Feature
quickly I had no idea what she was
saying. It was truly impressive to see
someone navigate a technology
designed to be so visual through
voice prompted technology.
5.
Explore Accessibility Features
on Your Smartphone: Whether
you use an iPhone, Android, or
Blackberry, all three have built-in
accessibility features that make
using them easier for individuals
with disabilities. For example, on an
iPhone, you can turn on screen
reader technology (similar to the
way you can experience it on a
Mac), or you can turn on ‘zoom’
functionality to navigate different
parts of your screen with a digital
magnifying glass. The more you
know about the available features
o n t h e s e d ev i ce s , t h e m o re
aware you become of the different
ways your digital presence is
experienced.
6.
Make Something More
Accessible: Take the opportunity
to not only experience accessible
digital media, but also to make
so met hin g mo re acces sib l e.
Ideas include captioning a video
or providing a transcript of a video,
or using free tools such as the
Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool
(WAVE) to test the accessibility of
your website.
7.
Shout it From the Rooftops:
Why not use GAAD as an opportunity
to communicate to your business’
commitment to digital accessibility
through creating a video, blog
post, email blast, or event? You’ll
be increasing awareness of this
important day and aligning your
business with this impor tant
movement.
Accessibility is quickly becoming the
law, it makes good business sense for
your content to have as far a reach as
possible, and it’s simply the right thing
to do. There are a number of ways your
company can experience digital
accessibility successes and failures, but
why go to all the trouble? Allow me to
leave you with two reasons.
will allow for greater empathy and
understanding when working with a
diverse range of clients. (If the world
could use more of anything, I would
argue that greater empathy and under-
standing would be near the top of the
list.) Secondly, by making accessibility
a priority, your business has a better
chance of attracting greater diversity
in your workforce, leading to a wider
variety of perspectives and ideas to help
you stay ahead of your competition.
Therefore a seemingly simple, non-
essential back-burner to-do list item
such as accessibility may actually be a
launching point into the next realm of
business success.
Diana Varma is an Instructor at the
School of Graphic Communications
Management at Ryerson University and
the Owner of ON-SITE First Aid & CPR
Training Group, a health & safety
company that provides training to the
Graphic Arts Industry.
First, encouraging your employees to
experience accessibility tools first hand
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