New accessibility features & GARI’s social impact - GARI Annual Report 2019

The publication of GARI’s Annual Report is our yearly opportunity to share with our many partner organisations around the world the progress we achieved with the Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI) in the past year and give a glimpse on what’s to come next.

In 2019, GARI went through its 5th Feature Review, receiving detailed feedback from organisations coming from 11 countries on four continents. This feedback resulted in proposals for 30 new features across the various product sections, recommendations to simplify descriptions of existing features as well as suggestions for improving the user interface. The detail of the feedback shows that the organizations invested a lot of time and effort in the analysis and we truly thank everyone who contributed!

To better understand GARI’s social impact, the MWF carried out a social research project which confirmed that mobile devices make a huge difference for users with disabilities in terms of having access to services and society. However, it also showed that the penetration of mobile technology among people with disabilities is still lower than among non-disabled peers even in countries with very high mobile uptake, suggesting that the problem is even worse in low income countries.

One of the issues identified is a knowledge gap among accessibility professionals and retail staff - leading to unhelpful advice being given to users with disabilities. GARI can effectively bridge this gap by providing an overview on accessible devices available on the market and helping uses with specific requirements identify devices that will fulfill these.

Our online survey showed, that the majority of users found GARI to be a useful source of information in selecting an appropriate mobile device. Their satisfaction was only limited by the need to investigate whether third party apps and whether the content that they regularly use is indeed accessible.

2019 furthermore saw the addition of Hebrew as 19th GARI language version and an increase of 3% in unique visits and pageviews. The Top 10 most searched for accessibility features were again topped by features for better hearing, the 3rd year in a row.

What’s to come in 2020? 

In the first half of 2020, we are still working on implementing the changes proposed and decided in the 5th GARI Feature Review – both in terms of adding new features as well as in improving the usability of the GARI website and database. We have also started working on short 1-2-minute videos that explain where to find the accessibility features in the devices and how to switch them on, and are about to add a 20th language version to GARI.

2020 will be the year to discuss the practical details of how industry will implement the European Accessibility Act (EAA) which has been adopted in 2019 and we will analyse how GARI can be used to report compliance as well as provide all EAA related information to consumers.

Finally, we will continue to work with organizations around the world to encourage greater awareness of existing accessibility features in devices today and expand the range of stakeholders using the GARI database.


Audio version of GARI report

For people who prefer to listen to the Annual Report, we have an audio version provided by Speech Code which can either be accessed through the “play” icon in the lower right corner of each page in the report or by using the links listed here below.

The following links provide the content to the GARI Annual Report 2019, page by page:

• Cover page: The GARI Annual Report 2019
• Page 1: Contents
• Page 2: About GARI
• Page 3: The 5th GARI Feature Review
• Page 4: Partnerships to promote accessibility
• Page 5: GARI’s social impact
• Page 6: GARI open data & Five product groups and 1,500+ accessible devices
• Page 7: How many people are using GARI & Where do GARI users come from?
• Page 8: Accessibility information in 19 national languages & The top 10 most searched for features in 2019
• Page 9: What type of apps are listed in GARI & What’s to come? 
• End page: Get in Touch

You can access and download the 2019 GARI Annual Report in PDF format:
http://www.mwfai.org/docs/eng/MWF%5FGARI%2D2019%5FAnualReport%2Epdf

Many thanks to all who participated in GARI’s progress in 2019 and we are looking forward to many more great collaborations in 2020!

For blind users, accessible mobile technologies are the means for a self-determined, independent life

The strength of the GARI project lies in the strong partnerships we have with the disability community and organisations such as the Austrian Association in Support of the Blind and Visually Impaired (Hilfsgemeinschaft). Over the years, the Hilfsgemeinschaft has given us feedback on the usability of the GARI website and the content of the GARI database for accessible devices and has helped us to improve the use of the database to blind and visually impaired users. Now, the Hilfsgemeinschaft has also implemented the GARI database in their own website, making the search for accessible devices more convenient for their members and helping spread the word about this service in the German speaking countries. 

The CEO of the Hilfsgemeinschaft, Klaus Höckner, has also given us some insights into what accessible mobile technologies mean for his members and which areas we need to further work on. 

• Has mobile technology changed the life of the members of your organisation? 

Klaus: Definitely yes. For blind and vision-impaired persons, mobile technologies are a window into the world which allows them a self-determined and independent life. Mobile technologies have made it possible for people with disabilities – and not only them – to actively participate in social life and society. 

• What do you consider the biggest challenge right now in the development of accessible technology? 

Klaus: The inclusion of these user groups into the development stage of technology as well as the compliance with existing guidelines and rules for the accessibility of devices, software and services. There exists a whole set of standards and guidelines for accessibility – they just need to be followed and implemented. 

More focus must also be placed on the accessibility of emerging technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) and people with disabilities need to be included into their development from the beginning.  

Another important factor is the ageing of the population in parts of the world. Age often goes hand in hand with disability, with reduced mobility, diminished sight, hearing and cognition, which effects a large part of people above 65 years old. 

• Are there any aspects we are overlooking in the public debate right now when talking about accessibility and the rights of persons with disabilities? 

Klaus: The diversity among people with disabilities. The disability community is a mirror of society. The is no such as thing as the “typical” person with disability. Just as in any human community, we find a broad spectrum of different capabilities, desires, education and skill levels, needs and restrictions. And they are not a minority –1.4 billion people in the world live with some sort of permanent or temporary disability. 

• If you had any wish open, what would you wish from industry in regard to mobile accessibility? 

Klaus: Include people with disabilities from the beginning. Talk to them and their representatives. Don’t develop specialized solutions but embrace the concept of Design for All or Universal Design. 

• Your organisations has recently implemented the GARI database into your website. What do you hope to achieve? 

Klaus: A higher visibility of accessibility solutions in the mobile technology space – both for consumers as well as manufacturers. 

The MWF is very happy that the Hilfsgemeinschaft has decided to use GARI very actively and to make the GARI database directly available to their members via this new page: https://gari.hilfsgemeinschaft.at