Author: Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer at Ruh Global Communications
Recently, Ruh Global Communications appointed me its Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO). In my role, I will manage internal and external accessibility projects. I will ensure that accessibility best practices will be followed within the company and help clients meet their accessibility needs, including website and product accessibility. I will consult on accessibility and inclusion issues that clients face from the employee to the customer level.
Every business needs to include accessibility in its fabric to become stronger. Otherwise, it will rip and create big gaps. Making every aspect of a company accessible and inclusive increases productivity, embraces diversity with common goals, and promotes more of a positive image to the public. According to Frances West, CAO of IBM, “Today, it affects everyone’s use of a product or service and helps deliver information in the most consumable way possible. Organizations that have embraced and embedded accessibility throughout the enterprise are better connecting with customers, expanding their market reach and creating an inclusive workplace environment where everyone has the best chance of success.”
Since I have cerebral palsy, I bring a personal perspective to my role as CAO. I know what a company needs to do for employees with disabilities to feel accepted and purposeful, and what a business must do to serve customers with disabilities with consideration and respect. Other persons with disabilities have held CAO or similar positions. For example, Microsoft recently hired Jenny Lay-Flurrie as its new Accessibility Director. Becoming deaf from an ear infection during childhood, Jenny will integrate her personal experiences into her new position. As it’s inferred in the article Talk to the Hand, Lay-Flurrie’s motto “You can do anything” is helping Microsoft execute programs to assist persons with disabilities with technologies. For instance, she helped plan Ability Summit, a showcase of products and services to empower them for the future.
Another accessibility executive who has a disability is Jonathan Avila. His vision impairment has brought a personal perspective to his job also. Who else better than a person who cannot see can develop solutions and innovations for users with vision, as well as other, impairments? Avila also serves on WCAG working group and mobility accessibility task force.
You can be skilled at accessibility testing and know all about best practices and guidelines. But the first-hand experience of facing accessibility barriers gives a CAO an extra edge. It brings empathy to the role, making the CAO passionate about helping businesses bulldoze those barriers that other persons with disabilities have encountered.
If a company even creates a COA or a Director of Accessibility position, it is taking a smart business move. With 15% of the world’s population having a disability and $1 trillion in aggregated spending by consumers with disabilities, appointing a skilled COA will allow a business to be more profitable and reputable. If the skilled COA has a disability, it makes the company more credible, sending a strong message to the public that it is serious about accessibility.
Learn more about our work at www.RuhGlobal.com or follow us on Social Media @rosemusachio, @debraruh and @ruhglobal on most channels.
Debra Ruh, CEO of Ruh Global Communications, Founder of TecAccess
I am often asked in my global travels, – “Why does the United States litigate so much?Why do you always sue each other?”Or I get comments that start like this: “You Americans..” That always make me smile and cringe because I figure the person is going to take a shot at my country. I am proud to be an American, but I also believe that the United States can learn a lot from other countries on many subjects, especially on Disability Inclusion, ICT Accessibility and Accessibility of the Built Environment.So why does the United States litigate so much?
Recently, an accessibility expert from Sweden asked me a question during #AXSChat, a tweet-chat held each Tuesday at 3pm on Twitter about #Disability Inclusion and Accessibility.She said, “Debra, do you think the United States would have made as much progress without litigation?”I have been asked that question many times in my travels.
I answered, “Unfortunately, I do not think we would have had the same progress.Our reality is that in the US we create legislation and then pound out our laws by litigating with each other.Then we refer to the legal cases to determine the best way to follow and strengthen our laws.”
Neil Milliken, Head of Accessibility and Digital Inclusion at Atos and co-founder of #AXSChat, sees litigation for accessibility as a possible solution elsewhere.
Neil Milliken
“In the UK disability legislation has since 2010 been part of the broader Equality Act (EQA2010). Whilst there have been a few cases they have predominantly focused on services and employment the law places a duty on organizations and people not to discriminate and to be proactive in doing so.
