JAKARTA (21 August 2023) – Ministry of Social Affairs is strengthening the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities to access information.  The latest real step taken is to make it easier for persons with disabilities to access information through the official website of Ministry of Social Affairs, https://kemensos.go.id.

Ministry of Social Affairs has added additional features (widgets) which function to make it easier for visitors to access the website and easily find the information they are looking for.  For this need, Ministry of Social Affairs is collaborating with a digital technology-based company, UserWay.

 "This is one of our efforts to open access to information as widely as possible for users, especially for persons with disabilities.  Previously there were persons with disabilities who could not access information on the official website of Ministry of Social Affairs.  But now that is no longer an obstacle," said Acting Head of Public Relations Bureau Romal Uli Jaya Sinaga in Jakarta (21/08).

Widgets controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) are a key element that makes it easier for users to surf to find information.  Access is made easier for persons with disabilities by providing menus that can be accessed by clicking the accessibility menu in the bottom left corner.

By accessing this button, there are many help menus that persons with disabilities can choose from, depending on their individual needs.  For example, blind people or persons with visual sensory disabilities can access the “Read Page” menu.  When you click this menu, you will hear a voice that can read the articles that appear on the page.

 "Apart from that, there is a menu to adjust the font size, text spacing, and brightness, there is even a dyslexia-friendly menu and many other menu options," said Romal.  In making accessibility easier for persons with disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs prioritizes four principles of accessibility, namely comprehensible, operable, understandable, and accessible website content that must be easy to interpret and use by users without exception.

 Ease of accessibility to information is a concrete step for Ministry of Social Affairs after several other efforts have previously been taken.  Ministry of Social Affairs is pioneering the printing of braille reading materials for persons with visual sensory disabilities.  This service is centered at Abiyoso Cimahi Center.  This is the technical implementation unit of Ministry of Social Affairs which is specifically tasked with providing reading materials and information for persons with visual sensory disabilities, including the braille Al Quran.

At the beginning of this year, another center of Ministry of Social Affairs, Wyata Guna Center in Bandung, in collaboration with Central Information Commission (KIP), converted the Public Information Openness Law and its derivative Government Regulations to braille format.

 The process of transferring the letters is an implementation of public information accessibility that is open to everyone, including persons with disabilities.  Wyata Guna Center for carrying out braille printing.  It is targeted to print 48,000 braille books per year covered by State Budget so that the costs are free for non-profit purposes.

 Providing access to information and literacy services to persons with disabilities is one of the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities which is mandated by Law 8/2016 on Persons with Disabilities, that persons with disabilities as citizens have the right to express, communicate, and access for information.