Vision, Collaboration, and Trust: Keys to An Inclusive Digital Society

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Vision, Collaboration, and Trust: Keys to An Inclusive Digital Society

Posted October 22, 2024

AudioEye

Posted October 22, 2024

A web browser with mountains and a moon. Next to the web browser is an egg with the accessibility symbol.
A web browser with mountains and a moon. Next to the web browser is an egg with the accessibility symbol.

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Progress in digital accessibility initiatives can stall without daily action, robust vision, and collaboration with people who experience disabilities. Each person who engages in online business elements can act as a leader in their organization so we can, together, build an inclusive digital society.

We live in a time when advances in the accessibility of technology for people with disabilities are cyclical, if not frozen in time. We continue to fight for the same goals, herald the same messages, and recommend the same solutions for digital accessibility. However, creating a society with widespread accessibility is possible if we adhere to the principles of vision and collaboration to foster trust, the key to a digitally inclusive society.

Trust: The Golden Egg

One of Aesop’s famous fables portrays a man with a goose that lays one golden egg each morning. The man would take his prized golden egg into the market and sell it for a profit, but there was a problem. The man grew impatient and wanted to get rich faster than one golden egg per day would allow. Foolishly, he killed the goose expecting to cut it open and access all the golden eggs simultaneously, but you and I both know that’s not how it works. The man lost his goose and his potential for financial growth because of his impatience and greed. 

Trust is our equivalent of the golden egg in this story, and, like the goose in Aesop’s fable, we deposit trust one act at a time. Trust is what nurtures growth and provides the path for our ultimate goal: a digitally inclusive society. How, then, do we instill this trust as we work together toward a common outcome? 

The answer lies in daily actions of working together to create an inclusive and accessible digital society. Individual and organizational progress will influence societal change and strengthen both the scope and cause of digital accessibility. Utilizing vision, collaboration, and leadership will naturally lay the foundation of trust we need to create a more inclusive and accessible online world.

Choose the Right Paradigm: Vision

Contrary to the popular misconception held by organizations around the globe, digital accessibility is not a box to check. Rather, it is an ongoing commitment to making progress. This is good news! It means businesses can lay aside the anxiety associated with compliance and instead, focus on overall progress in their accessibility standards. 

There is a Japanese business principle called “Kaizen,” which translates to mean “change for the better” or “continuous improvement.” This philosophy states that productivity can be improved gradually while involving all employees. Small changes can involve anything from quality control and standardized work methods to using more accessible and inclusive tools. In short, anything that leads you closer to achieving progress in accessibility is a good step in the right direction. The goal here is a change in our processes, internally for our employees and externally for those who interact with our business as consumers. 

To quote the famous aphorism, “Start small and start today.” Where does your organization stand in terms of accessibility? If unsure how to answer this question, start with an expert audit for data-driven decisions to guide your accessibility journey. 

Don’t focus on speed; focus on continuous improvement for your end-user. One tip I’ve learned from working in this industry for over 40 years is that if you design with accessibility in mind, you create a more usable experience for everyone. The best way to start implementing accessibility practices into your design and development phases is to include people with disabilities in the process. 

Come Together and Build Accessibility: Collaboration

In a recent HearSay podcast episode, I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Tom Wdlowski, the Vice President of Accessibility with Comcast. Tom and I have worked together to advocate for more accessible practices and products from companies. One of the things that struck me most about my conversation with Tom was how integral building a community has been to his success in implementing accessibility practices. 

Tom built a community of people with disabilities when creating a more accessible user interface with AOL. He and I gathered feedback on Captcha checks from those who are blind and in attendance at one CSUN conference. And ultimately, involving the disabilities community led to Tom’s innovation of the world’s first accessible cable set-top box. Throughout his career, Tom’s collaborative initiatives have led to industry-leading innovations time and time again. 

As you begin taking steps toward an accessible organization, involve your employees and customer base, paying particular attention to those with disabilities. Inject your community’s input into your designs and developments instead of adding it as an afterthought. As you value your community’s insights and feedback, you will innovate beyond what you imagined possible. 

Following a vision for progress in accessibility and collaborating with the disabilities community builds trust. That trust allows the cycle of vision and collaboration to continue and progress to go beyond the stunted growth we seemingly experience in creating a digitally accessible society.

Principle-Centered Leadership: It Starts With You

Daily deposits of vision and collaboration, one step at a time, will build a digitally accessible society. The last piece is putting these principles into action. We need leaders willing to value human capital and insight in their organizations. 

Whether you have a C in front of your job title or not, you can act as a leader in your company’s accessibility initiatives. Advocate for progress and continuous improvement. Mend fences if you must, but reach out and include your community in the cause. Implementing accessibility principles benefits everyone, and it only takes one spark to light that match in the darkness of a digitally inaccessible world. 

A digitally inclusive society is not impossible. While those waiting for accessibility progress might feel stuck in a loop, giving the same recommendations and insights over and over, progress can be made so long as we focus on vision and collaboration as a means of building trust, one day at a time.

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