Accessibility and Inclusion for the Modern Marketer Create experiences that engage everyone
Table of contents 2 5 9 12 19 Introduction Transforming marketing services and customer experiences Chapter 1 Why accessibility and inclusion matter Chapter 2 Accessibility and inclusion as a strategy Chapter 3 Best practices for accessibility and the customer experience Conclusion More thoughtful, more compliant, more human
Introduction: Transforming marketing services and customer experiences Microsoft s mission is to empower every person and every organization to achieve more. In the era of digital transformation, we believe technology should reflect the diversity of everyone who uses it. With over one billion people in the world living with disabilities, this means creating products, services, and environments where people of all abilities feel included and empowered to succeed. With this mission in mind, we re helping modern marketers design and deliver content that is inclusive of all users, and accessible based on their unique speech, visual, hearing, movement, and cognitive needs. This e-book presents a guide to integrating an accessibility and inclusion strategy into your marketing efforts. This strategy will allow you to meet one individual s needs, and extend to the needs of many, while highlighting guidelines that help you create unique, personalized experiences both internally for your employees and externally for customers. 2
Introduction: Transforming marketing services and customer experiences As a strategy, accessibility and inclusion work hand-in-hand to guarantee customer events and experiences are user-friendly by offering a diverse range of perspectives and capabilities. This guide will give you insights into: Recognizing the diverse needs of audiences and users. Why the user experience should be unique and personalized. How accessible content, events, and processes make inclusion in the digital world possible. Adding accessibility to your processes makes a big impact on business success. Take this journey to transform marketing services and customer experiences for your organization. 3
Chapter 1 Why accessibility and inclusion matter Engaging people of all abilities is important for your business, and it s the right thing to do 4
Chapter 1: Why accessibility and inclusion matter Lisa is a program manager in Austin, Texas. At the age of 30, Lisa lost her sight, which altered the way she interacted with her colleagues, customers, and her work environment. Although it was quite an adjustment, Lisa has adapted to her vision loss with the help of assistive technology. With her braille display, screen reader, and speech recognition capabilities on her devices, Lisa can successfully collaborate with her colleagues and manage her programs to meet her customers needs. After her life-changing experience with vision loss and the impact of assistive technology, Lisa has become an advocate for inclusion in the workplace at her company. 5
Chapter 1: Why accessibility and inclusion matter About 15% of the world s population lives with some form of disability. Marketers must take note that both customer and employee experiences should be inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. They should realize that adding accessibility to their processes can have a major transformational impact for everyone involved. Not to mention, having an accessibility strategy in place also ensures compliance and reduces legal risk. In 2016, 6,601 ADA Title III lawsuits were filed in federal court a 37% rise from the previous year. 1 Public sector agencies have federal regulations that require accessible accommodations, and staying ahead of these regulations helps ensure organizations are creating a culture of inclusion where diverse talent is valued and supported. 15% About 15% of the world s population lives with some form of disability. Accessible content, events, and processes make inclusion in the digital world possible. Accessibility makes it easier for everyone to see, hear, and use technology to personalize their experiences to meet their own needs and preferences such as: Vision Ability to communicate 70% Auditory Cognitive Learning Movement 70% of disabilities are invisible to the eye. Speech 6 Mobility 1: http://www.adatitleiii.com/2017/01/ada-title-iii-lawsuits-increaseby-37-percent-in-2016/
Chapter 1: Why accessibility and inclusion matter Marketers and their organizations must commit to accessibility by implementing a deliberate strategy to ensure a workforce that addresses the spectrum of needs that are permanent, temporary, or situational. This helps communicate information in a way that reaches everyone. But most of all, accessibility and inclusion are vital to the growth of your business and the betterment of humanity. 7
Chapter 2 Accessibility and inclusion as a strategy Bringing in diverse perspectives can enhance your work environment. 8
Chapter 2: Accessibility and inclusion as a strategy What does accessibility and inclusion look like in the workforce? For starters, you must recognize what inclusion means within your own organization. Are there people with diverse backgrounds in your workplace that can bring a variety of perspectives? Are you strategizing for specific disabilities (i.e. vision, hearing, speech, mobility, learning)? Are you extending resources to diverse individuals? In the modern world, being both inclusive and accessible means not only allowing different voices to be heard, but encouraging a culture of empathy. Having various perspectives in your workspace enhances the environment and creates a thoughtful atmosphere where every employee feels like they are a valuable and supported member of the team. In order for your strategy to be truly inclusive and accessible, you must put people at the center from the very start. Being inclusive and accessible by design starts with the hiring process and extends to your day-to-day actions. 9
