Accessibility and disability inclusion is an amazing journey for any organization, whether you’re a small business, or a large enterprise. What often happens after your first exposure to modern disability etiquette and inclusion training though, is a complete loss as to where to get started to make an impact without getting overwhelmed.
To build a more accessible future for your environment, follow these simple tips to give you confidence in starting your journey and finding your path - and have confidence that it’s different for everyone.
Listen; Some of the wisest voices for your disability inclusion journey are likely right next to you - both literally and proverbially. People with disabilities make up more than 26% of the US population, and more than 15% of the global population. Giving a platform and space for people with disabilities to share their experience of apparent or non-apparent disabilities in an accessible medium is a great first step of exploration.
Learn; Now that you’ve taken time to listen and begin to understand, refine those thoughts and work with your community to explore what challenges are out there to tackle and approach problems with an open mind and empathy. Sometimes you’ll be surprised how policies and practices you thought may be working, might not be the same for people with disabilities.
Act; This is the hardest and most nuanced part of any journey, but one that can have an amazing ROI for time and money invested in disability inclusion, no matter how small, to make a positive difference for people. The trick is ensuring that you live to the promise of “Nothing About Us, Without Us”, an imperative to include people with disabilities to have a leading role in decision making, and considered the key stakeholder to help measure the progress of your outcomes.
These three steps are listed here with only a few descriptors for each one, but as you dive into the world of accessibility and get involved in the process firsthand, you’ll see how true these three tenants are for any project or initiative to succeed, and largely shared across the industry to drive empathy into decision making.
To learn more on how you can start transforming your work to be more inclusive, don’t hesitate to get engaged with Spark Access!
