37th Annual CSUN Assistive Technology Conference Has Concluded

Making Accessibility a Part of Company Culture

Date & Time

Friday, March 18, 2022 - 9:20 AM PST

Location

Grand GHJK

Description

What would it mean to have a corporate culture of accessibility? So many companies proudly declare themselves to be synergistic, proactive, holistic, and innovative. But a culture is about far more than language—it is about actions, about aligning the actual work with the stated goals. It's easy to say that accessibility is built into the culture of a company, but how do we make that happen? What steps will get us closer to that goal, and how do we measure our success?

This presentation will first examine why accessibility needs to be embedded in corporate culture, rather than isolated in a separate department. We will then discuss different approaches to achieve this, some successful and some not. Based on what we know about the various members of the corporate audience, what approaches will be most likely to succeed? What concrete actions can be taken to ensure accessibility is integrated in any process, beyond the usual platitudes? We will discuss internal guidelines and Employee Resource Groups.

The presenter's leadership in building an accessibility program at Macmillan Learning, resulted in being awarded WIPO’s Accessible Book Consortium International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing in 2020. They were also the first publisher to achieve the Global Certified Accessible certification from Benetech for their ebooks.

What does it mean to have an accessible corporate culture and why does it seem to be so hard to achieve?

What solutions have been proposed or implemented in the past and have they worked? How creating ERGs, Rules and Guidelines, Communications, dedicated or dispersed teams can help… or not.

Defining your audience and finding the right approach for encouraging their enthusiasm in participating in an accessible culture conversion. How to mix and match approaches depending on the audience.

This Presentation Link is provided by the Presenter(s) and not hosted by the Center on Disabilities at CSUN. The Center on Disabilities has confirmed, as of April 1, 2022, content linked is relevant to the presentation, but has not been reviewed for accessibility nor will the Center on Disabilities attempt to remediate any accessibility issues in the linked content. Please contact the Presenter(s) with any accessibility concerns.

Audience

Higher Education
Media & Publishing
Marketing
Employment & Human Resources
Administration & Business Support

Audience Level

Beginning

Session Summary (Abstract)

Are you trying to build an accessible community in the workplace but not sure where to start or how to overcome complacency? What has prevented success? Let’s talk about how we can build an inclusive workplace; what works and doesn't, new tools, and how to build an enthusiastic accessibility audience.

Session Type