ZCfB Raises Concern Over Digital Accessibility for People with Visual Impairments

Michelle Moyo

The Zimbabwe Council for the Blind (ZCfB) has convened a high-level policy dialogue in Bulawayo to address digital exclusion faced by persons with visual impairments.

The dialogue comes amid concerns over accessibility barriers in Zimbabwe’s growing digital environment, with a recent study on digital inclusion in higher education finding that only 14 percent of audited institutional courses achieved full web accessibility compliance.

The study found that 86 percent of the audited courses lacked alternative text for images, while 80 percent contained inaccessible PDF documents.

The dialogue, held at the ZITF Tea Room on Thursday, brought together government officials, digital inclusion practitioners, disability organisations and persons with visual impairments to discuss policy and legal frameworks governing digital inclusion.

The meeting also sought to develop a digital accessibility strategy and implementation roadmap towards WCAG 2.1 compliance and contribute to a Digital Inclusion Position Paper to inform advocacy and legislative reform.

With support from the African Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), ZCfB is implementing a project guided by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) Accessibility Framework.

Head of Programmes at ZCfB, Busisiwe Mzyece, said the organisation wants greater engagement with the ICT sector to ensure digital content is accessible to persons with visual impairments.

“We are trying to promote digital accessibility. We want to engage the ICT sector to ensure whatever they post on social media is accessible to everyone, including persons with visual impairments,” she said.

She urged stakeholders across the country to help the council reach rural areas and spread information more widely.

ZCfB Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Simbarashe Kasanzu said the organisation receives funding through specific programmes but faces challenges in building its capacity on digital accessibility.

“We get funding through specific programmes. Most of our programmes focus on training, assistive devices and community outreach. However, we are still facing challenges because we need more training ourselves, especially on digital accessibility tools, to effectively support persons with visual impairments,” he said.