In 2007, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was opened for signature, coming into effect the next year. The Convention recognizes that disabled persons around the world face obstacles “in their participation as equal members of society” as well as violations of their human rights. It calls for disabled persons to be accepted “as part of human diversity and humanity” and also urges “respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities” (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007). The Convention was the culmination of a decades-long effort by the United Nations to advocate on behalf of the disabled, contributing to the shift from seeing disabled people as objects of protection and assistance to subjects with rights who are capable of actively taking part in society (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2025). Enforcement of the Convention is monitored by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, composed of experts on disability issues (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2025).

 

The Convention and Laws on Disability Rights in Indonesia

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As of 2025, the Convention has 193 parties (192 states and the European Union). Indonesia is one of them, having signed the Convention on March 30, 2007 and ratified it on November 30, 2011 (United Nations Treaty Collection, 2025). Protection of the human rights of disabled people has also already been enshrined in Indonesian law. Article 28 of the Constitution of Indonesia deals with human rights which apply to “every person”. Article 28A declares that “every person has the right to live and to maintain their lives and livelihood”. Article 28C protects the right to self-development and education, as well as the right to benefit from science and technology, along with arts and culture. Article 28I states that every person has the right to be free and protected from discrimination (Constitution of Indonesia, 1945).

The rights of the disabled in Indonesia are further covered under Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights. Article 5(3) acknowledges the disabled as a disadvantaged group within society that has the right to “greater protection of human rights”. Article 41(2) guarantees the right of the disabled to “special facilities and treatment”. Article 42 notes that the disabled are entitled to “special care, education, training and assistance” from the state, which will enable them to live a dignified existence and take part in public life (Indonesia Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights).

Indonesia’s commitment to disability rights is reinforced by Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities. The explanation part of the law recalls that Indonesia had become party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a sign of the country’s resolve to protect the rights of disabled people. The government has an obligation to integrate the rights guaranteed by the Convention into Indonesian national law, and this law serves to ensure that people with disabilities have the same ability and opportunity to participate in public life (Indonesia Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities).

The law places an emphasis on accommodating and ensuring accessibility for disabled people in various sectors of public life. Article 5 of the law lists the rights people with disabilities are entitled to, including the right to accessibility, an independent life, and participation in public life. Article 9 guarantees accessibility in obtaining judicial services. Articles 18 and 19 emphasize accommodation and accessibility for disabled people in using public facilities and public services. Article 23 goes into more detail on the right of disabled people to live independently and participate in public life, including provision of mobility aids and accessibility to services. Article 24 focuses on the right of disabled people to communicate, express themselves, and obtain information. This right encompasses the provision of “easily accessible media” and facilities such as sign language, Braille, and augmentative communication in official events. Article 26 states that disabled people have the right to be free from discrimination. Article 36 mandates legal authorities to provide accommodation for people with disabilities during the judicial process. Article 40 places upon national and regional governments the responsibility of providing and facilitating education for disabled people. Article 85 orders national and regional governments to ensure accessibility for disabled people in obtaining cultural and tourism services. Article 105 mandates the provision of easily accessible public services (including public transportation) for disabled people (Indonesia Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities).

Several provisions within the Convention, which Indonesia has ratified, deal with the use of assistive technology. Articles 4(g) urges parties to the Convention to pursue research, development, and usage of “new technologies, including information and communications technologies, mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies.” Article 4(h) then instructs state parties “[t]o provide accessible information to persons with disabilities about mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies.” Article 20 calls on states to enact measures ensuring that disabled people have personal mobility, including facilitating access to mobility aids, devices, and assistive technologies. Article 26 directs state parties to promote assistive technologies and devices in enabling disabled people to live independently and take part in all aspects of life.

Article 29 provides for the use of assistive technologies in facilitating disabled people’s participation in public and political life, such as in voting, running in elections, and holding office. Article 32 recognizes the possibility of international cooperation in, among others, ensuring access to and sharing of assistive technologies (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007).

With assistive technology being an important part of the Convention, which Indonesia has ratified and integrated into national law through Law No. 8 of 2016, this article will look into how far assistive technology has been implemented in Indonesia to fulfil the rights of disabled people under international law.

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Assistive Technology and its Types

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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines assistive technology as “an umbrella term for assistive products and their related systems and services.” Assistive products, according to the WHO, have the function of helping to “maintain or improve an individual’s functioning related to cognition, communication, hearing, mobility, self-care and vision, thus enabling their health, well-being, inclusion and participation.” They include both physical products (including wheelchairs, white canes for the visually impaired, and prosthetic limbs) as well as digital devices such as speech recognition (World Health Organization, 2024).

