You are logged in
Loading…
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one.
Your active subscription(s)
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Products you’ve access to
Additional Subscription Benefits
Account Settings
Need help with your subscription?
July 3, 2026e-Paper
The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.
First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.
Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.
Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!
Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers
THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers
Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there
Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.
The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.
July 3, 2026e-Paper
Updated – July 04, 2026 03:28 am IST – NEW DELHI
The platform holds exclusive streaming rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Delhi High Court has issued notice to Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited on a petition claiming that its OTT platform, ZEE5, is inaccessible to persons with visual disabilities, preventing them from independently accessing digital content, including live coverage of the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, hearing a petition filed by disability rights lawyer Rahul Bajaj, on July 2 also directed the Central government to submit its response within two weeks.
The petition filed through advocates Amritesh Mishra, Sarah, and Amar Jain, contends that their client Mr. Bajaj was unable to independently access ZEE5 to follow the FIFA World Cup 2026, for which the platform holds exclusive streaming rights in India.
They argued that ZEE5 platforms, the over-the-top (OTT) streaming application and website, are inaccessible to persons who are blind or have low vision and rely on screen-reader technologies such as TalkBack, VoiceOver and Voice Assistant.
“Suffice it to say that, at present, all digital platforms operating in the Indian market are under a continuing statutory obligation to ensure that they are accessible for persons with disabilities,” the plea said.
It added that “ZEE5 platform is inaccessible at the very threshold: even purchasing a subscription is a serious challenge on account of unlabelled buttons and an otherwise inaccessible interface, which cannot be meaningfully navigated using a screen reader”.
“Even where a subscription is somehow obtained, the platform suffers from pervasive barriers – unlabelled or wrongly labelled controls, unstable focus and automatic cursor movement, an inaccessible media player, poor content discovery and dynamic interface behaviour that disrupts assistive technology,” the plea added.
The plea argued that the Supreme Court, in Pragya Prasun v. Union of India case has held the right to digital access to be an integral facet of the fundamental right to life under Article 21.
“Specifically, it is not the petitioner’s say that the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup itself should undergo any modification for the benefit of the disabled. He is satisfied, for the moment, with the audio commentary being offered. His grievance is that the platform itself is inaccessible, such that a blind user cannot independently access the commentary at all,” the plea added.
Published – July 04, 2026 03:27 am IST
Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
BACK TO TOP
Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
Leave a Reply