"What is the business case for accessibility"

A 20 minute talk given at responsiveconf.

Transcript

1. Alice Bartlett Senior Developer Government Digital Service @alicebartlett
2. I’m from the Government Digital Service GDS
3. GDS “What is the business case for accessibility?”
4. GDS This isn’t a bad question
5. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK
6. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility”
7. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard
8. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard 4. You don’t need a business case
9. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard 4. You don’t need a business case
10. GDS The best place to find government services and information
14. GDS 19 million visits a week
15. GDS 19 million visits a week Home to 330 departments and organisations
16. GDS 19 million visits a week Home to 330 departments and organisations Saving £62 million per year
17. GDS We’ve tried to make GOV.UK accessible as possible
18. GDS But it hasn’t always been this way
19. GDS
20. GDS The GOV.UK alpha was terrible for accessibility
21. GDS And we got a massive kicking for it
22. –Leisa Richelt http://www.disambiguity.com/alphagov/ Ultimately, the AlphaGov prototype doesn’t make any significant attempt at achieving accessibility
23. https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2011/05/06/accessibility/ It is a crying shame that good money has been wasted on this run of the mill, unimaginative and pointless website. Stop wasting my money!
24. GDS
25. GDS In the beta we built for inclusion In the beta, we built for inclusion
26. - Tom Loosemore, 2011 We want to make the most easy to use, accessible government website there has ever been.
27. GDS And so building for inclusion became part of how we worked
28. GDS Regular testing with people with a broad spectrum of abilities
29. GDS Screen reader training
30. Government Digital Service Listed below are our design principles and examples of how we’ve used them so far. These build on, and add to, our original 7 digital principles. Start with needs* Do less Design with data Do the hard work to make it simple Iterate. Then iterate again. Build for inclusion Understand context Build digital services, not websites Be consistent, not uniform Make things open: it makes things better Last updated 2 July 2012 ALPHA Design Principles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Government Digital Service Listed below are our design principles and examples of how we’ve used them so far. These build on, and add to, our original 7 digital principles. Start with needs* Do less Design with data Do the hard work to make it simple Iterate. Then iterate again. Build for inclusion Understand context Build digital services, not websites Be consistent, not uniform Make things open: it makes things better GOV.UK Last updated 2 July 2012 ALPHA Design Principles 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Search GDS www.gov.uk/design-principles
31. -GDS Design Principles Accessible design is good design. We should build a product that's as inclusive, legible and readable as possible. If we have to sacrifice elegance – so be it.
32. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard 4. You don’t need a business case
33. GDS Let’s keep this brief, but so we’re all on the same page…
34. GDS visual
35. GDS visual hearing
36. GDS visual hearing motor
37. GDS visual hearing motor cognitive
38. GDS This way of talking about users with accessibility needs is problematic
39. Anne Gibson We can reframe accessibility in terms of what we provide, not what other people lack.
40. GDS Anne Gibson has written about this over on A List Apart
41. GDS It’s better to say “we should make our site accessible on as many inputs and outputs as possible”
42. GDS Accessibility needs can be long term
43. GDS You have epilepsy
44. GDS You’re blind
45. GDS You have learning difficulties
46. GDS Accessibility needs can be temporary
47. GDS You have a migraine
48. GDS You break your arm
49. GDS You develop RSI
50. GDS You’re in a very noisy and chaotic environment
51. GDS Give users as many ways as possible to access your website
52. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard 4. You don’t need a business case
53. GDS I wanted to come here and say…
54. Alice Bartlett, parallel universe Here is your magic answer to why making your site accessible will make you filthy rich
55. GDS That was naïve
56. GDS A good business case should take a problem you can prove you have and solve it in the most cost effective way
57. GDS A good business case should go something like this:
58. GDS Step 1: You have a problem
59. GDS We need more money We need more ad impressions We need people to think of us favourably We are currently at high risk of being sued We need to spend less on maintenance etc
60. GDS Step 2: You come up with some solutions to your problem
61. GDS This includes case studies, cost / benefit analysis, data
62. GDS Step 3: You conclude by saying which of the possible solutions is the best
63. GDS And your best solution is…
64. We should solve X by improving the accessibility of our site
65. We should solve X
66. GDS Anecdotally there are loads of problems that can be solved by making your site more accessible
67. GDS We need better SEO!
68. GDS We need to lower our maintenance costs!
69. GDS We’re missing out on revenue from seniors!
70. GDS We’re missing out on revenue from people with accessibility needs!
71. GDS We need to improve our image!
72. GDS (the list goes on)
73. GDS But when you start writing a business case for these it gets a lot trickier
74. GDS Because there isn’t a whole lot of evidence that making a site accessible is the most cost effective way to solve any of these problems
75. GDS And that’s what a good business case should do
76. GDS Take a problem you definitely have
77. GDS And solve it in the most cost effective way possible
78. GDS In fact, the only well evidenced business case that I can find for making your site accessible is avoiding litigation
79. GDS The RNIB has a handy explainer: http://www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer- advice-professionals/equality-act-compliance
80. GDS The Equality Act (2010)
81. GDS The duty to make reasonable adjustments
82. GDS In the public sector we are also bound by the Public Sector equality Duty
83. GDS The litigation angle rests on balancing the probability that you’ll get sued vs the cost of making your site accessible
84. GDS If you’re a high profile company, the risk of being sued is big enough that you should make your site accessible
85. GDS But if you’re a low profile company, then the chances of you being sued are a lot smaller
86. GDS So actually, maybe there isn’t a business case for companies doing low profile work
87. GDS I can’t say with confidence in those cases that making your website accessible will show a real return on investment
88. GDS But…
89. GDS 1. What is GOV.UK 2. What I mean by “accessibility” 3. Why writing a business case for accessibility is hard 4. You don’t need a business case
90. GDS If you’re building right now, from scratch
91. GDS Why wouldn’t you make your site accessible?
92. GDS Building accessible websites has never been easier!
93. GDS Bake “our site is accessible on a range of devices” into your company’s definition of what “good” looks like
94. GDS As a front end developer add it to your list of the ways you know you did your job well
95. GDS Sneak it in if you have to
96. GDS You don’t need a business case
97. –Karl Groves, http://www.karlgroves.com/2011/11/30/how-expensive-is-accessibility/ When [accessibility] becomes part of how you do things, of course it is free.
98. GDS On GOV.UK building for inclusion is how we work
99. GDS We share and discuss the accessibility of design patterns on a publicly accessible hack-pad: https://designpatterns.hackpad.com
100. GDS
101. GDS
102. GDS Start today
103. GDS Eventually it will be how you work and then it will be free
104. GDS Summary Good business cases for accessibility are quite difficult to write You don’t need a business case.
105. GDS Links Leisa Richelt on Alphagov: www.disambiguity.com/alphagov/ Alphagov Accessibility: https://gds.blog.gov.uk/2011/05/06/accessibility/ Anne Gibson ALA: http://alistapart.com/article/reframing-accessibility-for-the-web WAI Business Case: http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/ RNIB guidance: www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-advice-professionals/equality-act-compliance Karl Groves on accessibility costs: www.karlgroves.com/2011/11/30/how-expensive-is- accessibility/ The Design Hackpad: https://designpatterns.hackpad.com
106. Thanks!
     Alice Bartlett @alicebartlett