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!
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