Getting over the barriers of accessibility

Many organisations have ambitions to create an inclusive workplace, but despite these best intentions, their efforts fall short. In order to meaningfully progress and develop more successful strategies we must gain a better understanding of the key reasons behind these shortcomings.

When organisations with accessibility/inclusivity strategies were surveyed, statistics revealed that the following reasons were found to be the main barriers to accessibility:

43% said the biggest hurdle was that there was no clear ownership within the organisation
16% said they lacked the right people or skills
11% found it hard to justify the spend
10% said they were not sure what accessibility really meant
6% said senior leadership was not convinced of the benefits

Here are a few basic pointers offering guidance on how to best overcome these hurdles:

No clear ownership within the organisation

In an ideal world, everyone within the organisation takes some form of ownership of inclusivity. An easy way to promote it in every department is to embed inclusivity throughout all teams and divisions within the organisation. This can be done by creating disability steering groups, or inclusivity councils, that are comprised of at least one member from every team. This way, inclusivity isn’t simply one person’s job, instead it has a voice or representative in all areas of the business, meaning EDI and accessibility isn’t just viewed as an HR ‘thing’.

However, a designated and dedicated leader or officer should also be appointed to ensure that someone takes the lead, sets goals and monitors progress. This role would establish policies, manage steering groups/councils, ensure compliance and regularly review and update accessibility practices. They would also set and review targets, be a point of contact for inclusivity related issues, be responsible for training staff in all teams, and generally foster a culture of continuous improvement in accessibility. Obviously, not all organisations have the privilege of having a full time staff member to fill this position, in which case the responsibilities could make up a part of a different role, (providing it isn’t always sidelined, or pushed aside as a lower priority).

Lacking the right people or skills

Hurdles built around a lack of skilled personnel are usually down to recruitment and training. Firstly, to ensure that you are employing people that understand the importance of inclusivity, make sure that your recruitment pathways reflect inclusion and accessibility, and encourage people who have a vested interest in this. Make sure your commitment to inclusivity is clear and is plastered all over your website and advertisements. Are you Disability Confident registered? Then make it blatantly obvious. Add case studies that demonstrate the progress of people with disabilities that you currently employ.

Also- make sure that staff training is readily available to all (from all levels of seniority) or introduce comprehensive onboard training on accessibility standards and best practices to bridge the skills gap.

If you are a SME organisation and your teams are smaller, you may wish to consider a consultant, (such as Bascule Disability Training), to regularly come in and help you create a more accessible environment and workplace culture. This will give you the necessary expertise and support to meet access requirements without relying on the skills you may be lacking in-house.

Justifying the spend

This hurdle can be overcome by demonstrating the long-term benefits and return on investment to those in senior positions that may need convincing. There is an abundance of research out there to easily support the fact that inclusive measures can lead to improved job satisfaction and morale, enhanced performance, increased efficiency and profitability.

For example - A study by the Boston Consulting Group found that companies with diverse management teams bring 19% higher innovation revenue.

Deloitte research showed that company diversity is directly related to employee engagement. Higher employee engagement can lead to higher job satisfaction, which in turn, can lower the turnover rate.

Also, companies that have EDI strategies in place tend to outperform their competitors financially – research shows that these organisations are 120% more likely to achieve their financial goals. (If you need further statistics or facts- check out these 15 Key Benefits Of DEI To Communicate With Team Members (forbes.com). )

Also- don’t forget to talk about an organisation’s moral and social obligations, and how they shouldn’t be ignored!

‘We’re not sure what accessibility really means’

If this is a hurdle for your organisation, then you really need to step back and start from square one. As we at Bascule always say- the first step in any journey towards becoming a more inclusive organisation is through comprehensive disability awareness training. (Take a look at how Bascule can help here).

This training should be user-led (meaning it’s conducted by someone with lived experience of disability) and clearly define what accessibility is, illustrating its benefits, and how it encompasses more than just physical access but also recruitment, opportunities, staff perceptions of disability and most importantly, developing an inclusive organisational culture.

Senior leadership staff are not convinced of the benefits

Disability awareness training helps staff to develop a more positive perception of disability and understanding of the benefits of inclusion. Sadly, organisations often have a limited outlook on who should undertake this training, often limiting it to HR and EDI staff members. Despite senior leadership members being among the most important to receive this training, they are the least likely to, which is why organisations often experience this hurdle.

If we ensure that senior staff are aware of the benefits, then this has a trickle down effect on other staff members. (Also- the answer to ‘Justifying the Spend’ is very relevant to this hurdle.)

Through training, and by presenting a business case on the positive impact of accessibility, on profitability, customer service, productivity and so on, Senior Leaders can soon be convinced of the potential benefits of accessibility.

If you are interested in Bascule Disability Training’s service offering, through training or consultancy, contact us today on info@bascule.com.