Instigating Organizational Buy-In
to Embrace Accessibility
Shawn Lawton Henry, uiAccess.com
This handout for the TechAccessOK 2017 opening session includes:
- all slide text, and some extra text of things I said
- a few slide images, and notes on some other images that were on the slides
- links to get more information
A Tale of Two Organizations
Imagine an organization...
- where everyone embraces accessibility
- where they are committed to making the organization's website and other ICT accessible to people with disabilities
- where they appreciate the additional benefits of accessibility to all users and to the organization
- where they approach accessible design as an exciting challenge
- where they are proud of their accomplishments in accessibility
- ...
[slide image: person meditating]
[Agenda] Organizational buy-in
- Accessibility – differently
- Top – down
- Bottom – up
- 10, 100, 10 = wow!
think about accessibility differently
Accessibility is
- Checklist first item
- Checklist second item
- Checklist third item
... not!
[slide image: big red X over the checklist]
Accessibility is not primarily about
- The markup or code
- Evaluation tool results
- Conforming to standards
Accessibility is about people
- Glenda
- Carl
- John S.
- John B.
- Wayne
- Tim
- Sarah
[slide images: photos of people]
Demos
- Typing with mouthstick
- Screen magnification
- Dynamic braille display
Disabilities
- Auditory
- Cognitive
- Neurological
- Physical
- Speech
- Visual
Disabilities
- Congenital condition
- Disease
Illness
Accident
- Ageing ... all of us
Activity: percent of disabilities with age...
design for older users
curb cut example of required for accessibility, useful to all in different situations
[slide images: examples of use of curb cuts...]
accessibility is about
all sorts of
people
in all sorts of
situations
accessibility is about
designing your products
so that more people
can use them effectively
in more situations.
= business case
e.g., older users is key audience/users/market for many organizations
Designing for inclusion
Organizational buy-in [Agenda]
- Accessibility – differently
- Top – down
- Bottom – up
- Getting real – life
Business Case
Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization
www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/
- [carrot] Social factors
- [carrot] Financial factors
- [carrot] Technical factors
- [stick] Legal/policy factors
embrace the carrots!
www.uiaccess.com/embracing-carrots.html
[slide image: Carrots]
Your customers required to purchase
ICT (software, hardware, web)
that is accessible to their
employees, customers, public.
Accessibility = competitive advantage.
Stick
Reduce risk of legal action for inaccessible ICT
[slide image: legal gavel]
Accessibility is about...
designing your products
so that more people
can use them effectively
in more situations.
= business case
Perspectives Videos (10)
Essential for people with disabilities
and useful for all
www.w3.org/WAI/perspectives/
Web accessibility is essential for people with disabilities and useful for all. Learn about the impact of accessibility and the benefits for everyone in a variety of situations.
Demo: Text-to-Speech
www.w3.org/WAI/perspectives/speech.html
- Video:
- Closed captions
- Interactive transcript
- Audio described version
- Page with:
- What is "Text to Speech"?
- Who depends on this?
- What are the additional benefits?
- What needs to happen for this to work?
- Learn more
Top – Down
- Business case
- Project requirements and accolades
- Performance reviews and accolades
- Hiring qualifications
- ...
Organizational buy-in [Agenda]
- Accessibility – differently
- Top – down
- Bottom – up
- Designers, Developers, Content creators, ...
- Project Managers
- 10, 100, 10 = wow!
Clear up Myths
right thing to do
code
< pointy brackets are my world />
fundamentally the Web is all about access
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." - Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web.
Accessibility - W3C
www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility
The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, culture, location, or physical or mental ability. When the Web meets this goal, it is accessible to people with a diverse range of hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive ability.
Thus the impact of disability is radically changed on the Web because the Web removes barriers to communication and interaction that many people face in the physical world. However, when websites, web technologies, or web tools are badly designed, they can create barriers that exclude people from using the Web.
access is what the Wed is fundamentally all about
high quality work
UX, designers, coders, ...
