Accessibility, it's by design!

We will be ready for tomorrow if we are inclusive today.

At Telenet, we have launched an accessibility awareness and training series. With UX&UI designers and myself as initiators of this track, the moon shot goal is to "Make Telenet and Base digital products accessible. By building performant digital experiences that are inclusive to all." That's quite a mouthful, and we could not do it alone. We asked AnySurfer to partner with us for accessibility auditing and training.

We need to incorporate accessibility into our processes and deliverables from the beginning. Designing user-friendly websites and digital services for everyone, including people with temporary and permanent disabilities.

This is more than a UX&UI design scope. So I partnered with Front-end Development Chapter Leader Daniel Zerkowitz , Content coordinators and AEM Platform experts Chapter Leader An Dewilde . We have invested in our people to increase accessibility skills and expertise across our many digital profiles. We go beyond awareness and dive deep into the top journeys of our websites and the 32 web components: the building blocks of our web experiences. The accessibility audit reports served as the basis for training and discussions for both of our brands.

Accessibility training at Telenet

During the training, we learned about the different interaction and navigation types, color contrast ratios, alternative text guidelines, content hierarchy and heading structure, the technical aspects of forms, and more... Our goal as a chapter is to incorporate best practices and accessibility guidelines into our processes and requirements. More than 40 Telenet-ers, digital talents and web crafters participate in the training.

Here is what they have to say:

"Accessibility goes back to the core of human-computer interaction. It should not be an afterthought, but implemented (and maintained) from the beginning (creation of components, web pages, color systems, etc.)."

"It was really useful to create awareness on the topic. Nice presentations, thanks for the insights and inspiration for a better accessible experience!"

"It's about time this topic gets the attention it deserves."

"We need to do this!"

I look forward to the lessons learned from the front-end development training.

Thanks to Bart Simons , Sophie Schuermans and Lora-Elly Vannieuwenhuysen from AnySurfer for partnering with us and giving us an expert head start on our journey. Thanks Filip Nuyts for the trust and full "carte blanche" on this one.

What now?

The road ahead is long, but worthwhile if it is taken with curiosity and an eagerness to do better. Let us prioritize, start with small changes with big impact, let us review our fundamentals and how we work, and let's move forward with accessibility in mind when making design and business decisions. Let's work together and collaborate across departments and disciplines.

Let's build the right thing, right. For a better web.

Related readings:

• Read about what we learned in a small workshop with the designers. The "Part 1" of this series.
• WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, an international standard that explains how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
• Accessibility of Products and Services, a European directive.

Join us

At Telenet, we invest in our talent growth, let's grow together.

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About me

Nádia Ferreira - UX&UI Design Chapter Lead at Telenet, owner of books, lover of beer. With a background in UX design, I can only aspire to raise the bar in company design maturity and design deliverables. With a passion for people, design, and technology; I lead a group of 20+ designers who're willing to join me in this initiative. Accessibility is part of the design process, not a special project. It can't be good design if it excludes people.