Similarly, the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) defines assistive technology as technology which helps people who face struggles in “speaking, typing, writing, remembering, pointing, seeing, hearing, learning, walking, and many other things.” Thus, as noted by ATIA, assistive technology encompasses a wide spectrum of tools, such as prosthetics, keyboards, screen readers, wheelchairs, walkers, and specialized learning materials and curriculum aids, among others (Assistive Technology Industry Association, n.d.).
 

Implementation of Assistive Technology in Indonesia
 

Implementation of assistive technology in Indonesia remains patchy at best. In September 2023, Katalis, an Indonesian-Australian business development program, observed that many of the 23 million disabled Indonesians were unable to access assistive technologies required to take part in work and community life. Indonesia’s National Health Insurance (Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional) only encompassed seven assistive device types out of the 50 recommended by the WHO, and there was no coverage for people with visual impairments. The high prices for assistive technologies put them out of the reach of most Indonesians; often only the wealthiest 20% of households could afford them (Katalis, 2023).

A 2024 article in the Disability and Rehabilitation journal also noted problems with accessing assistive technology in Indonesia. The article noted that 80% of people who needed spectacles had no access to them. A majority of the people with hearing impairments did not have access to hearing aids. Of those who could benefit from mobility-related assistive products (such as wheelchairs and prosthetics), less than one-fourth had access to them. The article further noted that Law No. 8 of 2016 requires the government to collect data on the needs and types of assistive products available in the country. However, as of the writing of the article, such data had not been made available as a result of the country’s “fragmented disability data tracking system” (Ardianuari et al., 2024).

The World Bank stated in a 2023 report that assistive technology was available only in a limited extent in inclusive schools (schools where children with disabilities learn together alongside those without disabilities) in Indonesia. Of the special guidance teachers (Guru Pembimbing Khusus or GPK) trained on inclusive education in inclusive schools who were surveyed for the report, nearly 70% reported not having access to assistive technology. 80% of teachers in special schools (tailored towards those with special needs) did report having assistive technology. Teacher training on assistive technology in both inclusive and special schools was severely lacking, with nearly 85% of special guidance teachers in inclusive schools and 70% of teachers in special schools stating that they did not have any training on assistive technology for disabled children. The report noted that this might have been a result of the current system of teacher training lacking a focus on assistive technology, instead focusing on basic topics such as the concept of inclusive education and identifying children with disabilities (Hata et al., 2023).

The limitations of assistive technology availability in educational settings were also highlighted in a 2025 study published on Cogent Social Sciences. Nine disabled students at a state university in Indonesia took part in the study, along with two lecturers with experience teaching disabled students in inclusive classes. The students came from the Science and Technology and Social Humanities disciplines. According to the study, the disabled students faced a variety of obstacles in the course of their education. A student with hearing impairments, for example, found it difficult to understand videos that did not come with subtitles. Another student who was entirely blind struggled with text-based or visual materials that were not equipped with alternative text. One student in the Science and Technology discipline reported struggling to reach for tools and materials needed for laboratory practicums. As for the lecturers, while they understood the importance of accessibility, they were hampered by their limited knowledge and ability in adapting learning materials for disabled students, particularly for those with neurodevelopmental disorders who might require learning methods tailored to them, for example simplified instructions. All this, the study observed, demonstrated the need for resources, institutional support, and training in implementing accessibility (Sujannah et al., 2025).

The Indonesian government has not been entirely silent on the issue of assistive technology. It has measures such as the digital literacy policy and Indonesia Pintar (Smart Indonesia) to improve technological access to students, especially disabled ones. Funding is a major issue, with schools in underprivileged communities often unable to afford assistive technology (Meriana et al, 2025). Nevertheless, the current government under President Prabowo Subianto is already starting to take steps to address the lack of assistive technology in schools. In September 2025, the government announced that it would distribute smart digital screens to 330,000 schools across the country by the end of the year. President Prabowo stated that the technology would help solve teacher shortages in remote areas of the country. 20 to 30 teachers for each subject would teach from a studio, with lessons broadcast across the country. Each school would receive one screen for now, but the government hopes to provide three screens for each school in 2026, and eventually one screen for every classroom in the future (ANTARA News, 2025).

