SG Enable: Making Digital Services Accessible to All

Ever boarded a crowded train, only to realise later that the people you were travelling with were left behind on the platform? Many of us would simply call and arrange to meet them at the next station.

But for the mother of 20-year-old Bryan Tan, that was not an option when Bryan was left behind by accident on the MRT platform. You see, Bryan has Down syndrome and typically travels with a caregiver. As such, his parents did not think it was necessary for him to have a mobile phone—until the fateful day he was left behind on the platform and got lost.

By the time his mother returned to the station to look for him, Bryan had already taken the next train to look for her. It took nearly an hour and the help of citizens before mother and son were reunited. During this time, the mother was in a "real panic," recalls Bryan's father, Gregory Tan.

[From left to right] Bryan Tan and Gregory Tan

"We could not predict how he would act and were worried he would get scared and just run across the main road and get hit by traffic," he explains, adding that they were grateful that Bryan was able to stay calm and find a friendly passer-by to help him.

That incident, he explains, is why he believes it's essential for persons with disabilities to have a mobile device and be equipped with digital skills to assist them with daily living.

Digitally Empowered for Independence

As the focal agency for disability and inclusion in Singapore, SG Enable believes that technology is an important enabler to create equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities. It is with this belief in mind that SG Enable partnered IMDA and contributed to the Digital for Life movement in various areas, such as the upskilling of persons with disabilities, and starting a Digital for Life funded project to improve e-accessibility of essential digital services.

“With digitalisation rapidly changing the way we live, work, learn and engage, persons with disabilities and their caregivers must not be left behind in this digital age,” says Ron Loh, Assistant Chief Executive of SG Enable.

To equip persons with disabilities with digital skills for work and daily living, SG Enable partnered with Microsoft and SPD to launch the “Digital Enablement Programme” in 2021. Thanks to support from the Digital for Life Fund, Microsoft and SPD were able to run this 35-hour training course that caters to people of different digital literacy levels, with trainees who complete it receiving employment assistance from SG Enable’s Job Placement and Job Support programme.

The Digital Enablement Programme trains persons with disabilities based on their differing digital literacy levels. It is a joint initiative run by SG Enable, Microsoft Singapore and SPD and has been made possible by the Digital for Life Fund.

Making Digital Content E-accessible

Significantly, even with the right digital skills, and the appropriate assistive technology, persons with disabilities would still not be able to easily access digital content (i.e. apps, websites) if it is not made e-accessible. For example, persons with visual impairments can use their mobile screen readers to read out what is displayed on websites, but only if the content displayed is formatted in a way that this software can access. If an infographic was uploaded without any textual description of its pictorial content, it cannot be read by the software, thus limiting access to users with disabilities.

On this front, the Digital for Life Fund has been an enabler for SG Enable to work with public and private partners to improve e-accessibility in the essential services sector.

"We hope more organisations will recognise the importance of e-accessibility and take action to improve their digital resources to create a more inclusive society," says Mr Loh.

He explains that SG Enable is partnering with local social enterprise Etch Empathy to build an ecosystem of e-accessibility adoption via a two-pronged approach. Firstly, SG Enable builds the skills of web and app developers and designers to create accessible services, information and products. Secondly, SG Enable trains persons with disabilities to conduct e-accessibility testing for organisations who want to improve the e-accessibility of their digital products. SG Enable believes that as the demand for such a service grows, trained persons with disabilities can provide such a service as a job.

Efforts began in May 2022, when SG Enable partnered with Guide Dogs Singapore and the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped to introduce the concept of e-accessibility to persons with visual impairment through a workshop. Participants were taught how to check websites and apps for accessibility. Etch Empathy trainers identified adept participants and assigned them to help organisations looking to develop e-accessible assets.

"The pace was good, and the training was easy to follow," Chong Kwek Bin, one of the participants, shares. "There were good examples and analogies, and the practical exercises helped me improve my understanding," he says.

Persons with disabilities completed interactive quizzes and had hands-on experience in e-accessibility testing during the e-accessibility workshop at the Digital for Life Festival 2022 which was held at Enabling Village.

Bringing Businesses on Board

It is important for companies to recognise that digital accessibility is crucial for creating a truly inclusive world for everyone. As part of the Digital for Life funded project, SG Enable has also started e-accessibility training with the app developers and designers of companies such as NTUC FairPrice and SingHealth to raise their awareness of how e-accessibility features can be incorporated into apps and digital services for persons with disabilities to benefit too. For example, in September 2022, SG Enable conducted e-accessibility workshops for the IT department at FairPrice. They also tested the company’s websites—both mobile and desktop—to analyse the accessibility of the homepage, promotions, shopping lists, and more. In addition to raising awareness and providing information about e-accessibility, these workshops also provide a sense of empathy, recalls Sriharsh Mallela, an IT staff from FairPrice. "My main takeaway is that e-accessibility is not a destination; it's a journey where every time we iterate or evolve a product, we need to plan for its accessibility—after all, change will only happen if we make inclusive design part of the systems we develop," he explains.

“Inclusive design can be incorporated in many ways,” Mr Loh adds, "but for this to occur, the key is having a user-centric approach and actively considering the needs of persons with disabilities when creating digital content,” he affirms.