I’ve had so many great conversations since that SHRM announcement! Equity, while sometimes misunderstood, is such a critical part of the work that DEI professionals set out to do.

SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) recently announced the “strategic decision” to rebrand DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) as Inclusion & Diversity (I&D), effective immediately.

Read more: Not Without Equity

I think, instead of removing letters from the acronyms we use to describe our work, we should be adding letters. Let’s consider ABIDE.

ABIDE: Accessibility, Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity

ABIDE is an acronym that stands for:

• Accessibility: equal access to opportunities and resources, regardless of abilities or disabilities
• Belonging: a sense of connection and acceptance where everyone feels valued and welcomed
• Inclusion: environments where everyone feels respected, heard, and supported, regardless of their background
• Diversity: differences that make us unique, including many facets such as race, gender, age, and disability
• Equity: the resources and support needed for everyone to compete fairly

Each component of the ABIDE framework is interconnected and crucial for creating an inclusive environment.

The ABIDE Interdependence

• Accessibility without inclusion can lead to physical access but social isolation.
• Belonging without accessibility can exclude individuals with disabilities.
• Inclusion without diversity can create homogeneous environments lacking innovation.
• Diversity without equity can result in tokenism rather than genuine opportunity.
• Equity without belonging can lead to a sense of isolation even with equal opportunities.

ABIDE Without _____?

• No Accessibility: Excludes individuals with disabilities, limiting talent pool and violating rights.
• No Belonging: Creates a hostile environment, leading to low morale, turnover, and decreased productivity.
• No Inclusion: Marginalizes underrepresented groups, stifling creativity and innovation.
• No Diversity: Limits perspectives, hindering problem-solving and decision-making.
• No Equity: Perpetuates systemic inequalities, undermining fairness and justice.

ABIDE in Circulation

I’m not the first to use this acronym, but I think it’s time we bring it into wider circulation.

These sources came up for organizations using the ABIDE acronym to mean Access(ibility), Belonging, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity. There aren’t too many yet!

• American Printing House: https://www.aph.org/abide/
• Second Helpings: https://www.secondhelpings.org/second-helpings-abide-committee-looks-towards-future/

Other variations include:

• advancing belonging, inclusion, diversity, and equity (Henry Ford College)
• accountability, belonging, inclusion, diversity, and equity (Luther Seminary)
• appreciation, belongingness, inclusivity, diversity, and equity (Ascension Health System)
• authenticity, belonging, inclusion, diversity, and equity (various LinkedIn/Twitter posts)

What About DEIB, IDEA, JEDI, and Other Acronyms?

The landscape of diversity, equity, inclusion, and related concepts is filled with a variety of acronyms. Each has its own nuances and focuses. The plethora of acronyms reflects the evolving nature of the conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Different organizations choose different terms based on their specific goals, values, and target audience.

Ultimately, the most important thing is not the acronym itself, but the actions and commitments behind it.

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I can’t believe we’re halfway through 2024 already! The end of June marks 6 months of the ATD Chapter Tour of Accessibility for Online Learning, one of my most requested presentations.

I’ve seen Central Massachusetts, Puget Sound, Mississippi Valley, Houston, Chicagoland, Nebraska, Memphis, Kansas City, Tulsa, and even my home, Las Vegas! How did the audiences compare?

Audience Priorities

Like any good instructional designer, my session has learning objectives! But I let the audience prioritize how much time to spend on each topic.

Disabilities & Assistive Technology

After some initial information on the kinds of disabilities and assistive technology out there, we ask the audience which of those they’ve seen in their workplace or learner population.

Interactive Elements of Online Learning

This prompt always starts some great discussions! After covering some accessibility best practices, we dive into trickier interactions like drag-and-drop, timing, documents, and more.

Every audience is a bit different, all with varied priorities, experiences, and challenges. This presentation is so much fun to deliver, and Mentimeter provides some great polls, prompts, and other interactions to spark conversation.

But the year’s not over yet! I’ll be sharing this session at several other ATD Chapters for the rest of the year – check out my upcoming events here!

Want me to bring this session – or another session – to your organization? Let me know!

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Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is celebrated on the third Thursday of May each year. In 2024, GAAD falls on May 16th. According to accessibility.day, “The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access / inclusion and people with different disabilities.”

We’re celebrating GAAD this year at Inclusive Pixelation with a free webinar discussion on Accessibility at Work. You can get the details and register here.

What is Digital Accessibility?

