RPwD Act 2016
Comply with the RPwD
Talk to our experts and get your digital product & services audited for accessibility and ensure RPwD compliance.
An important piece of Indian law that upholds and advances the rights of people with disabilities is the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. The Act, which demonstrates India's commitment to promoting an inclusive society, is based on the ideals of equality, dignity, and inclusion and is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
The RPwD Act mandates that all public and private digital platforms including websites, mobile applications, electronic documents conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
One of the achievements towards the RPwD Act’s implementation was the case Rajive Raturi v Union of India in the Supreme Court in 2024. The judgement upheld that accessibility is crucial and is enforceable as a legal right. All public places, services and infrastructural facilities must have the prescribed measures for accessibility as per the Act. These include the tangible buildings, websites, vehicles, schools, hospitals, and offices.
At BarrierBreak, we have a team of accessibility experts who are well versed with WCAG testing and also the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW). We understand the RPwD requirements and are proud to be an IAAP Auditor and Empanelled Web Accessibility Auditor for the Government of India.
Key Points to Remember
- The RPwD requires websites and digital platforms to comply with Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) which is aligned with WCAG.
- The Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities has made it mandatory for businesses in India to ensure that their websites, mobile applications and other digital platforms go through an accessibility audit before 5th February 2025. Failing to adhere to the same, will be penalized under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPwD) 2016.
- The RPwD Act recognizes 21 disabilities, including locomotor disability, visual impairment, hearing loss, intellectual disability and multiple disabilities.
Understand the implications of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act and strategies for compliance
As a pioneers in digital accessibility testing and consulting, BarrierBreak can help businesses in India understand the importance of RPwD and ensure RPwD compliance of their digital products and services. Our accessibility auditing service provides you support to ensure accessibility integration into your products and meet the accessibility legal requirements such as WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 & WCAG 2.2, RPwD, GIGW and other global accessibility standards and guidelines. We work with clients in the US, UK, European, Canadian, Indian & Middle Eastern markets to integrate accessibility into the development life cycle.
20+ Years in Digital Accessibility
300+ Accessibility Experts
200K+ Yearly Testing Hours
4M+ Documents Remediated
Why work with us?
- Built and evolved in the understanding of RPwD, GIGW and other Indian accessibility laws.
- Team comprising of accessibility experts including people with disabilities.
- Learn what the RPwD Act means for businesses and how to align your web practices with its mandates.
- Conduct accessibility audits of websites to meet Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) which is a requirement under GIGW and IS 17802.
- Accessibility experts who help you develop a roadmap to achieve RPwD compliance, ensuring seamless integration into your existing processes.