Although I am not a fan of the sometimes parasitic model of litigation that we see outlined by Debra in the US, I do feel that accessibility in the UK could benefit from a test case much like some of the early class action cases in the US so that case law can help define and refine the understanding of Digital Accessibility and companies can meet what are currently poorly understood and often ignored legal obligations.”
Although the process took many years to achieve, I will never forget the brave leaders who fought for our rights for so long. Staging protests, rallying, speaking to the press, and organizing events all strongly affected the eventual passage of the ADA. One protest stands out to me. It became known as “the Capital Crawl”. Over 1,000 disability rights activists and protesters left their wheelchairs and mobility devices and crawled up the 83 steps of our Capital Building, simply asking for the same rights and equality any other American had.
These amazing leaders fought for the Civil Rights for Persons with Disabilities. As a result, the
Image Credit. Capital Crawl – American with Disabilities Act of 1990, ADA supporters crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capital building on March 12, 1900
American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by President George Bush on July 26th, 1990. Our family applauded these leaders knowing that they were fighting for all of our rights, including those of our daughter, Sara Ruh who was born in 1987 with Down syndrome.
Would the United States have made as much progress without laws like the ADA or Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508, 504 and 503?I do not believe we would have made the progress.I also believe that these leaders efforts encouraged other countries to fight and to continue to fight for their rights.Now we have the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (CRPD).I am hopeful the United States will ratify that convention in 2016.
Could we have made as much progress without these laws and litigation?I do not think we would have.Why?Organizations mean well, -but they have many competing interests.For clarification, -I use the word “organizations” as a placeholder for corporations, nonprofits, universities, local, state and federal agencies.
President George Bush signs the ADA into Law on July 26, 1990 – Surrounding him on the South Lawn of the White House are (left to right, sitting) Evan Kemp, Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Justin Dart, Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities; (let to right, standing) Rev. Harold Wilke and Swift Parrino, Chairperson, National Council on Disability. Image from the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. Photo Credit linked in Image.
Most organizations create an annual strategic plan and update it throughout the year.The organization has to determine their strategic focus by considering many moving parts including changing laws, standards, industry changes, business climate, and risks.
Inclusion of individuals with disabilities has become more of a risk in the last few years.A few years ago a colleague mentioned a conversation with a General Counsel of a Fortune 100 firm.The General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer noted that he had accessibility on his risk list for many years but it was way down on his list – maybe on the 15th page of things he was worried about. He noted that recently it has moved up to about page 3.Still not the top three things that kept him up at night, but it had moved up significantly on the things that were adding risk to the firm.What is keeping him up at night? These organizations have a lot of risk to worry about- such as privacy, security, globalization, branding, changing technology, and many other items.
For years, the United States has seen ADA complaints and lawsuits about disability discrimination and inaccessible websites.Most of this litigation is settled out of court.The most famous case was the complain against www.Target.com that turned into a class action lawsuit and was eventually settled out of court.It is interesting to note that www.Target.com is now one of the most accessible websites.
A Handicap Symbol with Target Logo within the wheelchair. Image Credits.
There is a troubling trend happening in the United States with a significant uptick in legal complaints and filings.Recently a law office sent a letter out to many major online retailers threatening them with lawsuits because their websites were not compliant or accessible.The letter told the retailers not to reach out to accessibility consultants.Instead, they were told to contact the law office and they would arrange to get them accessibility help with their websites.
A growing group of lawyers seems to realize that they can make a lot of money filing complaints against businesses. Image Credits – Laptop Image created by Emily Ha
Most of these attorneys are conscientious and want to assure that the websites are accessible to individuals with disabilities. However, a growing group of lawyers seems to realize that they can make a lot of money filing complaints against businesses and universities.Why?Well, most websites are still inaccessible to persons with disabilities.They understand that inaccessible websites can be a gold mine if lawsuits are won or settled on the behalf of the plaintiff.
Lady Justice with money tipping the scale.