Digital accessibility refers to the ability of people with disabilities and impairments to consume and/or interact with digital applications and content independently. In many parts of the world, there are laws and regulations that mandate a certain level of accessibility for websites and digital products created by government agencies, schools and universities, and other public institutions. (I spoke about some of those international laws recently at my webinar on Accessibility & Disability Inclusive Workplaces.)

Digital accessibility is all about creating a level playing field in the digital world for everyone, regardless of ability.

State of Accessibility

According to the WebAIM Million Report, over 95% of websites have at least one accessibility error.

96.4% of all errors detected fall into six categories: Low Contrast Text, Missing ALT Text, Missing Labels, Empty Links, Empty Buttons, and Missing Language. These most common errors have been the same for the last 5 years. Addressing just these few types of issues would significantly improve accessibility across the web.

Ways You Can Participate

Check out these great events you can attend, virtually or in person, all day – and month! – long:

• Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Events: https://accessibility.day/events/
• International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) Events: https://accessibilityassociation.org/s/gaad
• GAAD at Level Access: https://www.levelaccess.com/gaad/

The post Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) appeared first on Inclusive Pixelation.

Join me for the Inclusive Pixelation celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) with a FREE webinar / discussion group on accessibility at work!

Register now for the GAAD Accessibility at Work Webinar on May 16, 2024 at 4p PST / 7p EST via Zoom.

Audience: This webinar is intended for anyone who is involved in HR practices (such as attraction, recruiting, onboarding, development, and retention), including professionals in Human Resources, Learning & Development, and Diversity & Inclusion. Anyone involved in fostering an inclusive workplace environment is welcome to attend.

Description: Are you committed to building a diverse and thriving workforce?

This webinar will equip professionals and managers with actionable practices to create a truly accessible workplace. Learn strategies that empower employees with disabilities and unlock the full potential of your workforce.

Bring your own accessibility challenges – and best practices! This webinar will be interactive, with opportunities to share and learn from others.

Facilitator: Britne Jenke, CPACC, CPTD, SHRM-SCP, an expert in learning and development and accessibility with over 20 years of experience.

Accessibility: This webinar will be held via Zoom with live captions and a transcript to follow. Registrants will be provided with access to the recorded webinar and transcript following the live session. If you require anything else to participate in the webinar, please indicate on your registration or contact me.

Register today to learn more about accessibility for inclusive employee experiences!

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Thank you to everyone who came out to support DisruptHR Las Vegas on September 28th, 2023! Now that I’ve had some time to reflect and review the presentation, I wanted to share some references and resources from, “You’re Just Not Disabled YET: Accessibility for Everyone.”

First of all, I know the event did not have an interpreter or captioning available for those with hearing loss, and I have made recommendations to the organizers on accessibility considerations for next year’s event. The full video (below) does, however, have closed captions and a full transcript available. The venue, Zappos Tony Hsieh Theater, was otherwise physically accessible and a great choice for an event of this size.

I pulled out some quotes I wanted to share references for, but please get in touch if you’d like more information about the presentation!

Presentation Quotes

People with disabilities are the world’s largest and fastest growing minority group. (1)

Up to 1 in 4 (27 percent) adults in the US have some type of disability. (2)
70 to 96% of those disabilities are “invisible.” (3,4,5)
Also, people with disabilities need 28% more household income to achieve the same standard of living as those without disabilities. (6)

Why? They often earn less on average (6), participate in the workforce at a significantly reduced rate (6), while often having increased expenses (6).
Disabilities become more prevalent with age (7), but changes to things like our eyesight and hearing can happen much earlier in life than we expect.

Of all US employees with a disability, only 39% of those have disclosed their disability to their manager. (8)
Even fewer employees, under 25%, disclose their disability to their teammates or to HR. (8)

The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives. (9) How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better? (9)

Presentation References

1. Factsheet on Persons with Disabilities – United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs
   https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/factsheet-on-persons-with-disabilities.html
2. Disability Impacts All of Us – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
   https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
3. What is an Invisible Disability? – Invisible Disabilities Association
   https://invisibledisabilities.org/what-is-an-invisible-disability/
4. Invisible Disabilities: Break Down The Barriers – Forbes, March 2020
   https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulamorgan/2020/03/20/invisible-disabilities-break-down-the-barriers
5. Invisible Disability – Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_disability
6. The Extra Costs of Living with a Disability in the U.S. – National Disability Institute
   https://www.nationaldisabilityinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/extra-costs-living-with-disability-brief.pdf
7. Ageing and Disability – United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs
   https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/disability-and-ageing.html
8. Why People Hide Their Disabilities at Work – Harvard Business Review, June 2019
   https://hbr.org/2019/06/why-people-hide-their-disabilities-at-work
9. Steve Krug –  Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability

