Your article made me really stop and think about accessibility and asking the right questions. I want to share your thoughts with others, but I am not sure who I should share this with in my organization. I believe in Universal Design. What I don't know how to do is to create content that is truly accessible for everyone. This is what people higher up than me do! But they are the very people that should be reading this! Thank you for giving us a powerful thought provoking "testimony" of what accessible really means!
I think that everyone has a part to play with accessibility, especially for anyone who creates or distributes materials around the organization. For example, even Word documents, PDFs, and similar documents can be made with accessibility in mind.
Microsoft Office products, for example, have an "Accessibility Checker" tool. Running it before distributing a document for others is a great first step that anyone using Office can take. It's especially important if you're creating more complicated layouts, PowerPoints, etc.
Beyond that, many organiations have teams or groups dedicated to accessibility and inclusion. These might be Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Human Resources offices, or dedicated teams within the IT or product engineering departments.
If it's hard to find a specific person to share with, then there's no harm starting at the top. Personally, I'd go straight for the head of HR and see if that gets me anywhere. If nothing else, they might know who to talk to.
Your article made me really stop and think about accessibility and asking the right questions. I want to share your thoughts with others, but I am not sure who I should share this with in my organization. I believe in Universal Design. What I don't know how to do is to create content that is truly accessible for everyone. This is what people higher up than me do! But they are the very people that should be reading this! Thank you for giving us a powerful thought provoking "testimony" of what accessible really means!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment.
I think that everyone has a part to play with accessibility, especially for anyone who creates or distributes materials around the organization. For example, even Word documents, PDFs, and similar documents can be made with accessibility in mind.
Microsoft Office products, for example, have an "Accessibility Checker" tool. Running it before distributing a document for others is a great first step that anyone using Office can take. It's especially important if you're creating more complicated layouts, PowerPoints, etc.
Beyond that, many organiations have teams or groups dedicated to accessibility and inclusion. These might be Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), Human Resources offices, or dedicated teams within the IT or product engineering departments.
If it's hard to find a specific person to share with, then there's no harm starting at the top. Personally, I'd go straight for the head of HR and see if that gets me anywhere. If nothing else, they might know who to talk to.
Well said all around. The more I read the more I kept saying "Yes!".