakers and technology providers are joining forces at our Accessible Europe event, co-organized with the European Commission, to accelerate compliance with the European Accessibility Act and showcase innovative solutions for accessible AI-driven tools.

New global action for 2026

The momentum from this year’s events will carry us toward the first-ever Accessible World – ICT for ALL Global Summit, to be organized by ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau in 2026. The summit’s goal will be to create a global platform to advance ICT accessibility as a cornerstone of digital inclusion, with input from governments, industry, academia, and civil society.

Working with these stakeholders, we can develop practical ways to build accessibility into digital technologies from the start.

The global community has long understood the importance of accessibility. From the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy, the message has remained consistent: Access to digital technologies is essential for human dignity, equity, and equality.

Today, accessibility is the gateway to education, healthcare, employment, communication, and much more.

The call to leave no one behind applies just as much in the digital world as it does in the physical one. On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities, let us renew our commitment to building a digital world where everyone belongs.