Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in the Public Domain

Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in the Public Domain is a policy brief authored by Sunil Abraham**, Nirmita Narasimhan, Beliappa, and Anandhi Vishwanath, with inputs from Dipendra Manocha, Saksham, and Deepak Maheshwari (Symantec).

The brief highlights the continuing lack of accessible and authentic government information on official websites in India. It explains how common publishing practices lead to non-searchable, non-accessible, and legally weak documents — and offers a clear digital-first workflow to ensure that government information is authentic, searchable, indexable, and accessible to all citizens.

Publication Details
Abstract
Context and Background
Key Findings and Recommendations
Full Text
Citation

Publication Details

👤 Authors:: Sunil Abraham, Nirmita Narasimhan, Beliappa, and Anandhi Vishwanath
🏛️ With inputs from:: Dipendra Manocha, Saksham, and Deepak Maheshwari (Symantec)
📅 Date:: 7 December 2014
🔖 License:: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
📘 Type:: Policy Brief — Availability and Accessibility of Government Information
📄 Access:: Download PDF

Abstract

This brief identifies the flawed publishing workflow followed by many Indian government departments — born-digital → print → sign in ink → scan → upload as image PDF — which produces documents that are neither accessible nor legally robust.

It outlines four core issues:

Violation of Section 4(1)(a) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, which requires computerised and catalogued records.
Misuse of scanned ink signatures instead of legally valid digital signatures under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Absence of non-repudiation and authenticity checks.
Exclusion of citizens with disabilities due to inaccessible image-based formats.

The paper recommends a digital-first workflow where documents are created, signed, and published digitally in open, structured, and accessible formats (such as HTML, EPUB, or accessible PDF). This approach ensures that public information remains reliable, verifiable, and available to every citizen.

Context and Background

Most government websites in India publish official documents as scanned images of printed pages, including gazette notifications and reports. Such files are unsearchable, non-indexable, and inaccessible.

This practice directly contradicts the Right to Information Act, 2005, which mandates that all public authorities maintain their records in an electronic, interconnected form for easy access. Moreover, scanned documents with ink signatures are not valid digital signatures under the Information Technology Act, 2000, as they provide no cryptographic assurance or non-repudiation.

From an accessibility perspective, the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility (2013) requires all electronic information and services to be made accessible to persons with disabilities. However, image-only PDFs cannot be interpreted by screen readers or assistive devices, effectively excluding millions of citizens.

The brief therefore calls for a standards-based digital workflow, using Unicode for Indian languages, structured markup, and open, accessible formats. This ensures that government information is not just online, but also truly public.

Key Findings and Recommendations

Flawed Workflow:
The current method (born-digital → print → sign → scan → upload) destroys searchability, accessibility, and machine readability.
Legal Implications:
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 demands electronic, catalogued, and interconnected records — scanned images fail this test.
- The Information Technology Act, 2000 mandates use of digital signatures with encryption to ensure authenticity; scanned ink signatures provide no legal non-repudiation.
Accessibility Implications:
Image-only PDFs cannot be read by screen readers and violate the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility (2013).
Proposed Digital-First Workflow:
1. Create documents using Unicode and structured formats like HTML, EPUB, or tagged PDF.
2. Apply digital signatures to authenticate and secure the documents.
3. Publish through content management systems that maintain searchable and indexable repositories.
Handling Legacy Documents:
Digitise and convert older documents through optical character recognition (OCR), followed by human verification and accessibility tagging.
Standardisation Across Departments:
Develop consistent templates, headings, metadata, and format guidelines to maintain uniform quality and accessibility.

By implementing these recommendations, the Government of India can ensure that all citizens — including those with disabilities — have equal, authenticated, and transparent access to public information.

Full Text

📄 Download Full Brief (PDF)

Citation

If you wish to reference or cite this policy brief, you may use one of the following formats.

APA

Abraham, S., Narasimhan, N., Beliappa, & Vishwanath, A. (2014).
Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in the Public Domain.
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS).
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
https://sunilabraham.in/publications/availability-accessibility-government-information/

BibTeX

@misc{abraham2014availability,
  author = {Abraham, Sunil and Narasimhan, Nirmita and Beliappa and Vishwanath, Anandhi},
  title = {Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in the Public Domain},
  year = {2014},
  howpublished = {The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS)},
  note = {Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International},
  url = {https://sunilabraham.in/publications/availability-accessibility-government-information/}
}

MLA

Abraham, Sunil, Nirmita Narasimhan, Beliappa, and Anandhi Vishwanath.
"Availability and Accessibility of Government Information in the Public Domain."
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), 7 Dec. 2014.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International.
https://sunilabraham.in/publications/availability-accessibility-government-information/