Ensuring your organization is inclusive and accessible is more important now than ever. Companies that ignore accessibility standards and laws face hefty fines and potential lawsuits when they choose to forego accessibility-related best practices and standards. Further, with an estimated 61 million disabled Americans, staying on top of current accessibility laws and keeping infrastructure up-to-date has the potential to truly optimize an online presence.
However, accessibility initiatives are often complex and require specific accessibility talent with various disciplines and levels of expertise, which can be difficult to assemble when no infrastructure for such an effort exists. Hiring an accessibility consultant is a great start, but having an array of talent available is the best way to foster a culture of accessibility. Here are some key considerations in hiring an accessibility management team, tips on hiring good talent, and how they can benefit your organization.
Workload distribution
One of the biggest advantages of assembling a team is the ability to delegate workloads and tasks among the team. Instead of treating accessibility as a singular effort to be managed by one person, a team provides flexibility and a higher level of understanding. Accessibility initiatives require commitment from various roles and entities within the organization and acquiring and training local talent ensures that workload is not the responsibility of one person or company, which also contributes to the development of the company's culture of accessibility.
For example, Twitter, in its recent push for more accessible content on its platform, went further with this concept, developing two separate accessibility teams. The first team, the Accessibility Center for Excellence, as described on Twitter's own post about the effort, is responsible for setting goals, driving progress, consulting, and partnering with groups across the platform to make Twitter more accessible. The second group, the Experience Accessibility Team, works on the development side of new products and existing features. Both work as a check and balance to each other, which has the ingredients to become a solid accessibility program.
Distributing the workload also takes the strain off employees, and creates a workflow that ensures accountability. Instead of assigning accessibility duties to one individual who may or may not have the ability to operate across the many disciplines associated with accessibility, an entire team has the benefit of collective purpose, knowledge, and synergy. Each team member holds the other accountable, encourages best practices, and promotes a culture of accessibility that would be difficult for one person or contractor to do alone.
Teamwork and collaboration
Another benefit of employing a team of accessibility talent is having diverse perspectives to improve your company’s accessibility maturity. Diversity provides unique perspectives that could otherwise be missed if the responsibilities of the entire effort rest on one person's shoulders. More accessibility talent may also mean identifying potential issues and non-compliant flaws in infrastructure or products that were not even considered.
Your community should be consulted
Whether you assemble an entire team or contract out, a minimum requirement should be consultation with persons with disabilities. A diverse user group should be maintained and managed to ensure all perspectives, needs, and technology requirements are considered. Even with a professional team, unique barriers will continue to be identified when people with first-hand knowledge and experience are consulted.
Ensure appropriate experience
When hiring an accessibility management team, be sure to thoroughly check credentials and hire experienced staff or consultants with diverse experience and educational backgrounds. A degree in human resources or industrial design, for example, both encompass varying areas of accessibility and expertise that will bring valuable talent to your team, but a specific focus in accessibility should be emphasized.
Remember that no one person can know it all. The best candidates, staff or contracted consultants, have experience in accessibility standards, the practical application of the techniques associated with the standards, and are well-rounded in their knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act ADA and other disability-related laws and regulations, and should share the belief that a strong community connection is a key to success.
Conclusion
In accessibility, there is always work to do. Even with a team, it is important to encourage others to continuously think about accessibility and foster a culture of inclusion throughout the organization. Realizing higher levels of accessibility maturity requires vigilance, persistence, and a desire to truly compete among the best of organizations online.
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