— This research investigates the correlation between the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA) and the Web Accessibility Index (WAIN) across 19 Latin American countries to assess the degree of alignment between technological innovation and digital inclusivity. The ILIA examines infrastructure, data capacity, talent development, research and adoption, and governance structures to give a broad picture of AI readiness. The index shows that some regions are better at digital transformation than others. For example, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil are already ahead of the curve in terms of AI adoption thanks to the existence of strong infrastructure and governance frameworks.Even with these improvements, the results point to the fact that being ready for AI doesn't always make the web easier for everyone to use. Taking a look at the web portals of the ILIA countries, we find that a high percentage of digital assets do not comply with the most basic accessibility requirements, in particular the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards. For example, contrast and navigation were only available to a limited number of sites. Cuba and Venezuela had evident problems of accessibility, while Uruguay showed a strong compliance with the standards of perceptibility and navigation.This discrepancy hints at a bigger problem: when inclusive design principles are not baked in from the beginning, technology development and AI adoption can run at different speeds. But access is still not equal because the laws and policies are very different in different countries and many national digital strategies still do not enforce WCAG-based standards as well as they should. The legal systems of Latin America are very diverse. For example, Brazil has a strong accessibility law and government rules which follow WCAG, while other countries have weaker or less enforced rules.The study demonstrates that accessibility is a key element of sustainable digital ecosystems that can truly help everyone access technology equally. New ideas can exacerbate existing inequalities rather than improve them when they are not deliberately built into AI and digital strategy frameworks. The limitations of the study are the regional focus on Latin America, the use of automated assessment tools which might overlook nuanced user experiences and the fast evolving features of AI as well as accessibility technologies. Future research must build on this study, incorporating longitudinal analyses to track cross-year trends, user-centred evaluations to document actual accessibility experiences, and comparative studies across regions to build universally robust frameworks grounded in empirical evidence. Such work would help to improve the relationship between innovation and inclusivity so that digital transformation benefits all rather than only a few.This study points to the need for coherent strategies that focus on compliance with WCAG 2.2, universal design principles and policy alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Inclusive Institutions). Regions can build fair and sustainable digital ecosystems that provide the opportunity for all citizens, regardless of their abilities or socio-economic circumstances, to participate, by creating open digital spaces and embedding accessibility from the outset.
Johar et al. (Fri,) studied this question.