Where to start: Ability

First thing first: start reframing your conversations about accessibility to reflect that accessible experience are inclusive experiences.

Accessibility standards establish an important baseline for how to create or modify solutions to involve more communities and create more inclusive experiences and environments. And when they are thought of as more than just a required checklist, they can push experiences to be so much more than just “accommodating”.

In your organization or community, you might already have a group of individuals with lived experiences who are advocating for the types of experiences that need to feel like they belong. Listen to these firsthand experiences. Involve them in your ideation. Nothing for us without us.

Simple ways to create more accessible solutions:

• Use the automated accessibility checker in Microsoft Office as a first step: Review tab > Check Accessibility

• Get into the habit of always adding alt text to your images and framing your image choices around the answer to the question, "How would you describe this image to someone who couldn't see it?"

• Read blogs and stories by Persons with Disabilities

• Check out Microsoft’s Accessibility Spectrum that highlights permanent, temporary, and situational accessibility needs

• Do a deep dive into the different types of Assistive Technologies and accommodations available both physical and digital

  • Assess how you could adapt your product, service, solution et al to work seamlessly with that accommodation

• If advocates have shared why certain features or actions make an experience accessible for them, incorporate as many of those features immediately as possible, and commit to continually incorporating additional accessibility features moving forward