Dear Colleagues,
Happy to share with you that the Government of India has issued the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Rules, 2023 notifying IS 17802 Accessibility for the ICT Products and Services as the ICT Standards under Section 15 vide Gazette notification G.S.R. 359(E) dated 10th May, 2023
This standard has been inserted in the RPWD Rules as Section 15(1)(c) (iii). Now the Rule 15 reads as under:
"Accessibility
15. Rules for Accessibility. - (1) Every establishment shall comply with the following standards relating to physical environment, transport and information and communication technology, namely :-
(a) standard for public buildings as specified in the Harmonised Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Persons With Disabilities and Elderly Persons as issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development in March, 2016;
(b) standard for Bus Body Code for transportation system as specified in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, vide number G.S.R. 895(E), dated the 20th September, 2016;
(c) Information and Communication Technology -
(i) website standard as specified in the guidelines for Indian Government websites, as adopted by Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India;
(ii) documents to be placed on websites shall be in Electronic Publication (ePUB) or Optical Character Reader (OCR) based Pdf format:
(iii) Websites, apps, information and communication technology based public facilities and services, electronic goods and equipment which are meant for everyday use, information and communication technology based consumer products and accessories for general use with persons with disabilities, and other products and services which are based on information and communication technology, shall comply with the Indian standards IS 17802 (Part 1), 2021 and IS 17802 (Part 2), 2022, published by the Bureau of Indian Standards vide notification numbers HQ-PUB013/1/2020-PUB-BIS(278), dated the 24th December, 2021 and HQ-PUB013/1/2020-PUB-BIS(358), dated the 4th May, 2022, respectively as amended from time to time [sub para (iii) inserted vide RPWD Amenment rules 2023 issued vide G.S.R. 359(E) dated 10 May 2023]
Provided that the standard of accessibility in respect of other services and facilities shall be specified by the Central Government within a period of six months from the date of notification of these rules
(2) The respective Ministries and Departments shall ensure compliance of the standards of accessibility specified under this rule through the concerned domain regulators or otherwise."
Embeded below is the Amendment notification as well as the Indian Standard 17802 (Part I and Part 2) 2022 published by the Bureau of Indian Standard:
Gazette notification G.S.R. 359(E) dated 10th May, 2023
Indian Standard: IS 17802 - Accessibility for the ICT Products and Services (Part 1 :Requirements)
Indian Standard: IS 17802 - Accessibility for the ICT Products and Services (Part 2 : Determination of Conformance)
