Where is Your Organization on the Accessibility Maturity Scale Ajay Sohal Software Testing Engineer QA Infotech

Abstract Countless technological organizations are extensively working in the software arena to build innovative products for the end users. Primarily, it all begins by having a well-defined process and approach of developing a product which can bring advantage in the end. There is always a positive thought which is linked with developing a software product with the intention that a maximum number of customers can obtain same product and gain value. Out of these users, there is a segment of those individuals who require special products. Of course, these users cannot be ignored. It requires an intense study to understand their demands and usage. As a matter of fact, organizations dealing with websites and mobile apps are willing to include accessibility as an important part of their software development life-cycle. But there is always a question to figure out the technique to reach a maturity level.

Why Accessibility? Awareness is higher due to the number of lawsuits Globally there is a significant increase in implementation of regulations, standards and policies for accessibility Lack of attention to accessibility can impact sales and revenue Expensive to retrofit accessibility Products are constantly evolving Maturing population represents a strong demographic for revenue opportunity People are staying in the workforce longer Retired population is tech savvy

Business Challenges Technology keeps changing which requires new accessibility techniques Businesses are constantly changing due to demands and need to do more with less Lack of awareness of accessibility and standards leads to poor or incomplete implementation No clear policies or direction on what you need to achieve for accessibility No one is responsible or accountable Processes and roles are not clearly defined Third-party content and tools are not accessible Lack of accessibility skills and knowledge Accessibility is considered an afterthought

What is Maturity? Processes that are well-defined, repeatable, measured, analyzed, improved and effective Business process improvement models help to solve the maturity problem by: ◦Defining a set of practices ◦Providing a general framework for improving them

Immature vs. Mature Organization

Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Method to evaluate and measure the maturity of processes Developed to help organizations identify Where they are Where they want to be What factors need to be overcome To ensure that they get there ◦Competently ◦Confidently

CMM Levels

Why Apply CMM to Accessibility? To define and apply a proven process Framework to continually improve and refine the process Reduces costs and improves quality Greater productivity, higher quality, and less re-work Reduced risk Increased customer satisfaction

What is the Accessibility Maturity Model? Helps organizations produce products that are usable and accessible for all Provides model for integrating into organization’s processes so that it is part of organization’s DNA Gets at the source of the problem Are you using proven industry practices? Does the staff have the resources needed to execute the process? Is the organization providing effective support? About improving operations, employee skills and measuring results

Getting Started Integrating accessibility and forming an accessibility program needs to be broken down into manageable steps to implement across the organization May be different for different organizations based on structure and type of business Top-down Bottom-up Middle-out Whichever method, the steps are the same, just in a different order

Top-Down Management or legal makes the decision Starts with business processes and finishes with implementation Need to define responsibilities, policies, standards, governance, processes and procedures Advantages: Clear policy statement from executives Training begins to build common understanding Processes and documentation gives comprehensive perspective Challenges: Process can take a long time to integrate Many activities with little return

Bottom-Up Advantages: Challenges: Usually starts because someone is passionate about accessibility Starts with implementation and finishes with business processes Accessibility efforts are made on a project-by-project basis Applying lessons learned and building processes & policies Work to get leadership support Advantages: Efforts need a single manager, a process and team to get started Passionate champion leads the efforts Efforts are focused Learning and process improvements happen on the job Challenges: Processes are contained with project so no big impact on company as a whole Spread virally but can also die with change in staffing

Middle-Out Executive sponsor leads efforts in particular division Wider focus than bottom-up Some processes and procedures are standardized Usually some measurement or reporting Advantages: Real work is being done to improve processes Learning by doing More support than bottom-up Challenges: Organization is not looking at processes fully from end-to-end Accessibility may not continue to be a priority with competing organizational priorities

Assessing Maturity Benchmark where you are against key process areas Perform gap analysis between your existing processes and the key components needed for accessibility Requires reviewing documentation (policies, processes, guidelines) Interviewing staff to see how it is implemented into day-to-day practices Results will provide guidance on how to move forward and to build on areas where you have some level of maturity Important to continually measure results to show ROI and to know the impact of efforts

How to Quickly Assess your Accessibility Maturity Evaluate against 5 key capability areas Accessibility policy Accessibility governance Accessibility integration Training Documentation and reporting Score each from 0 – 3 with maximum score of 15

How Mature is Your Accessibility Program?

QA InfoTech’s step towards Accessibility Maturity

Accessibilitometer Accessibilitometer is a tool which defines the accessibility compliant score of any application (Desktop/Web) based on the accessibility checks that have been performed on different available features.

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Sneak peek to Accessibilitometer

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Thank You!!!