Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola has called on justice-sector institutions to ensure persons with disabilities are not excluded as government services increasingly move online.
Lenaola, who chairs the Integrated Court Management Systems and Communication Committee, said accessibility should be incorporated within individual institutions instead of being left solely to organisations such as the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
He spoke during an engagement with justice-sector actors on the Digital, ICT and AI Accessibility Roadmap for government services in Kenya.
Lenaola urged institutions to appoint accessibility champions or focal persons to ensure the needs of persons with disabilities are considered in digital transformation.
“With the increased use of technology and especially AI, all tools must be inclusive. Let’s make a commitment that we will not digitise exclusion; we will digitise inclusion,” he said.
Lenaola said the justice sector had made progress through the development of digital and ICT accessibility policy approaches, adoption of an accessibility maturity model and establishment of institutional structures.
He said work was also ongoing on AI governance and policy.
The initiative brings together stakeholders seeking to make government services more accessible to persons with disabilities and strengthen accessibility across institutions.
Some of the Judicial officers, judicial staff and officials from other justice-sector institutions following the engagement on September 10, 2026/ HANDOUT
Justice Kibaya Laibuta said assistive technology alone could not address barriers faced by persons with disabilities if the digital platforms and content they are expected to use remain inaccessible.
He cited inaccessible icons, interfaces that depend heavily on visual information, scanned documents and incompatible systems as some of the barriers that can limit access to digital services.
“Digital justice must be designed with accessibility from the beginning, not added as an afterthought,” Laibuta said.
He called for persons with disabilities to be directly involved in designing digital systems and urged institutions to empower accessibility champions.
Laibuta also said accessibility should be a mandatory consideration in procurement, ICT development and digital innovation.
Court of Appeal Judge Daniel Musinga urged justice-sector institutions to promote inclusion through compliance by design, inclusive AI and ICT systems and greater collaboration.
