Akses Inklusif: A Digital Platform for Essential Services and Information for Parents of Children with Disability in Indonesia
From the onset of concepting this inclusive platform for our project on Leaving No One Behind, it was crucial for our teams to gain a holistic understanding of the challenges and needs of the community it would be created for. We spent several months learning from the experiences of parents and caretakers of children with disability and engaging with communities and organizations of people with disability. Equipped with these insights, our data team proceeded to develop Akses Inklusif, a digital platform for essential services and information to assist parents and caretakers make more informed decisions.
Early intervention can significantly improve the quality of life for children with disability and reduce the mental stress and financial burden for their families. As we learned from the experiences of parents and caretakers of people with disability and our field research, having access to information is critical to support their development. This is why we designed Akses Inklusif to serve as a comprehensive ‘one-stop’ resource that consolidates key information in one place. Following extensive research and development over the past year, we are excited to announce that the beta version has been finalized and is now accessible by the public. These are some insights to our development process and the highlight features of our platform.
Why a digital platform?
Long discussions were had about the set-up of the platform in the early stages of the project. Ultimately, we opted to create a digital platform for several reasons:
- User Convenience: The platform serves as a one-stop shop and eliminates the need to scour multiple sources for information.
- Customization: We employ a modular design to tailor the platform to user’s needs, with flexibility for ongoing updates.
- Evolution: We designed our platform to be adaptive, allowing community input, discussion forums, and the addition of other innovative features.
That being said, we are aware that not all of our target audience has internet access, the technological proficiency or the means to use our platform. To overcome this barrier and ensure the platform’s reach and accessibility is all-encompassing, our team explored alternative methods such as offline dissemination utilizing community volunteers and networks to distribute the information on the platform.
Gathering and processing key information
The project was initiated by conducting preliminary research to identify key information areas, notably in healthcare and education. Our teams collaborated with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to gather relevant data on facilities and human resources. However, beyond this, our platform also provides information on locations for assistive devices, disability-friendly public spaces, and supportive communities and organizations. The data we collected is diverse, ranging from qualitative text to videos and where possible, we have simplified complex details into visually appealing and digestible infographics. An added advantage to using our platform is that the information is easily shareable using links and downloads, and the infographics are easily shareable online and offline from the platform.
A feature that was often raised by our users as crucial was the “Search by Location” feature, indicating that potential users highly value precise location-based information. To develop this feature, our team employed a multi-layered validation process to ensure the accuracy of all location-specific data. Whenever feasible, we prioritized data from official sources, such as the Ministry of Health and Education, which includes information on schools specifically for children with disability (Sekolah Luar Biasa), inclusive schools, and hospitals. If a certain set of records falls short — for example, when a school or hospital location cannot be precisely pinpointed, we cross-reference the data with other sources, notably from the internet.
While on the surface, integrating text data from different sources may seem straightforward, it gains complexity when dealing with large and unconventional datasets such as those with inconsistent administrative boundary IDs. We aimed to standardize the IDs to enhance the user’s ability to search information by location and employed advanced techniques to automate the data-matching and validation processes. While it was largely successful, it couldn’t validate all data points and our team had to thoroughly review multiple internet sources to ensure their accuracy. It was a time-consuming process but sometimes the only viable option to ensure the reliability of data.
Key features and crowdsourcing for sustainability
Beyond providing useful information based on reliable data, we need to ensure the sustainability of the platform and we’ve done so through crowdsourcing. Opening the platform to crowdsourcing allows us more resources for manual tasks, supplementing our validation efforts and adding new data. This collaborative approach also allows for contributions from a broader user base who may have more knowledge to share and can create a greater sense of ownership by users. Now that the beta version has been finalized, our aim is to foster organic growth of crowdsourcing activities and facilitate faster community participation.
Another key feature that we also hope grows organically is our community forum. The forum serves as a space for users to share additional resources, insights, and experiences to enrich the platform and if done right, can create a robust and reliable information ecosystem to benefit people with disability and their caregivers.
Additionally, the platform offers personalized search options for registered users. Users can specify the types of disability information that is relevant to them, following which they will be presented with specific information that gives them a more personal and customized experience. Local disability statistics are also shared to offer users a broader perspective and potentially aid advocacy efforts.
Over time, we aim to integrate even more data including information on healthcare facility fees, insurance details and transportation routes. Our mission to contribute to Leave No One Behind (LNOB) is ongoing but it is also one that we believe will be more effective through collaboration. If you are interested in joining efforts, we invite you to join us in creating a wider and more meaningful impact!
Authors: Rajius Idzalika (Principal Data Scientist) with editorial support from Andini Kamayana (Communication Manager)
The Leave No One Behind (LNOB) project looks at data ON and data FOR people with disability and is a collaborative effort initiated by multiple stakeholders. The project focuses on components under the mandate to ‘Leave No One Behind’ and is an opportunity to respond to commitments within the UN Data Strategy to improve the collective use of data within and between UN agencies in Indonesia to deliver better results. We would like to thank all stakeholders who have contributed to this project for their continued support and collaboration, with special thanks to UN Global Pulse Finland for the funding support.
Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) project team members: Faizal Thamrin (Data Innovation and Policy Lead), Rajius Idzalika (Principal Data Scientist), Rheza Muztahid (Principal Data Engineer), Robbi Nugraha (Web Application Engineer), Aaron Situmorang (Social Systems Lead), Rizqi Ashfina (Research Officer), Desi Vicianna (former Government Partnership Coordinator), Andini Kamayana (Communication Manager), Alfian Maulana Latief (Multimedia Associate), Muhammad Fazri Nahar (former Data Analyst Intern) Ramzy Syafiq (former Data Analyst and Visualization Intern), Rahma Fairuz Rania (former Data Analyst Intern)
