Supreme Court e-Committee makes audio captchas available on all High Court websites to facilitate access for visually impaired

The Supreme Court e-Committee under the chairmanship of Justice DY Chandrachud has in co-ordination with High Courts, introduced text/ audio captchas on the websites of all High Courts to facilitate access to visually impaired persons.

According to a press note released by the e-Committee, many High Court websites were hitherto exclusively using visual captchas inaccessible to the visually impaired, making it impossible for them to access such content independently.

"In coordination with all High Courts, the e-Committee has now ensured that visual captchas are accompanied by text/ audio captchas making the website content accessible to the visually challenged," the press release said.

Captchas, the press note stated, serve as entry points to access several essential facets of a court website, such as judgments/orders, cause-lists and checking the status of cases.

Further, the e-Committee in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC) is creating a judgment search portal (https://judgments.ecourts.gov.in ) which will be accessible to persons with disabilities.

The portal will contain judgments and final orders passed by all High Courts. The portal uses a free text search engine. In addition, the portal provides the facility of using an audio captcha, along with a text captcha. It would also use accessible combo boxes, making it easier for the visually disabled to navigate the website.

The e-Committee is also in the process of creating a Standard Operating Procedure for generating accessible court documents and will serve as a user guide to its stakeholders.

As per the e-committee, the SOP will also address the issues of watermarks, entering content by hand, improper placement of stamps and inaccessible pagination of files.

Justice Chandrachud has addressed a letter on June 25,2021, to the Chief Justices of all the High Courts for their inputs and suggestions in creating the said SOP.

The website of the e-Committee (https://ecommitteesci.gov.in/) and the e-Courts website (https://ecourts.gov.in/ecourts_home/) have also been made accessible to persons with disabilities.

[Read Press Release]