Some lawyers actually do not care if the website is ever made accessible.They work with clients with disabilities and go to different websites and see if they are accessible.If they are not accessible, the lawyer files a case and hires an accessibility subject matter expert to validate that the site is not accessible.Then the organization being litigated against agree to pay a settlement.The attorney takes the lion share and then pays out the plaintiff.Those law firms keep accessibility experts on retainers and some are getting a large lump sum for each case. Generally, these cases do not go to trial.The problem is that the websites are not made accessible so individuals with disabilities lose.
This also happens with ADA complaints against small businesses because the business was not physically accessible.I understand the ADA is over 25 years old and it is past time that the Built Environment and Internet, Communications and Technology should be accessible.My complaint is directed to lawyers who make money via litigation but there are no expectations of access.
“ADA Requirements” on a laptop’s screen. Image Credits. Laptop ADA Image created by Emily Ha
Universities are also being targeted because of inaccessible websites, student portals, eLearning and other accessibility issues with their ICT.Individuals with disabilities are attending and graduating from universities in record numbers in the United States.It is critical that all students have full access to every aspect of the educational process.
Dr. Christopher Lee
“It’s true that U.S. higher education institutions face liability for inaccessible web content and technologies much like they did in the 1990s with inaccessible buildings. In fact, at last count, we’ve had over 27 higher education accessibility lawsuits, complaints, and settlements in recent times. However, there is very limited advocacy coming from people with disabilities compared to the ‘Capital Crawl’ movement. The driving force for change has been the National Federation of the Blind and the U.S. Department of Labor and their federal agency counterparts.
What can Universities do to protect themselves from legal complaints while still meeting the needs of the students with disabilities? The first and primary step is to develop and implement an information and communication technology (ICT) accessibility institutional policy and procedure.
There are several resources and good examples to draw upon. One helpful resource is the summary web page that has been published by The University of Washington. What we’ve seen is that ensuring compliance, securing the resources and maintaining procedures as technology shifts are usually the primary challenges institutions face.” -Dr. Christopher Lee, Department Head of AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center
Some lawyers are adding a lot of value to these conversations.One of the best recognized attorneys in my opinion is Lainey Feingold.Lainey has become a champion to many in the community of persons with disabilities.
I visited her website, and gathered this information.
Lainey Feingold is a disability rights lawyer who works primarily with the blind and visually impaired community on technology and information access issues. She is nationally recognized for negotiating landmark accessibility agreements and for pioneering the collaborative advocacy and dispute resolution method known as Structured Negotiations.
Structured Negotiation is a collaborative and solution-driven dispute resolution method conducted without litigation. The goal is to help the organization become accessible so that the community of persons with disabilities and many other parts of the population, including aging citizens and non-native speakers, can have access to the content of your website with no ulterior motive.
Structured Negotiation appears to be a win win for everyone because the goal is to reduce the digital divide and provide access to everyone.
What do you think?Are we moving equal rights to technology, employment, transportation, housing and other parts of society forward by litigating in the US?
Join Neil Milliken, Antonio Santos and me on our weekly Twitter Chat. Just search the hashtag #AXSChat at 3pmEST and join the conversation. We chat about disability inclusion, empowerment, employability and accessibility.
With special comments from Sam Joehl, SSB Senior Accessibility Specialist.
I was perplexed when I read about a class action lawsuit against Walt Disney Parks & Resorts.
“On June 29, 2011, the United States District Court Central District of California certified a nationwide class of blind persons in a class action pending in Los Angeles against Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. The Plaintiffs expect to establish that thousands of patrons with visual impairments visit Disney’s parks, restaurants and hotels each year, and that the three named Plaintiffs’ claims are common to those of the much larger class. The Complaint does not seek money damages, but only compliance with ADA and other laws which require Disney to accommodate the needs of, and not discriminate against, its patrons with visual impairments.”
American Foundation for the Blind
Why the surprise? The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) just awarded Disney with a 2011 Access Award. “Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in 2010 introduced a new device at its U.S. theme parks that provides audio description for its many spectacular—and hugely popular—rides and attractions. Guests with visual impairments who visit Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida and Disneyland® Resort in California can explore the parks with unprecedented freedom with the help of a 7.2-ounce wireless device. Disney’s Handheld Device provides audio descriptions of park surroundings and rides for guests with visual disabilities, closed captioning for guests who are deaf, as well as other access features at over 51 attractions domestically. Disney’s Handheld Device also lets guests choose the type of information they would like to receive about outdoor areas, from architectural elements to the location of the nearest restroom via an interactive audio menu.”
