Accessibility is Civility

Accessibility is civility. While pondering the connection between these two words, I am convinced that both are essential for the diversity, equity, and inclusion of any organization. Further, accessibility is a prerequisite to civility. As the world prepares to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day on May 20, it is imperative to put accessibility and civility on the same platform where all the synonyms for the word success stand.

Lars Andersson, researcher and author, defines workplace civility as “behaviors that help to preserve the norms for mutual respect in the workplace; civility reflects concern for others.” Civility in the workplace has to include accessible ways to do business – both with internal and external stakeholders.

A couple of scenarios that demonstrate diversity of abilities:

• Imagine you are in a conference room and you are not able to see what the presenter is presenting. Worse still, imagine that the presenter knows you are unable to see but does not describe any images. The former situation could be due to an oversight, but the latter is nothing short of being uncivil. Accessibility can help in these scenarios. No matter if the speaker is using websites, PowerPoint presentations, documents, or PDFs – all materials should be accessible to everyone.
• Imagine another scenario where you are in a conference room or on a virtual call and you cannot hear what the presenter is saying. This can be a stressful situation for those who have hearing disabilities. There are several ways to address this issue.

1. First, ensure that remote meetings have captioning.
2. In addition, speak clearly and at a steady pace and turn on your camera so that the visual clues can fill in the gaps for auto-generated captions.
3. Don’t talk over each other and announce your name before talking.
4. For those who rely on sign language, it is essential to provide that option as well.

These practices can go a long way to make meetings more useful for all.

Accessibility is required for people with physical, speech, learning, and cognitive disabilities. The law requires it and civility depends on it.

Therefore, accessibility is a prerequisite to civility in the work place. Organizations furthering a culture of civility, diversity, equity, and inclusion need to embed accessibility in everything they do. Combining accessibility and civility will prepare organizations for the 21st century and beyond.

[Zafar Siddiqui is an Enterprise Systems Architect in the Shared Services and Enterprise Architecture Division (SSEAD), MNIT DHS/MNsure at the State of Minnesota]