Organizational Accessibility Awareness

Being aware of the needs of people with disabilities and the elderly and how they use digital products is a good start to becoming more inclusive.

But what does that mean for your organization? What benefits and insights do you need to gain? Who and how should employees be involved? And what changes do you need to implement to transform successfully?

When you are genuinely aware of the advantages and perspectives accessible products offer, the next steps to overcome the feeling of overwhelm and start embedding organizational change will come naturally (with a little bit of help). Opportunities and challenges will become clear and also what needs to be solved.

This provides a clear WHY for accessibility and inclusivity, and together with a Gap-Analysis (the HOW) decide the WHAT to embed all successfully and become more inclusive step-by-step.

What are the organizational challenges?

The fundamental themes of accessibility awareness remain unchanged:

1. Grasp Understanding and Barriers you encounter
2. Operational Gains and Applied Comprehension
3. Embedding Changes for Processes and Employees

Max Inclusion’s Awareness Model

Our approach is based on practical experience focusing on people, embedding responsibilities, and challenging processes strategically.

The reasons behind the varying performance levels of organizations and individuals have been the lack of understanding the benefits and gaining insights in how to apply them based on your organizational objectives.

The ongoing modeling is built upon a comprehensive comprehension of:

1. Expand thinking and inspire employees with stimulating communication in a comfortable atmosphere.
2. The advantage of the outcome of business cases in combination with customer needs.
3. Attention to the systems, tools, and training in order to support and monitor progress.

You can Create Awareness…

…by taking the lead in emphasizing its significance to staff together with our assistance, through notifying the reasons and benefits, and by communicating the shared responsibility.

It’s recommended that organizations avoid creating their own plan for audits, training, and tools, followed by searching for assistance. We can help develop the plan by starting with an analysis of the WHY behind the plan and providing evidence to support the underlying rationale.

“Awareness leads to change… and here’s what you need to know.”

Jake Abma

Together, we can highlight its importance and collaborate effectively, conveying the common goal.

The 3 Segments of Organizational Awareness

Creating a highly conscious and sensible and caring workplace.

1. Intro to Accessibility and The Challenge
2. Benefits and Insights
3. Organization and Creation

1. Intro Accessibility & The Challenge

It all starts here, with a recognition of the importance and scope of accessibility and inclusivity. Too often, these crucial aspects are overlooked, leading to failed initiatives and perpetuating unconscious bias. But what if we could change that?

Imagine a world where everyone has equal access to opportunities, regardless of their background or abilities. This is not just a dream; it’s a goal that we can achieve together. By clearly informing people about the importance of accessibility and inclusivity, we can debunk unconscious bias and bring about positive change.

Accessibility skills are in high demand and becoming increasingly important in today’s competitive landscape. The ability to recognize the advantages, barriers, and urgency associated with a particular situation is crucial for seizing a window of opportunity.

As organizations strive to meet the new quality standard and maintain their reputation amidst fierce competition, they face legal pressure to ensure compliance. It is essential to prioritize prevention over cure in order to mitigate potential risks and challenges.

“Results: Identifying the opportunity quickly, and mobilizing urgency around it, is key to becoming more accessibility aware and inclusive.”

The challenge lies in overcoming unconscious bias and avoiding unnecessary hindrances for employees by equipping them with the resources to surpass expectations. This entails addressing all characteristics that employees perceive but are hindered by budget constraints, lack of capability and responsibility, and requires organizational commitment, investment in gap-analysis, and integration into processes.

2. Benefits and Insights

Emphasizing the importance of value and possibilities, benefits encompass anything that aids in progressing towards seizing opportunities, regardless of size.

These benefits can manifest as objectives, advantages, returns, drive, value, inspiration, and more. The psychological impact of these benefits and their extensive value hold significant influence and serve a pivotal role.

It is essential for key decision-makers to grasp the potential while ensuring that staff members are encouraged to organize initiatives that will provide valuable insights from customers’ various viewpoints.

Infusing these endeavors with deeper significance and objectives, emphasizing motivation, and broadening perspectives can make remarkable achievements attainable.

“Results: Seeing the Big Opportunity reveals key trends and opportunities in accessibility for strategic growth within the market paving the way for substantial gains and market competitiveness, setting the stage for buy-in and budget.”

Business and customer insights drive organizational success and user satisfaction. Business insights prioritize organizational goals such as cost reduction and seizing quick wins. But also aligning goals with gains while fostering motivation and achieving certification. Customer insights focus on understanding user barriers and prioritizing accessibility while valuing diverse perspectives and specifying needs to enhance user experiences.

Meanwhile, employees and senior leaders collaborate to bridge knowledge gaps and inspire enthusiasm. This drives innovation across roles by emphasizing effective communication and inclusivity.

3. Organization and Creation

With newfound awareness and fresh insights, concerted efforts can be directed towards coordinated activities.

Your vision can become a tangible reality by swiftly and effectively designing and executing these initiatives. These initiatives should be communicable, desirable, feasible, and simple, painting a vivid picture of success.

Now is the time for action. Awareness must transition into actionable steps and initiatives led by a diverse group of employees, with validation from senior leaders propelling your opportunities forward.

Prioritize accessibility by integrating it early into processes and providing comprehensive internal guidance for tools, documentation, and training.

“Results: Awareness in accessibility process is less about generating brand new ideas and more about knocking down barriers to improve the already existing way of work.”

By embracing a compelling vision and prioritizing employee safety, inspire active participation in integrating accessibility seamlessly into every process. Emphasizing the importance of every individual’s role by providing clear responsibilities and encouraging immediate action while fostering a culture of collaborative teamwork and effective communication. 

Creating a comfortable work environment is paramount, guided by organizational awareness and tailored governance throughout the accessibility journey. Implement the shift left principle and ensure accessibility is prioritized from the outset of the design phase. With dedicated focus to address accessibility comprehensively across all systems and backed by proper support at every step.