Additional Resources

• Videos, Webinars, and Podcasts – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• The Hidden Challenges of Invisible Disabilities – BBC Health, June 2017

Full Video

Song Credit: “This is Me” by Keala Settle and The Greatest Showman Cast

Closing Thoughts

Oh my gosh, I was so nervous! The topic ideas I had submitted for the Reno and Las Vegas DisruptHR events were slightly different, so I made changes to the presentation over the course of only a week. (Did you miss my post on DisruptHR Reno?) And there were so many more people I knew locally that came out to support ATD Greater Las Vegas – which was both exciting and nerve-wracking! Overall, I’m thrilled I was able to get this message out to this audience, and I’m so glad I got to be a part of the inaugural DisruptHR Las Vegas event. See you next year!

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October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)! All month long, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite resources on accessibility and disability inclusion in the workplace.

This post features some of my favorite books on accessibility and disability inclusion.

I’ve read the books below to expand my own knowledge – but there are so many more on my reading list! I’d love to hear what books you’re reading on accessibility and disability inclusion as well.

• Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally by Emily Ladau
  • Demystifying Disability is an easy-to-access handbook on important disability issues you need to know about, including how to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability; recognizing and avoiding ableism; practicing good disability etiquette; ensuring accessibility becomes standard practice; appreciating disability history and identity; and identifying and speaking up about disability stereotypes in media. Authored by disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience.
• Accessibility for Everyone by Laura Kalbag
  • We make the web more inclusive for everyone, everywhere, when we design with accessibility in mind. This book guides you through the accessibility landscape: understanding disability and impairment challenges; recognizing important laws and guidelines; and learning how to plan for, evaluate, and test accessible design. Leverage tools and techniques like clear copywriting, well-structured IA, meaningful HTML, and thoughtful design to create a solid set of best practices. Whether you’re new to accessibility or a seasoned professional, this book will help you get on the path to designing with accessibility and inclusion in mind.
• Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind by Regine M. Gilbert
  • As a creator in the modern digital era, your aim should be to make products that are inclusive of all people. Technology has increased connection and information equality around the world. To continue its impact, access and usability of such technology must be made a priority, and there is no better place to get started than with this book. Learn the moral, ethical, and high level legal reasons for accessible design; tools and best practices for user research and web developers; the different types of designs for disabilities on various platforms; web compliance guidelines; and testing products and usability best practices. Created for practitioners of product design, product development, content, and design across many disciplines.
• Designing Accessible Learning Content: A Practical Guide to Applying Best-Practice Accessibility Standards to L&D Resources by Susi Miller
  • This is a detailed guide on accessibility for anyone involved in the design, creation, development or testing of online learning content. It offers essential, in-depth background information such as a focus on disability, an overview of assistive technology and an exploration of the case for digital accessibility. It provides detailed guidance on how to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines making it essential reading for L&D professionals, instructional designers and course developers who need to comply with legal accessibility requirements. This book also demonstrates how creating accessible learning content can improve usability and provide the best possible learning experience for everyone.
    Are you looking for more about Accessibility for Online Learning? Don’t miss my Accessibility for eLearning Checklist and my Linktr.ee of additional resources!

I hope you have a few new books for your reading list! We’ve covered books and courses, so stay tuned for the next post on podcasts.

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October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)! All month long, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite resources on accessibility and disability inclusion in the workplace.

This post features some of my favorite courses on accessibility. (Did you miss my post on accessibility courses on LinkedIn Learning? Click here to read more!)

I’ve taken the courses below to expand my own knowledge on accessibility.

• Accessibility: How to Design for All – Interaction Design Foundation: By understanding that accessibility is about more than just optimizing code, you’ll find you can build it into your design process to ensure you are taking a disability advocacy approach and keeping the focus on your users throughout the development process. This course will help you approach accessibility from all angles. You’ll gain practical, hands-on skills that’ll enable you to assess and optimize for common accessibility issues, as well as place an emphasis on the quality of the user experience by avoiding classic mistakes. You’ll also gain the knowledge to conduct effective accessibility testing by working with users with disabilities.
• Introduction to Digital Accessibility – Interaction Design Foundation: Most of the internet is still inaccessible to those who use assistive technology to access the web. As a creator or contributor to developing a digital experience, you can change that. By creating usable experiences for people at the margins, we end up creating better experiences for everyone.
• Microsoft Accessibility Fundamentals: Technology can empower people to achieve more, help strengthen education opportunities, and make the workplace more inviting and inclusive for people with disabilities. Accessibility and inclusion are essential to empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. This program features several courses that cover accessibility in Microsoft products, for both users and content creators.
• Accessibility of eLearning – OpenLearn: This free course introduces the challenges for disabled students who may use computers in different ways when taking part in eLearning or may need alternative teaching methods. It covers the technology and techniques used by disabled students, the adjustments to teaching methods that might be reasonable, design decisions that affect the accessibility of eLearning tools, and strategies for evaluation.