Chapter 2: Accessibility and inclusion as a strategy No customer can believe your commitments to diversity and accessibility if your internal company doesn t reflect that. By ensuring all customers can experience your media, products, or services, you re sending a message that your company and brand view diversity and inclusion as priorities. You re also communicating that your work environment is a place where people of all abilities can thrive. Improving accessibility for the 1.2 billion people living with a disability worldwide, and their 3 trillion dollars estimated annual buying power, increases your talent pool and brand presence exponentially. Not to mention, prioritizing accessibility and inclusion as a strategy mitigates legal risk and prevents lost business. 1.2 billion people are living with a disability worldwide. Being inclusive and accessible by design means gaining a competitive advantage. You are able to attract a wide variety of talent and reach all customers, ensuring a holistic approach to doing business. There are 3 trillion dollars of estimated buying power among those living with a disability. 10 From Microsoft s Inclusive Design Principles
Chapter 3 Accessibility and the customer experience Best practices 11
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience According to Gartner, 89% of marketers expect customer experience to be their primary differentiator this year and moving forward. With this in mind, it s more critical than ever before for your enterprise to consistently deliver unique and rewarding experiences. For customers with disabilities, the first step toward empowerment is inclusion. Making sure all customers can engage with your events, and that they can access your content and take action, helps your company stay competitive and compliant. The key to accessible events Making an event accessible to all requires action before, during, and after an on-site event. When devising strategies on how to enhance the accessibility of your events, use the Microsoft CXO Summit, a digital transformation conference aimed at corporate executives, as a starting point for best practices. The CXO Summit is an event that brings together business leaders across industries to learn about the latest technology trends and hear from an eclectic lineup of keynote speakers. Recently, Microsoft launched a pilot project to make the CXO Summit an accessible event and improve customer experience for everyone. 12
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience As part of the pilot, the US Events team completed a disability awareness training to learn about engaging people with disabilities prior to the event planning stage. Also before the Summit, a simple request process was added to the event page, so that an attendee could request blind/low vision, hearing or wheelchair accommodations at the conference. When creating content for your future events, consider providing attendees the option to email for specific accessibility needs and requests. Also consider implementing the other pre-event preparation steps from the CXO Summit pilot, which include: Providing on-stage speakers with guidelines and tips on how to make their presentations more accessible and inclusive. Ensuring your event venue is wheelchair accessible, including stage setups for presenters. Confirming your event website is compatible with screen reader software for the visually impaired. Training your on-site technical staff on how to assist users who need help with devices. Preparing for requests for braille materials or American Sign Language (ASL) requests. Microsoft Dynamics 365 s powerful CRM and ERP capabilities can help support organizations as they change business processes to incorporate accessibility as a strategy. With the barriers to transformation rapidly decreasing, making accessibility a priority is a no-brainer. 13
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience During the CXO Summit, real-time captioning was provided for all on-stage sessions, and video content was also closed captioned. In addition to helping people who are deaf, captioning made following along easier for all attendees. Throughout the event, accessibility solutions like Accessibility Checker for Office 365 products and the Windows 10 screen reader, called Narrator, were showcased to generate awareness about the services available to help individuals with disabilities in the workplace. During breaks, videos were broadcast directing people with questions to the Disability Answer Desk, a Microsoft technical support service for people with disabilities. As an additional resource, caption coverage was provided for all virtual and on-demand content, both during and after the event. Using the outcomes and takeaways from the CXO Summit pilot project can help you plan and host more accessible events that engage all your customers. 14
