ICT for Persons with Disabilities: Bridging the Digital Divide in Bangladesh

In the last two decades, the disability situation has undergone substantial change globally due to international initiatives supporting the UN declared World Decade of Disabled Persons. However, these progressive steps are yet to reach millions of disabled persons in rural Bangladesh. Around 13 million people in Bangladesh are physically handicapped of which 3 million are children. Disability is increasing with population growth and ageing. Disability on this scale represents not only a major health issue but also a prime cause of poverty and underdevelopment. Information and Communication Technology (ICT), opens up great opportunities to improve the quality of life of disabled people failing which will further the digital divide. This paper proposes to discuss the importance of ICT development and accessibility for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh and elaborate on how ICT has been utilized thus tar and how we can further these initiatives towards development.