It estimated that there are now more than 1 billion people around the world who experience some form of disability, with 110-190 million of them encountering significant difficulties. In an age of mind-boggling advances in information and communication technologies, the wider implications are enormous.

The statistics come from the first-ever World Report on Disability from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank, published in a year when smartphone sales are booming, as are downloads of the apps that run on them. Technology industry analyst IDC estimates that handset makers shipped 118.1m smartphones in the third quarter of 2011 – nearly one third of the 393.7m total mobile handsets shipped in that period.

With hundreds of thousands of apps available for these smartphones, the devices have an ever-increasing range of uses, from entertainment and social networking through to business and communication. But when those apps are not designed with accessibility in mind, people with disabilities – whether visual, cognitive or others – risk being shut out.

According to Helen Keegan, a specialist in mobile marketing, advertising and media who has also chaired industry workshops on mobile accessibility: “The challenge is that, aside from existing accessibility converts, this isn’t even on the radar of most developers, marketers, agencies, brands or entrepreneurs.

“It has to become a priority though,” she says. “Legal and moral reasons aside, there is no economic sense at all to exclude a percentage of your audience for the sake of thinking of them at the outset. If a large retailer today set up shop on a high street and did not have access for people in a wheelchair or assistance for blind people, there would be a furore. But very often, mobile sites, apps and services are inaccessible to many people, but it’s not seen as a missed opportunity.”

Colourblindness is a good example. “It’s one of the easiest disabilities to avoid prejudicing if you catch your mistake,” says games industry writer Dan Griliopoulos, who is also colour blind. “Deaf gamers need subtitles, motor-problem gamers need limited-input games with difficulty levels, blind gamers need completely bespoke games, autistic gamers can’t deal with non-abstract games, but we just need you to think about your colour palette.”

“As a Londoner, I use the tube a lot, and have downloaded Tube Deluxe to help me navigate it,” says PR executive Tim Lovell, who is also colour blind. “Many think of the London Underground map as one on the pinnacles of design, but it does fall down for people who are colour blind. The colours of the Hammersmith & City line and the Waterloo & City line are, for example, almost indistinguishable to me. To its credit, Transport for London does have a colour blind map available to download, but I’m yet to find a London Underground app, which there are plenty of, that makes use of it.”

It is important not to just think about accessibility as a disabilities issue, though. It is also an ageing population issue. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the number of people older than 60 reached 739 million in 2009, but is expected to increase to 2 billion by 2050. Smart accessibility is thus also about ensuring older people are also not left behind by the rapid pace of innovation in the mobile industry.

“Digital inclusion is key to ensuring as many people as possible remain actively involved in their communities, and we should make sure every citizen is empowered to do so, whatever their age or capacities,” says Anne-Sophie Parent, AGE Platform Europe secretary general, at the launch of Vodafone’s Smart Accessibility awards in June.

The four categories in the awards hint at the importance of inclusion: apps that drive social participation; apps that help people live independently; apps to enable users to move around more freely including public transport; and wellbeing/health apps.

“Smartphone apps are changing how millions of people manage their daily lives, but some groups in society risk missing out on the smartphone revolution,” says Andrew Dunnett, director of the Vodafone Foundation, which is running the contest.

The good news is that there is a great deal of thought being put into making mobile phones and apps more accessible. Apple’s iOS software has been praised widely for its accessibility features, including its VoiceOver screen reader for blind and partially sighted people.

The latest version of Google’s Android software, Ice Cream Sandwich, has introduced several new accessibility features too, such as an explore-by-touch mode for blind and partially sighted users.

Technologies such as voice control and text-to-speech have been improving steadily. Meanwhile, the recent app stores phenomenon is providing a channel for developers to make and release apps aimed at people with a range of disabilities.

“As important as the accessibility of the operating system is the accessibility of the mobile apps and mobile web pages,” says Artur Ortega, user interface and accessibility developer for Yell in the UK, and also registered blind. “These apps and web pages transform the smartphone into a mobile assistant. Suddenly the smartphone becomes a speaking compass, a speaking satnav, a mobile access to video relay services, accessible bus and train screens, and so on.”

“I think we have the technology. Let’s make the most of it – whether that’s voice, web, apps, augmented reality or whatever. It’s here today already,” says Keegan. “The population isn’t getting younger; it’s getting older. Today’s app developers are tomorrow’s OAPs and they have the potential now to create their own future.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/smart-accessibility