How can you make your technological innovation projects more inclusive and accessible?

1 Why inclusivity and accessibility matter

Inclusivity and accessibility are not only ethical and social values, but also strategic and competitive advantages for your technological innovation projects. By designing and delivering solutions that are inclusive and accessible, you can reach and serve a wider and more diverse market, enhance your customer satisfaction and loyalty, improve your reputation and credibility, and reduce your legal and operational risks. Moreover, you can foster a culture of innovation that values diversity, equity, and collaboration, and that can generate more creative and effective ideas.

2 How to define your target audience

One of the first steps to make your technological innovation projects more inclusive and accessible is to define your target audience clearly and comprehensively. This means identifying who your intended users, customers, or beneficiaries are, what their needs, preferences, and expectations are, and what barriers or challenges they face in accessing or using your solutions. You can use various methods and tools, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, personas, customer journeys, or empathy maps, to gather and analyze data about your target audience.

3 How to involve your target audience

Another important step to make your technological innovation projects more inclusive and accessible is to involve your target audience throughout the innovation process, from ideation to implementation. This means engaging them as co-creators, collaborators, testers, or feedback providers, and ensuring that their voices, opinions, and experiences are heard, respected, and incorporated. You can use various techniques and platforms, such as brainstorming sessions, workshops, prototyping, user testing, or online communities, to facilitate and encourage their participation and input.

4 How to adopt universal design principles

A key aspect of making your technological innovation projects more inclusive and accessible is to adopt universal design principles. Universal design is an approach that aims to create solutions that are usable and beneficial for the widest possible range of people, regardless of their age, ability, culture, language, or background. Universal design principles include: equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use.

6 How to measure and improve your inclusivity and accessibility

The final step to make your technological innovation projects more inclusive and accessible is to measure and improve your inclusivity and accessibility. This means monitoring and evaluating how well your solutions meet the needs and expectations of your target audience, and how effectively they remove or reduce the barriers or challenges they face. You can use various indicators and methods, such as accessibility audits, user satisfaction surveys, usability testing, or analytics, to collect and analyze data about your inclusivity and accessibility, and to identify and implement areas for improvement.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?