3 reasons why accessibility is not a gesture
Bianca Prins, CPACC
Global Head of Accessibility @ ING, InCluencer, trailblazer, a11y rockstar & Special Advisor @ Billion Strong
Today I’d like to discuss the topic of accessibility not being a nice gesture for your employees or customers. I’m taking you shortly through these 3 reasons, and would you like to learn more about this, please let me know in the comments because I’m considering a short lecture on this topic for Global Accessibility Awareness Day in May.
1. accessibility is a right providing equal value for service
Persons with disabilities are customers, and they pay for the services provided. Unfortunate persons with disabilities often experience barriers in paid services persons without disabilities do not experience. In practice when services are not accessible, persons with a disability receive a lower quality than other customers and this in essence is a form of discrimination. In general, not intentional, still it is unfair customer treatment and calls for action.
2. accessibility is a mean to provide equal opportunity
In my experience inclusion is a topic in all businesses around the globe these days. How is it possible that these businesses are talking about inclusion. Forgetting about the mean to make equal opportunities and thus inclusion reality for persons with disabilities?
This blind spot can continue to exist, because disability is either an afterthought or not fairly represented and remains unseen. To change this, accessibility must become an essential element in providing equal opportunity. Because you can hire persons with disabilities, but without providing an accessible workplace to become their best, you cannot provide equal opportunity. In extension, from customer perspective, people with disabilities pay equal prices for your products and for this they deserve equal opportunity to use this product as effective as possible.
3. accessibility is a Human Right
This 3rd is the most important and equally brings the first back together: Accessibility is an international Human Right protected by the UN CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). Sighting the convention and its complimentary protocol to implement legislation to improve the rights of persons with disabilities, results in increasing regulatory requirements to be met by a fast-increasing volume of countries around the world.
领英推荐
Back to the 2nd reason: equal opportunity. Which is part of constitutional rights of person with disabilities. This can only be realized by accessibility, because chances and opportunities depending on the good of the people who help you, do not provide equal opportunity. Instead, they create a game of luck. Equal opportunity is about getting the same opportunities, with the accommodations to accumulate the barriers which might hold you back in being successful.
We can close this topic with the 1st reason: equal value for service. When we look at Human Rights and equal opportunities this cannot be without equal value for pay. This means in essence that if you service customers with disabilities, this customer cannot experience a less service for the same price as customers without disabilities pay. This is unfair treatment, and increasingly under scrutiny considering social responsibilities and ESG.
Conclusion
Accessibility is not a gesture, and treating it as such in your business, way of working, business case, etc., will make you draw the short straw in the end. Because we all know the risk of ‘nice to have’ in business, when the tide is turning for the bad, these are the first victims of budget cuts. Secondly doing good creates a situation where persons with disabilities must be grateful for accessible services and products, which are their basic Human Rights. What business do you think they turn to when accessibility becomes a priority at your competitors?
Accessibility is the fast evolving business role to include people?with a disability in business. With LinkedIn #TheIncluencer articles Bianca is sharing insights on accessibility business opportunities, challenges and struggles towards a sustainable and disability inclusive world for all!
Systems Change Advocate & Lifelong Learner| Community Convener| Innovator| Justice, Equity, Diversity & Disability Inclusion+| Resource & Social Capital Strategist| Neurodivergent #BillionStrong #SDG #Peace
8 个月Bianca Prins, CPACC I couldn't agree with you more. As a self-advocating neurodivergent, of course I am keen to spot the injustices perpetrated by ableists. I actually quickly honed into the broken systems that quite literally hurt the chances of people with disabilities succeeding while receiving their services from a community-based adult day services provider. The very same one that once employed me and then denied my request for reasonable accommodation. Sadly, I feel many of the individuals that are "being served" by this particular agency are wasting away every year due to inefficient practices. Their claims that they deliver person-centered "customer service" are nothing but empty rhetoric. Meanwhile, as the executive leadership tally the dollars they receive each year for the "hours of services" they purportedly provide, they create policies that disincentivize their line staff who actually sincerely want to give care and support to the individuals and their families. It is disgusting how deliberate these people are with their scheming and smoke blowing!