The new Audio Description Technology describes out door locations for Disney land park guests with visual disabilities Image from: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/
Sam Joehl had these comments on the subject:
“In the late 1990’s I visited Disney World’s Epcot Center with my family. They provided us with a Braille guidebook listing the countries and the cuisine served by the restaurants which allowed me to independently select where I wanted to dine for lunch. Disney was accommodating people with disabilities even back in the 1990s by providing guidebooks in accessible formats.
I think lawsuits like these have the potential to hurt the disability advocacy community more than help it just as the ADA lawsuit against Southwest Airlines did. The Disney suit falls into the same category of frivolous lawsuits as the NAD complaint against Netflix (who plan to caption 80 percent of their streaming content by year’s end and has offered subtitles on iOS devices since May of this year) and the NFB complaint against SSA which has one of the best Section 508 programs in the U.S. Federal Government.
All of these organizations obviously employ individuals who are deeply committed to ensure that their products and services are accessible, but they may have gaps in their accessibility policies, lack overarching corporate accessibility policies or lack enforcement of these policies across the entire organization.
Last month I went to a talk at Accessibility DC in which Dr. Chris Law presented his doctoral thesis about the business case for accessibility. Dr. Law studied organizations in Australia to determine why some were more successful at implementing end-to-end accessibility solutions than others. He came away with seven success factors which were present in every organization that implemented accessibility across their culture and their entire enterprise, and were not present in organizations that fell short of this objective in some area. More research needs to be done in this area to identify the criteria that results in effective end-to-end accessibility programs.
“Win win” We need to work with organizations rather than be quick to litigate. Image from: http://lflegal.com/negotiations/
We need to work with organizations to get these seven success factors implemented across their entire enterprise. Instead of attacking or threatening organizations which are making a concerted effort to implement accessibility, positive relationships should be formed with the individuals spearheading these efforts to increase their influence and fill in the gaps in their accessibility policies and their implementations.
The numerous accessibility successes which were borne out of structured negotiation agreements demonstrates that companies can be convinced to provide accessible solutions by fostering positive relationships instead of taking the route of litigation. Filing lawsuits against companies for not doing what they are already doing brands us accessibility advocates as the unreasonable hysterics we are often seen to be. Litigation should be saved for the companies who are unwilling to cooperate or who fight their legal requirements. The companies who are trying to do the right thing should be encouraged to do what they’re doing even better.”
So what can be done? How can we avoid sending mixed messages from our community of people with disabilities (PwD)? What can a company do to better understand and include PwD?
There are some logical steps: make inclusion a part of your company’s culture, include accessibility in your policies and procedures, add compliance language to all IT procurements, and make accessibility part of your service and product life cycles and development.
Disability Parking Sign at Disney. Image from: http://themagicalworldof.com/
Focus on all human touch points, HR systems, Intranet, Internet, Service Centers, Kiosks, eLearning, Online Services, Software applications, shareholder reports, marketing communications, PDF and other reports. Anywhere that you intersect with a person should have accessibility built into the process. Train your developers, testers, QA, programmers and anyone else adding content. Make inclusion and accessibility part of your organization’s culture.
Walt Disney Parks & Resorts has spent millions of dollars to include people with disabilities in their parks. They offer wheel chair rentals, services for guests with mobility, hearing and visual disabilities, lighting sensitivity, and special parking for guests with disabilities. To learn more about Disney efforts to provide accessibility visit http://www.Disneyland.Disney.go.com/help/access.
I am not here to argue the merits of the lawsuit but do think many will be confused by an award for excellence from AFB and then a lawsuit by members of the blind community.
For further information about TecAccess and their current endeavors, visit their website at SSB Bart Group
To follow up on Debra Ruh’s current endeavors, follow her on social media: @DebraRuh or visit Ruh Global Communications
