The WBA Digital Inclusion Benchmark measures and ranks the world's most influential companies on their efforts to advance digital inclusion, tracking how companies are expanding access to digital technologies, improving digital skills and literacy, and ensuring safe and inclusive digital environments for all. The 2026 edition assessed 200 companies across key sectors of the digital economy including telecommunications, software, hardware, and digital platforms. The benchmark is developed in close collaboration with an Expert Review Committee and partners including GRI, ITU, and the Alliance for Affordable Internet, with a methodology designed to incentivise companies to understand where digital exclusion risks are highest and act to bridge the digital divide, while keeping human rights and social impacts at its core.
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The SDGs call for a reduction in inequalities. SDG target 10.2 is particularly relevant here: ‘By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.’ The ability of diverse groups of users to access digital products is critical for inclusion.
An estimated 1.3 billion people – or 16% of the global population – experience a significant disabilityxiii. People with disabilities are less likely to use digital technologies, such as a computer or the Internet. In the United States, for example, 72% of people with disabilities said that they owned smartphones, compared with 88% of those without a disability.xiv
For digital technology companies, prioritising accessibility is critical not only for digital inclusion but also for compliance with global human rights frameworks, such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which advocates for accessible technology as a fundamental right. Companies should strive to ensure that no one is digitally excluded for economic, physical or social reasons.
Research Guidance:
The company demonstrates that it promotes inclusivity for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the workplace. To meet the this element, the company must: 1) disclose data on the employment of persons with disabilities within its workforce such as number of employees who identify as having a disability. Disclosure may be limited to specific jurisdictions if national legislation restricts global data collection; 2) provide evidence that its workplace is accessible to employees with disabilities. This may include physical accessibility (e.g. wheelchair access, adapted workspaces) and disability inclusive practices (e.g. staff training on disability inclusion, disability-inclusive HR and promotion policies, etc.)
Workplace actions must benefit employees, not only customers or external stakeholders with disabilities.