Saudi Arabia's DGA requires WCAG 2.1 AA on all government digital platforms, and HRSD and SDAIA publish matching policies -- yet a peer-reviewed audit found 441 violations and zero tested sites meeting even minimum WCAG Level A.
441
Accessibility violations found
Details
Maturity
Established
Promoter
Digital Government Authority (DGA), with HRSD and SDAIA
Period
Mandate in force; independent evaluation study 2020
Keywords
digital accessibility, e-government regulation, disability inclusion
Context
Saudi Arabia's Digital Government Authority (DGA) sets binding accessibility guidelines requiring government and private-sector digital platforms to conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA; HRSD and SDAIA have published their own accessibility policies referencing the DGA standard.
Activities
A peer-reviewed study assessed Saudi e-government systems from a visually-impaired user's perspective.
Results
The study found 441 accessibility violations across the government services tested, with none of the sites meeting even the minimum (Level A) WCAG conformance level; roughly three-quarters to four-fifths of violations were Level A failures, chiefly missing text alternatives for images and non-functioning keyboard navigation.
Conclusions
A well-specified, internationally-aligned mandate exists, but implementation and enforcement lag behind, and users with disabilities encounter the gap first.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
Digital Government Authority (DGA), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA)
Conditions for success
a binding, internationally-aligned WCAG 2.1 AA mandate
agency-level accessibility policies referencing the national standard
Common failure modes
441 violations found, with zero tested sites meeting minimum Level A conformance
missing text alternatives and non-functioning keyboard navigation block screen-reader and motor-impaired users outright
Commonly funded by
National / regional programmes
Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.
Do you run this practice?
Claim it —
verified implementers get a public contact pathway and can propose corrections.
Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.