Why India’s colleges need to build accessibility into digital learning systems
The article discusses the lack of accessibility for students with disabilities in India's digital learning systems. It argues that universities must prioritize inclusive design in their Learning Management Systems to ensure equitable education.
Why it matters
It highlights a critical barrier to education for disabled students in an increasingly digitized academic environment.
The COVID-19 pandemic permanently reshaped how colleges and universities deliver coursework, conduct exams, and share resources. The shift toward hybrid and blended learning that it accelerated has become the new standard. For many students, this transformation has unlocked greater flexibility and access. For others, it has quietly introduced a more insidious set of barriers; less visible and, therefore, less likely to be addressed.
According to the Ministry of Education’s All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-2022, India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education rose to 28.4% in 2021-22, with total enrolment nearing 4.33 crore students. Now, most of that learning runs through Learning Management Systems (LMS), online repositories, and online or proctored exam portals. Within that expansion, students with disabilities remained a small fraction. Roughly 79,000 were enrolled in 2020-21, a figure that likely reflects access barriers as much as actual demand.
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