Language barriers continue to limit meaningful participation online
A new report from the Coalition on Digital Impact finds that Internet access does not always lead to meaningful participation online, with thousands of languages still poorly supported by digital services and content.
Internet access alone does not guarantee that people can fully participate online, according to a new report from the Coalition on Digital Impact (CODI).
Its first State of Digital Access report examines the gap between internet connectivity and the availability of digital services and content in people’s own languages. More than 7,000 languages are spoken worldwide, while around 10 account for most online content, according to the report.
CODI surveyed organisations working with underserved language communities between December 2025 and February 2026. While 76.5% of respondents said their communities had internet access, about 53% reported that users could not navigate the internet in their native language.
Respondents identified several barriers. These included a lack of local-language content, poor translation, limited search and discovery, missing keyboards and scripts, and online services that do not properly accept internationalised email addresses.
The report also found that language support varies significantly between types of online services. Local-language content is more common in news and social media, while education, commercial, professional and government services are more often available only in dominant languages.
One technical issue concerns Universal Acceptance. This is the principle that domain names, email addresses and different writing systems should work correctly across Internet-enabled systems. CODI describes it as an important technical foundation for multilingual internet access, but argues that it is not enough on its own. Users also need content they can find, services they can use, appropriate input tools and reliable information in their languages.
CODI also examined digital development programmes and policies. It found significant investment in infrastructure, digital skills, governance and innovation, but said linguistic inclusion is less often treated as a basic requirement when digital services are designed. Language support is more commonly added later through translation or localisation.
The report also looks at artificial intelligence. CODI notes growing investment in technologies designed to support languages with fewer digital resources, but says most language technology projects still cover only a limited share of the world’s languages. Commercial investment can also favour languages with larger markets.
CODI identifies a further gap between organisations working directly with underserved language communities and governments, funders and technology companies developing digital infrastructure and services. It plans to build on the report through research partnerships, community contributions and a searchable collection of digital-access resources.
