Overview
Accessible technology isn’t just for employees with disabilities anymore. It’s for companies with enhanced productivity on their minds.
IBM Human Ability & Accessibility Director Frances W. West told attendees at a Washington, D.C., summit on disability employment policy that accessibility goes beyond the simple arithmetic of assistive technology to the higher corporate math of streamlined processes and increased productivity.
The summit, “Transforming the American Workplace: A 21st-century Vision,” was hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability and Employment Policy. West was part of an expert panel on new workplace technologies.
“Today,” she told participants, “accessibility is about enhancing human ability through innovation, so everyone can maximize their potential, regardless of age or ability. As the workforce ages and changes, technology needs to accommodate a range of potential challenges, including visual impairment, hearing loss and large- and small-motor difficulties.”
Accessibility adds up
Citing the 2008 IBM Global CEO Survey, she noted that 48 percent of chief executive officers worldwide rank employee skills as a factor that will have the greatest impact on their business organizations; 35 percent said technological factors would have the greatest effect. West advised that, besides opening companies to the considerable skill sets of people with disabilities, accessibility represents an overarching business strategy that combines both factors, leveraging technology to enhance the skills of every employee.
IBM’s workplace vision, she explained, is to go beyond accessibility to usable solutions that adapt; beyond technology to value-based innovation; and beyond accommodation to empowerment.
“Giving employees with disabilities the tools they need to make a significant contribution is just part of the equation,” West said. “The same accessibility solutions can provide a company’s entire employee base with faster, easier, more intuitive technology interfaces that, taken together, may significantly improve productivity. That’s not just being generous; that’s being genuinely competitive.”