Thus, while steps have been taken to remedy the problem, the uneven availability of assistive technology in Indonesia shows that the country still has a long way to go towards fulfilling its obligations to disabled people under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as national law on the rights of the disabled. Article 20 of the Convention directs states to ensure that the disabled can be personally mobile, which encompasses providing mobility aids, devices, and assistive technologies. However, access to such tools remained unavailable for many disabled Indonesians as of the 2023 Katalis report, with the prices for those tools putting them out of reach for a majority of Indonesians. The 2024 Disability and Rehabilitation article noted that less than 25% of people who might benefit from mobility devices could access them. Article 26 of the Convention enjoins state parties to promote assistive technologies and devices with the aim of ensuring people with disabilities can live independently and participate in all aspects of life. This is also emphasized in Article 5 of Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities, which covers the right to accessibility, an independent life, and participation in public life. Nevertheless, those provisions have not been fully realized in Indonesia. According to the Disability and Rehabilitation article, four-fifths of people in need of spectacles did nothave them, and a majority of people in need of hearing aids were not equipped with them. The nation therefore faces a great number of people with visual and hearing impairments who do not have the tools they need to live a fulfilling life and fully participate in society.

The lack of assistive technology – and the training needed to use it – are glaringly obvious in the field of education. The World Bank report demonstrated that a majority of special guidance teachers in inclusive schools had no access to assistive technology at all. Training on assistive technology was also severely lacking. Most special guidance teachers, along with teachers in special schools, were not trained in the use of assistive technology. For disabled students who are reliant on the use of assistive technology for their education, this presents a major problem: they may not be able to take part in classroom activities as smoothly as they could have. They may feel that they do not fit in at the school, receive lower marks, fail classes, and even drop out of the school. The struggles of both the students and lecturers, and how important assistive technology is for the successful education of disabled students, are illustrated in the 2025 study published on Cogent Social Sciences. If assistive tools are not readily available, students may fall behind in their education. This can potentially limit their employment opportunities in the future, which in turn may lead to lower income.

The government is now working towards providing assistive technology for those who need it, yet major gaps still remain that need to be addressed, such as the availability and distribution of assistive tools for lower-class people and those in remote and disadvantaged communities. Only once these gaps have been addressed can it truly be said that Indonesia has fulfilled the rights of its disabled citizens under international law, which includes the provision of assistive technology for everyone who needs it.
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References

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ANTARA News (2025, September 11). President Prabowo to equip 330,000 schools with digital screens. Retrieved December 9, 2025, from https://en.antaranews.com/news/379401/president-prabowo-to-equip-330000-schools-with-digital-screens.

Ardianuari, S., et al. (2024). Assistive technology unmet need in Indonesia: challenges and opportunities for enhancing equitable access. Disability and Rehabilitation, 19(5), 2026-37. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/17483107.2023.2244996?needAccess=true.

Assistive Technology Industry Association (n.d.). What is AT?. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from https://www.atia.org/home/at-resources/what-is-at/.

Constitution of Indonesia (1945). https://en.mkri.id/download/constitution/constitution_1_1625426222_4c1e13f466840d7ed721.pdf.

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, March 30, 2007. https://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convention_accessible_pdf.pdf.

Hata, A., et al. (2023). Assistive Technologies for Children with Disabilities in Inclusive and Special Schools in Indonesia. Retrieved December 8, 2025, from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/c572889e-81e2-46c7-9c7c-3c00f03d42ee/content.

Indonesia Law No. 8 of 2016 on Persons with Disabilities. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Download/26352/UU%20Nomor%208%20Tahun%202016.pdf (in Indonesian).

Indonesia Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights.
https://www.flevin.com/id/lgso/translations/Laws/Law%20No.%2039%20of%201999%20on
%20Human%20Rights.pdf.

Katalis (2023, September 26). Limited access to assistive technology costs the economy up to 7% annually. Retrieved November 21, 2025, from https://iacepa-katalis.org/en/press-release/limited-access-to-assistive-technology-costs-the-economy-up-to-7-annually.

Meriana, C., et al. (2025). The Indonesian Government’s Efforts to Create Inclusive Education for People with Disabilities Through Assistive Technology. Proceeding IROFONIC 2024, 1(1), 531-535. https://proirofonic.upnjatim.ac.id/index.php/proirofonic/article/view/105/123.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2025). Background to the Convention – Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd/background-convention.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2025). Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crpd.

Sujannah, W. D., et al. (2025). Advancing inclusive practices in higher education: insights from Indonesia’s approach to disability support. Cogent Social Sciences, 11(1), 1-17. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/23311886.2025.2593559?needAccess=true.

United Nations Treaty Collection (2025). Chapter IV: Human Rights – 15. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved November 7, 2025, from https://treaties.un.org/pages/viewdetails.aspx?src=treaty&mtdsg_no=iv-15&chapter=4&clang=_en.

World Health Organization (2024). Assistive technology. Retrieved November 18, 2025, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology.​

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