The third and final part of DWG’s report series, The inclusive digital workplace: Prioritizing Digital Accessibility, offers an insight into how digital workplace teams can prioritize digital accessibility within their work, allowing greater inclusion and equity – particularly for disabled people – within the workplace. It comes at a time when 45% of managers are worried that the digital workplace is not accessible to all employees, while a similar proportion (40%) of employees see it as inaccessible (DWG).
DWG highlights the essential step of understanding the lived experiences of people with disabilities and the role of accessibility, whilst discussing the necessity of removing environmental, systemic and attitudinal barriers to workplace participation, and avoiding losing sight of how digital accessibility benefits specific employee groups.
The report featured data gathered by DWG, including a survey of 1,082 managers and employees across the UK and US, gaining insights from practitioners, as well as undertaking an interview with MassMutual’s internal Digital Communications team.
The author of the report, Shimrit Janes, who is Director of Knowledge for DWG, said this of Prioritizing Digital Accessibility:
“1 in 6 of the world’s population lives with a disability (World Health Organization) and yet digital accessibility often gets deprioritized – or often completely ignored – within digital workplaces. As Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programmes progress, and digital workplace teams work to amplify and support efforts, it is essential that accessibility doesn’t get left behind.
“This paper is intended to help digital workplace teams ask the questions and start to gain the knowledge that supports digital accessibility, which is so essential for their colleagues’ – and future colleagues’ – belonging, participation and health in the workplace.”
