Universal Acceptance: Shaping Digital Futures
- Rohan Sachdeva
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
01 April 2026 | By Rohan Sachdeva
In our hyper-connected world, we often take for granted that the internet "just works." But for millions, the digital door remains locked, not because of a lack of signal, but because the web wasn’t built for their language.
Imagine growing up in a town in North India where English is used for official paperwork, yet the majority of people cannot fluently read or write it. As technical innovation moves at breakneck speed and digital services replace physical forms, a vital question arises: Is knowing English now a bare minimum requirement to exist in society? Or can we build digital services that actually include everyone?
My name is Rohan Sachdeva. I was recently selected for the NextGen@ICANN85 fellowship program in Mumbai, where I explored why Universal Acceptance (UA) is far more than a technical hurdle. It is about ensuring an equal digital identity for every person on this planet.
What is Universal Acceptance?
Universal Acceptance is the simple but profound principle that all domain names and email addresses should be treated equally by every application, device, and system—regardless of their script, language, or length.
It means moving beyond "technical elegance" toward a truly inclusive internet. This involves supporting non-Latin domain names (like .ਭਾਰਤ), internationalised email addresses (like ਰੋਹਨ@ਸਚਦੇਵਾ.ਭਾਰਤ), and ensuring that validation forms don’t reject a user’s identity just because it isn't in English.
The Keyboard Barrier: Why Typing is a Struggle
One of the most immediate barriers to this vision is the keyboard itself. Computers and keyboards were originally designed for English, where each sound usually maps to one straight-line letter and one key. Hindi is different. It uses a writing system where letters
are built from multiple parts, change shape, and sometimes appear before or below the main letter—even if they are typed after it.
This makes typing Hindi a complex task requiring "smarter" software and extra steps. Currently, many bilingual speakers use a workaround: typing phonetically in English and using an Input Method Editor (IME) to convert it to Hindi script. But for a unilingual speaker who doesn't know the Latin alphabet, this is a massive wall. To be truly inclusive, we must move beyond these "hacks" and invest in native-script keyboards and advanced voice-to-text innovation.
The Reality: India’s Digital "App Gap"
The need for UA is incredibly urgent here. India has over 1.45 billion people and 22 official languages, yet only a fraction of us speak English. Despite this, a report by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) of India noted that many of our most popular platforms, including Paytm, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip, and MyAadhar, are not yet fully "UA Ready."
We also face a "Two-Point" email problem: for a localised email to work, both the sender’s and the receiver’s systems must be compliant. If one fails, the communication fails.
The Paradox of Diversity: When Local Scripts Become a Barrier
Interestingly, in a region as diverse as India, local scripts can sometimes become a hurdle rather than an incentive. Because our languages change every few100 kilometres, a small business using a specific local-language domain (IDN) might actually inhibit its own growth; a customer in a neighbouring state might not understand or be able to type that script.
In these cases, English often serves as a necessary "common medium." While countries like Russia or China can easily adopt a single national language across the web, India’s reality requires a model that balances local identity with the practical need for cross-language communication.
The "Quiet Exclusion" of Translation
Even when users find content, they often encounter the "quiet exclusion" of poor translation. Machine translation (MT) models often struggle with "low-resource" languages. We use quality indexes like BLEU and COMET to measure accuracy, but when these scores are low, users are forced to either mentally translate clunky text or abandon their language entirely.
The AI Opportunity (and the Risk)
As we enter the era of Artificial Intelligence, we have a massive opportunity. AI website builders now allow anyone to launch a platform in minutes. However, these tools can also "bake in" old prejudices. Many AI tools inherit outdated validation patterns that assume English-only inputs. When an AI-generated form rejects a Punjabi email address, it effectively silences that user before they can even participate.
Looking Toward 2026
As we look toward the ICANN 2026 New gTLD Program, our focus must shift from merely registering names to ensuring they actually work. We must prioritise:
● UA Readiness First: Browsers and email systems must accept new TLDs and IDNs by default.
● True Language Inclusion: Supporting local scripts so users don't have to "Romanise" their identities.
● Measuring Real Impact: Tracking actual user experience and accessibility, not just the number of domains sold.
As Mr Sharad Vivek Sagar, the Founder & CEO of Dexterity Global says, "The next world leader is in your classroom." Whether that future leader speaks Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, or any other language, the internet must be ready for them. Universal Acceptance isn't just a coding standard; it’s a fundamental requirement and enabler of human rights in the digital age.
By Rohan Sachdeva
Compliance Officer and NextGen@ICANN 85 Fellow, .au Domain Administration