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Good practice Imported

Global Deafblindness Resource Hub — Uganda's Rollout of a Multilingual, Offline-Capable Digital Platform for Deafblind People

Uganda · Kampala · See the Uganda profile · See the Kampala profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 82% 52/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Sense International Uganda rolled out the Global Deafblindness Resource Hub on 30 June 2025 with two ministries: an online/offline platform, live in 7 languages across 8 countries, built with Google's accessibility team for deafblind people, caregivers and educators.

7 languages
Languages available on the Hub
8 countries
Countries whose resources are aggregated
100 people
Attendees at the London international launch (approx.) (25 Feb 2025)
1000 participants (1,000+)
Attendees at Romania's school-based launch events
1000 participants (1,000+)
Attendees at the associated India launch event
Global Deafblindness Resource Hub — Uganda's Rollout of a Multilingual, Offline-Capable Digital Platform for Deafblind People

Details

Maturity
Pilot
Promoter
Sense International Uganda, with Uganda's Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Ministry of Education and Sports
Period
2025
Keywords
disability inclusion, assistive technology, digital accessibility

Context

Sense International developed the Global Deafblindness Resource Hub with input from Organisations of Persons with Disabilities across the 8 countries where it works, launching internationally on 25 February 2025 at Google's Accessibility Discovery Centre with support from Google's EMEA accessibility team; Uganda's national rollout followed on 30 June 2025 with two government ministries.

Objectives

Give deafblind people, caregivers and educators consolidated access to practical tools, educational and healthcare resources and peer-documented lived experience, in a format usable both online and where connectivity is unreliable, free of charge.

Activities

Uganda's launch, aligned with the Persons with Disabilities Act (2020), National Development Plan III and the UN CRPD, included radio and TV appearances on digital inclusion, an official launch event, and free health screenings, therapy services and community sensitisation in Kalaki District.

Results

The Hub aggregates resources from all 8 Sense International countries and is available in 7 languages, designed to work online and offline; roughly 100 people attended the London international launch, while other national launches (e.g. Romania, India) drew over 1,000 participants each.

Conclusions

As the platform launched only in mid-2025, no independent evaluation of usage or outcomes in Uganda has yet been published, and a local disability advocate publicly flagged that people who cannot afford a smartphone still face a barrier even with offline functionality built in.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Short (< 1 year)
Staffing & skills
Sense International Uganda, in partnership with Uganda's Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Ministry of Education and Sports; platform co-developed with input from Organisations of Persons with Disabilities across Sense International's 8 countries and supported by Google's EMEA accessibility team

Conditions for success

  • Designed to work both online and offline so low-connectivity areas are not excluded
  • Offered free of charge
  • Aligned explicitly with Uganda's Persons with Disabilities Act (2020), National Development Plan III and the UN CRPD
  • Launch paired with tangible services (health screenings, therapy services, community sensitisation) rather than the platform alone

Common failure modes

  • A local disability advocate (Edward Otim) publicly noted that people who cannot afford a smartphone still face a barrier to using the Hub, even with offline functionality built in

Commonly funded by

Philanthropic / foundation funding National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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