What about disability inclusion in the workplace? Stay tuned for my next post on courses about disability inclusion.

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October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM)! All month long, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite resources on accessibility and disability inclusion in the workplace.

This post features some of my favorite LinkedIn Learning courses on accessibility.

LinkedIn Learning, originally Lynda.com and now offered through LinkedIn, is a premium feature available to subscribers. Companies may also offer access to LinkedIn Learning as part of their professional development resources.

I’ve taken the courses below to expand my own knowledge on accessibility.

• Making a Case for Accessibility in Your Organization: Get started on your accessibility journey by focusing on culture, developing a strategy, applying accessibility goals to the business, and investing in tools and processes you need. Learn how to test and scale your accessibility practices and craft your company narrative.
• Digital Accessibility for the Modern Workplace (with Audio Descriptions): In this course, the author shares technology solutions for each type of disability and provides best practices for developing more inclusive experiences in meetings, emails, presentations, and social media posts.
• Supporting Accessibility in a Hybrid Workplace: Great practical tips for exploring elements that often get overlooked when developing content for people who use screen readers and meeting software. Learn how to lead accessible meetings so everyone can comprehend, collaborate, and contribute their expertise.
• Foundations of Accessible Elearning: As elearning continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your course is easily accessible to your learners. Find out what you need to know to bring better learning access into your curriculum and put it into practice at your organization.

LinkedIn Learning has a category for accessibility courses, videos, and learning paths that is updated as new content is added. Check it out here.

What about disability inclusion in the workplace? Stay tuned for my next post!

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In this post, I want to dispel some common myths about accessibility and disabilities. You may have heard some of these statements before!

Feel free to contact me if you have other myths about accessibility and disabilities you’d like me to investigate and add to this post.

Sources and Further Reading:

• CDC Disability and Health Promotion Materials and Multimedia 
• Accessibility (A11Y) Myths
• Texas A&M Myths About Disability
• Deque: 5 Digital Accessibility Myths Busted

The post Myths About Accessibility and Disabilities appeared first on Inclusive Pixelation.

What’s the difference between accessibility, usability, and inclusion? I’m so glad you asked! This topic comes up a lot when discovering the world of accessibility, and these topics intersect and apply in different ways depending on your goals. I’d love to share a few definitions and sources I’ve found helpful.

Accessibility

Accessibility addresses discriminatory aspects related to user experience for people with any type of disabilities. This includes traits commonly linked to disabilities. As applied to the web and online learning experiences, accessibility means that people with disabilities can equally access, interact with, navigate, perceive, and understand websites and digital tools. This practice of ensuring that everyone has equal access to information and functionality on digital platforms means that people with disabilities can contribute equally to the experience without barriers.

Usability

If designing something with the needs of disabled people in mind is accessibility, designing something to make it as easy to use as possible by all potential users, regardless of what impairments they may have or what assistive technologies they may use, is called usability. Usability considers the user’s expectations and is about designing products to be effective, efficient, and satisfying. Usability is a principle of user experience (UX); however, usability alone often does not sufficiently address the needs of people with disabilities.

Inclusion

Inclusion is about diversity, belonging, and ensuring the involvement of everyone to the greatest extent possible. In some places, this is also referred to as universal design. Several accessibility practices also benefit people and situations that are a focus of inclusive design. When considering online learning experiences, inclusion addresses a broad range of issues including (but not limited to) accessibility for people with disabilities; access to and quality of hardware, software, and Internet connectivity; computer literacy and skills; and language.

Another note: accessibility is mostly objective. You are either following the guidelines, or you’re not. (More on those guidelines in a future post!) Usability and inclusion can be subjective since we’re considering all users’ opinions and expectations.

Sources and Further Reading:

• Myths About Accessibility and Disabilities
• W3C Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusion
• Google Material Design: Understanding Accessibility
• UX Design: Accessibility and Usability

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