Inclusion

What Is Driving The Digital Economy?

We have entered the era of cognitive systems that provide artificial intelligence in helping to make decisions. scientists and engineers around the world are pushing the boundaries of science and technology to create machines that sense, learn, reason, and interact with people in new ways to provide insight and advice. This trend is creating an improved quality of life for those living with disabilities. How is your organization preparing to compete in a rapidly changing world of compliance standards and inclusion best practices?

A paradigm shift in society, driven by consumer demand, miniaturization, cloud sourcing, and wireless mobile devices, is placing greater power in the hands of consumers, and having a profound impact on the workplace and organization infrastructure stability. However, the ability to use new emerging technologies is currently at the heart of social inclusion, with those excluded being left out of many work, entertainment, communication, healthcare and social benefits. Automation without collaboration within an organization will create systemic barriers. As we approach the intersection of people and machines, the rapid change in society is having an impact on the way we interact with one another and how we conduct daily life tasks. More and more companies are acknowledging the importance of work-life balance. Attitude and Systemic barriers influence both productivity and market growth.
At a fundamental level Design Is Governance (new window)

Accessibility Design Is An Investment

Accessibility has become a mainstream requirement that can transform the business, and every part of the organization should be involved in creating a holistic strategy for embedding accessibility across the entire enterprise. Accessibility should be viewed as an investment, and not a cost burden. Investing in a well-defined accessibility strategy will only improve development effectiveness, testing efficiencies, and user satisfaction. Fundamentally, accessibility is about expanding market opportunities to achieve sustainable growth in revenue, return on investment, and profitability; And not just about meeting legal compliance.

Companies that embrace best practices for employing and supporting more persons with disabilities in their workforce have outperformed their peers, according to the Accenture research study. The 45 companies identified as standing out for their leadership in areas specific to disability employment and inclusion had, on average over the four-year period, 28 percent higher revenue, double the net income and 30 percent higher economic profit margins than their peers. The analysis also revealed that U.S. GDP could get a boost of up to US$25 billion if more persons with disabilities joined the labor force. Accenture Disability Inclusion Research Report: The Disability Inclusion Imperative (PDF)

Diversity management must recognize employee differences for innovation, collaboration and success, and link diversity to business objectives and ensuring the company values each individual’s contribution as integral to the company bottom line. Having an inclusive environment really demands an engagement process that starts at the top, and extends throughout the corporation to each and every employee and stakeholder in the enterprise. Note, it is not only important to communicate your organization accessibility strategy internally, but also externally to your customers and partners. Accessibility statements inform users about the accessibility of your website, mobile application, and other digital content. They demonstrate your commitment to accessibility, and to the inclusion of people with disabilities. They can be as simple as briefly outlining that commitment and providing information on how users can get help, should they encounter difficulty in using your content.

As this trend sweeps through workplaces around the globe, HR leaders and executives alike have been turning their attention and focus towards the Employee Experience. The challenge of the corporate enterprise of the future is to find a sustainable balance between the measurable growth and quality of life. A Diversity Maturity Model (DMM) strategy will track progress in building a more inclusive environment. It measures employee perceptions, business processes and the organizational climate. The DMM will provide a common language, cohesive approach and uniform process to establish a roadmap for progressing as an inclusive enterprise.

technologies have transformed how business operates, how people manage their purchasing and finances, find and carry out jobs, access public services and participate in communities, and how they experience learning, culture, leisure, social networking and entertainment. However, digital inclusion demands that everyone has the potential to be engaged with the economy and society. Investing in accessible and usable technology products and services, workplace environments and facilities opens up new markets, increases productivity and liberates talent, and enables innovation. There is a substantial risk to any organization which knowingly ignores the law. There is a requirement for you to anticipate access needs of disabled individuals and adapt for their access needs. the reality is that all organisations need to understand both the cost of doing business and the benefits that follow. Diversity and inclusion is an investment decision from a financial, legal and ethical viewpoint. It simply makes sense to get it right. Investing in accessible and usable information technology communications must have clearly defined strategic goals. In achieving these goals, the organization reveals how the investment contributes to Key Success Factors (KSF) relating to customers, employees and internal processes; thus improving performance, increases the bottom line, and shows how social responsibility benefit society as a whole.
Reimagine accessibility and foster inclusion in the modern workplace

Older Users Are An Increasing Market

Older web users are an increasing market segment and an important target group for many businesses, governments, and other organizations.
W3C: Older Users and Web Accessibility (new window)

There are numerous instances of an overlap between the needs of people with disability and people who are older. Many older people have age-related impairments that can affect how they use the web. These aspects overlap with the accessibility needs of people with disabilities. So, websites, applications, and tools that are accessible to people with disabilities are also more accessible to older users as well, such as declining:

  • Vision – including reduced contrast sensitivity, color perception, and near-focus, making it difficult to read web pages.
  • Hearing – including difficulty hearing higher-pitched sounds and separating sounds, making it difficult to hear podcasts and other audio, especially when there is background music.
  • Physical Ability – including reduced dexterity and fine motor control, making it difficult to use a mouse and click small targets.
  • Cognitive Ability – including reduced short-term memory, difficulty concentrating, and being easily distracted, making it difficult to follow navigation and complete online tasks.

Accessibility Is Helpful For All People

Accessibility is a necessity for people with disabilities, and is helpful and often necessary for many others. So many different people and groups benefit from digital accessibility including not only people with disabilities and older users, but also:

  • people using a mobile device which does not always act in the same way as a fixed desktop computer or laptop.
  • people with low literacy or who are not fluent in the language.
  • people with low bandwidth connections or using older technologies.
  • new and infrequent users of digital material.
  • people with situational limitations, for example they are in a noisy environment or one that has low light.
  • those who have a temporary disability such as a broken arm.
  • people who are in a situation where they cannot interact with content easily, for example videos with no captions and people who may not consider that their normal is not quite the same as that of other people and not consider themselves to have a disability, but still require some accommodations (Example: lowered vision ability due to age, or a slight tremor that affects their hands and arms).

Spotify: Hear From Leaders Across Business, Activism, and the Arts, Caroline Casey founder of the Valuable 500
The Valuable 500: Global business partnership of 500 companies working together to end disability exclusion (new window)

The Inclusion Challenge