The Qatar e-government portal (Hukoomi) has won the Access Certified Award from Qatar Assistive Technology Centre (Mada) for applying the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA (WCAG 2.0 AA), which aim to ensure that websites have accessible features for people with disabilities.
The award is “often given to institutions that have websites that meet international standards and which can be easily accessed and used by people with disabilities,” according to a statement.
Mada’s award was received by Government Portal Department manager Tareq al-Emadi on May 19, the day Global Accessibility Awareness Day is observed around the world.
“Hukoomi places considerable attention to ensure that all people with disabilities in Qatar benefit from the several advantages and potential of information and communications technology. At Hukoomi, we are glad to apply all guidelines and requirements related to online accessibility in order to make it easier for the disabled to reach all information and government services that Hukoomi provides,” said al-Emadi.
“We thank Mada for its unremitting efforts to better serve people with disabilities in Qatar, aiming to ensure that they can access and use government websites.
Mada does that by making sure that these websites meet all the requirements stated in the e-Accessibility Policy — launched by the Ministry of Transport and Communications — in addition to meeting relevant global digital accessibility requirements,” he added.
Mada CEO Maha al-Mansouri said: “We aim to increase the number of websites that are accessible by people with disabilities in Qatar — something that would make a massive change in terms of how far the disabled could easily access information through information and communications technology.
“Mada has a special team dedicated to regularly reviewing the global e-accessibility requirements and standards to ensure that government websites in Qatar are designed in a way that make them flexible and accessible by disabled people and the elderly.
“We would like to thank Hukoomi team for their commitment to applying global e-accessibility standards and guidelines.”