Why does Accessibility matter in Change Management?
Did you know that 4.4 million Australians have a disability?
Disabilities can be permanent, temporary or situational. They aren't always visible, and people may not choose to disclose their disability or accessible requirements.
This means that if we aren't considering accessible requirements when we are designing communications and change plans, we could be excluding one in five people in our audience!
We can group disabilities into some common categories to help us understand the differences in their needs. Someone may have a vision, hearing, physical, learning, mental health or neurodiverse difference which changes their needs. By considering these needs, we can adjust our delivery to allow our people to focus on the message rather than struggle with the manner of delivery.
It might be helpful to start with the below as a guide for some accessible considerations:
By considering accessible needs, we are helping to foster a more inclusive workspace for all well beyond the timeline of a project.
Thankfully, accessibility it built into most tech we might use for communications. Microsoft specifically ensure that accessibility is always 'built in', not 'bolted on' which provides so much confidence in using their tools for change management. Instagram, Adobe, Linkedin and Articulate all have accessible features which are easy to find and use.
My top 2 tips are:
Add the accessible line, and
Use Accessibility Checkers!
Change is hard for everyone but having a disability can add extra complexity in a work situation. Researching in which ways your change is Accessible and adding one line to communications like the below reduces the need for people with accessible needs to do their own research.
e.g. Teams is an Accessible piece of technology. Read more here. (with a link to the details about your accessibility findings)
And Accessibility Checkers, which are built into so many platforms, allow you to easily ensure your presentation or communication is accessible without being an expert as they do the hard work for you and advise exactly where you need to fix something.
Employing even just these two tactics can make such a difference!