Resume building
"WCAG" = 366 jobs
- Principle - System Engineer
- Sr. Graphics Designer, Web Designer, Visual Designer, Interaction Designer
- Web Developer, Interactive Developer, Angular JS UI Front End Web Developer, Full-Stack Developer, Software Engineer
- ...
low hanging fruit = easy wins
[slide image: apples on branch low to ground]
6 key things
- Awareness
- Understanding
- Awareness
- Understanding
- Awareness
- Understanding
Organizational buy-in [Agenda]
- Accessibility – differently
- Top – down
- Bottom – up
- 10, 100, 10 = wow!
A Tale of Two Organizations
When project teams understand the impact of their work on the lives of real people with disabilities, most are highly motivated by a new understanding of accessibility.
Successful awareness-building can make a project team eager and excited to do their best on accessibility for people with disabilities.
buy-in sessions for awareness & motivation
10 minutes
$100
10 hours
getting a clue
finding participant(s)
- Experts
- High impact (usually screen reader users who are blind)
- Close to audience in age, etc.
- Can bring own system (e.g., laptop with screen reader)
planning demos
- Products similar to organization's, especially competitor's
- Features organizations will soon be redesigning
getting key people to attend
purse holders, project managers, nitty-gritty designers and developers, ...
- Promise short
- Food
- Video record
conducting the session
0. prep like crazy
- Video tape practice session (just in case Murphy comes to play)
1. introductions
- Relate to audience, current events
- Relate to session organizer, manager
- Favorite sports, kids, hobbies, . . .
2. WOW, cooool !
- Website participant is most comfortable with
- Realistic situation (e.g., fast screen reader) and limited commentary
- Include a more complex task and
a common task, e.g., order book on Amazon
- SUCCESS if: jaws drop in amazement
- TIP: Must be resounding success
3. accessible vs. inaccessible
- Pick just a couple things to focus on
(e.g., form field labels), easy fixers
- How it works in accessible
- What doesn't work in inaccessible
- Back to accessible (slow down screen reader)
- Maybe show code
smooth
- Don't apologize, don't even tell
4. q & a
- Encourage any & all questions - state participant is free to pass on answering
(writing on card and handing in anonymously can get more frank questions)
5. conclusion
- Important: Communicate range of users, individual differences
10 minutes
$ 100
10 hours
WOW!
cool !
A Tale of Two Organizations
[slide image: pints of drinks]
buy-in sessions for awareness & motivation = SUCCESS!
equipping designers & developers
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
Designers and Developers Naturally think of themselves
[slide image: two people at computers with thought bubbles that have an image of themselves]
Personas for thinking about "real users"
[slide image: thought bubble includes different people]
Broadening "real users"
[slide image: thought bubble includes older person, person in wheelchair, person on a beach - all typing on computers]
How know about people with Disabilities?
[slide image: Disabilities: Auditory, Cognitive, Neurological, Physical, Speech, Visual, (including from aging). Person using headstick to type on laptop. Big question mark.]
To learn more
Involving Users in Web Projects for Better, Easier Accessibility
www.w3.org/WAI/users/involving
Just Ask: Integrating Accessibility Throughout Design
- Book content all online at www.uiAccess.com/JustAsk
- Chapter on personas
- Chapter on conducting usability testing with participants with disabilities has useful info for bringing in people for buy-in sessions
Examples of accessibility efforts without understanding how people with disabilities use the web...
Imagine an organization...
- where everyone embraces accessibility
- where they are committed to making the organization's website and other ICT accessible to people with disabilities
- where they appreciate the additional benefits of accessibility to all users and to the organization
- where they approach accessible design as an exciting challenge
- where they are proud of their accomplishments in accessibility
- ...
Organizational buy-in
- Accessibility – differently
- Top – down
- Bottom – up
- 10, 100, 10 = wow!
think about accessibility differently
accessibility is about people
If you really understand how accessibility...
- Benefits society
- Benefits your organization
- Could be needed by you someday
Then,
Accessibility becomes "an act of enlightened self-interest"
[slide image: illuminated lily flower on dark background]
Go instigate organizational buy-in to embrace accessibility!
(Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/slopjop/1362907625/
)