Authors : Odikeme Powede; Biobele Okardi

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 4 - April

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/3x3hbmvb

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26apr427

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Abstract : The rapid transfer of the key government services such as healthcare, finance, government administration, and education to the online platforms has completely changed the process of services delivery process on the international level. As this digital transformation has brought significant benefits in terms of operational efficiency and scalability, it also contributes to socio-technical inequalities in that it suppresses the population which lacks access to it, skills, or infrastructure themselves. In this paper, a critical analysis will be performed on the conceptualization of how the indispensability of digital services can be achieved to reduce exclusion, and at the same time tap into the capabilities of modern technologies. Based on a qualitative, conceptual paradigm, using human-computer interaction (HCI) scholarship, the study analyzes the policy, and previous empirical studies of antecedents assess the groups most vulnerable to digital exclusion and evaluate current, regulatory, and design-based interventions. The analysis shows that even strategies which are more concerned with compliance, or remediation, do not suffice as such tactics are still not adequate to consider the very socio-technical nature of exclusion. The paper, therefore, suggests a combined set of evidence-based design guidelines, i.e. accessibility-by-default, participatory design, multichannel access, progressive disclosure, and built-in digital literacy support, adapted to the conditions of high stakes services. It argues that the inclusive digital design should be a socio-technical requirement unlikely to occur instead of a contingency. The integration of inclusiveness in the design of the lifecycle enables critical services to actualize technological progress as well as promote social equity.

Keywords : Digital Exclusion; Inclusive Design: Human Computer Interaction (HCI); Essential Digital Services; Accessibility-ByDefault; Socio-Technical Systems; Participatory Design; Digital Inequality; E-Government; Digital Transformation.

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