Lauren Lee | December 2, 2024 - Atlanta, GA

When organizations start their accessibility journey, the why behind the purpose of the journey can be more important than the destination itself. 

Not that the destination of accessible web content for all isn’t important—far from it. “We’re living in a world that is increasingly paperless, and information that isn’t on paper is digital,” says John Toles, Digital Accessibility Specialist at CIDI. “It’s so important to make sure that information is available, and that its usability is maximized from the beginning,” 

Digital Accessibility is anything that is created electronically or is housed electronically that allows access to information for all of society, including people with disabilities. This includes things like websites, apps, and articles just like this one. The Digital Accessibility and Usability Experience (ICT/UX) unit at CIDI helps public and private entities make their digital content accessible by performing accessibility evaluations and user experience testing. 

Johan Rempel, ICT/UX Quality Assurance Manager at CIDI, is passionate about making sure people with disabilities are at the heart of his work at every point in the process. 

“Any products, services, or applications need to be built with accessibility in mind,” he says. “That includes the inception, design, development, and implementation. Accessibility needs to be baked into everything we do.”

When tasked with an accessibility audit, Rempel and his team not only speak to the legal requirements and standards. They also include the human factor that addresses why accessibility is important to individuals with disabilities. 

“A lot of people may not realize that many people have disabilities. More than you would think!” says Rempel. “CDC estimates more than 1 in 4 adults in the US have some kind of disability. It’s not a small group! If we live long enough, we’re going to have at least a couple ourselves. We will all age into disability.”

With those stats, it’s easy to see why more organizations are starting to pay attention to digital accessibility. Designing and developing products and services that includes people with disabilities broadens the audience an organization can reach while also fostering a truly inclusive environment for everyone. 

The ICT/UX team at CIDI are experts at the technical aspects of digital accessibility, and can assist any organization in adhering to federal accessibility standards like Section 508 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They also help organizations go beyond compliance to consider different avenues of accessibility. 

“Access is closely tied to the technology that a person uses. Are they using text-to-speech, eye gaze technology, sip and puff technology? We do a lot of testing with screen readers, people who are low vision or colorblind, people who have limited mobility, people who fatigue. Each access point has to be considered.” 

“But then we have to go beyond guidelines to best practices,” continues Rempel. “Integrating an awareness and cultural shift toward disability awareness and accessibility benefits everyone, whether a person has a temporary, permanent, or situational disability, or none at all. It’s the most important part of our work, to educate and inform.” 

The organizational shift is the key. “If you fix the website, you might not have fixed the problem,” says Toles. “If we don’t change the culture around it, the customer will have to come back again to fix the same things.” 

“As a way to help motivate that cultural shift, it is so important to include people with disabilities throughout the lifecycle of products and services,” adds Rempel. “CIDI operates from a “nothing about us without us” approach, with an emphasis on including people with disabilities, for people with disabilities. ”

As to why this work is important to them, Rempel says, “To be able to have an impact on the trajectory of success for individuals with disabilities is very rewarding and gratifying. People with disabilities have so many roadblocks, and being able to remove even one and help them enjoy quality of life, employment, public information—that is what is tremendously rewarding.”

Toles adds, “For me, it’s being able to advocate for people who can’t advocate for themselves because they don’t know how. I know how much help I needed growing up, and I’m happy to be available to provide it for others.”