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience Creating accessible content Another component of delivering rewarding experiences to customers with disabilities is ensuring the content you create is inclusive. When creating marketing content across the Office 365 suite of productivity tools, use these built-in capabilities and follow these best practices to make sure it s accessible for all: Run the Accessibility Checker to find potential issues in your Word documents, Excel sheets, and PowerPoint presentations. Use built-in styles and templates, with fonts and colors that are easy to see. Break up content with section headings, sheet names, and slide titles to make it easier to navigate. If you re using hyperlinks, give them meaningful display names. Learn more about how Office 365 enables enhanced productivity and inclusion here. Describe visual objects with alternative text to assist people who use screen readers. Avoid using color as the primary means for highlighting important information. Following these best practices, and leveraging the automatic transcription and translation capabilities of Skype and Skype Translator can help make your marketing materials, meetings, and presentations inclusive and accessible. 15
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience What s your workplace accessibility score? Meeting individual needs and offering unique, personalized experiences for both employees and customers is critical to creating a workplace and events that celebrate diversity and inclusion. Do you know how well your organization integrates accessibility and inclusion? Rate your company in each of the 12 areas below to determine where you are strongest, and where you might benefit from increasing your accessibility efforts. Rate your company in each of the 12 areas below to determine where you are strongest, and where you might benefit from increasing your accessibility efforts. Then, add up your score and see how it compares to the table on the next page: 1 = never; 2 = almost never; 3 = sometimes; 4 = almost always; 5 = always Events Consistently train our team on disability etiquette Ensure accessible spaces, communication, and content Include a diverse range of speakers and presenters Content Use the Accessibility Checker to fix potential issues Caption all video content; add alt text to images Avoid using color as the primary means for highlighting information Meetings A range of communication styles, such as chat, video, and voice are offered Materials are sent in advance Meeting spaces have available adjustments for different needs Culture There is leadership to support for diversity and inclusion There are ways for employees and teams to engage in conversations about diveristy and inclusion Diversity and Inclusion are built into the hiring practices 16 Total Score
Chapter 3: Accessibility and the customer experience Match your score to the category below. Amateur [12-24 pts.] Novice [25 36 pts.] Proficient [37 48 pts.] Expert [49 60 pts.] Many organizations are just beginning to understand the benefits of creating a diverse, inclusive environment. Now that you have an understanding of how accessibility makes it easier to meet the unique needs of your workplace and customers, you can begin to focus on incorporating the tools and techniques that foster a diverse workforce. Begin by following the tips in this ebook and focus on all four areas of accessibility, from events and Great start! Your organization realizes that adding accessibility to your processes can have a major positive impact on business success. While you ve begun addressing the needs of your diverse workforce and customer base, there are many tools and techniques that can help you increase your inclusivity quotient. Build on the work you ve already done by following the tips in this ebook and focusing your efforts on the four areas in which you scored lower than a 3. Nice work! Your workplace understands that having an accessibility strategy in place not only has an impact on business success, but it can also help to ensure compliance and reduces legal risk. Continue to work on your accessibility efforts by following the tips in this ebook and focusing on any of the four areas in which you received a score lower than 4. Well done! Your organization understands how vital diversity and inclusion are to the growth of your business. As an accessibility expert, you serve as a great example of how organizations can foster an accessible, diverse workplace. To keep your Expert status, stay on top of the latest trends in accessibility. The tips in this ebook are a great place to start. Then focus your efforts on any of the four areas in which you scored lower than a 5. content, to meetings and culture, in order to create a 360-degree inclusive environment. 17
Conclusion More thoughtful, more compliant, more human 18
Conclusion: More thoughtful, more compliant, more human In the era of digital transformation, innovations in technology present you with an unprecedented opportunity to be more thoughtful about how you do business, more compliant with the latest regulations, and more human in how you interact with your employees and customers. Investing in accessibility helps ensure your organization is making impactful connections with all individuals. Transforming your marketing systems and enforcing a deliberate accessibility strategy across your organization is not only good for business, but also for the larger community you serve. Whether its Microsoft Dynamics 365 to improve business processes for marketing operations, or Office 365 with accessibility built in for digital inclusion, Microsoft offers a range of connected solutions to address accessibility in your organization. Sign up for a free trial to see firsthand how Dynamics 365 can enable inclusive processes in your organizations. Reinventing Marketing Services An in-depth look at Microsoft s Central Controls and Compliance Program Part 1 19
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