. Technology

I spend a lot of time in this column telling you about the right ways to use technology. But there are wrong ways to use technology as well. Trust me; these three scenarios outlined below are a lot more common than you think. Although each organization is unique and has unique requirements, common steps are involved in developing a good accessible technology plan. Following is a proven five-step plan used in many technology development plans that have simply been applied to accessible technology. Many of the themes described here are based on the steps in Susan Conway's and Char Sligar's book Unlocking Knowledge Assets. (Conway, Sligar 2002)Thinking through your strategy and requirements will reduce costs and increase efficiency—reducing false-starts, ensuring compatibility with existing technology, and accurately addressing your organization's unique situation and needs.
Vision statement. Create a unique vision statement that defines the role of accessible technology in your organization and how it will support the organization's overall vision of accessible technology objectives. If your organization's overall vision statement already provides the proper foundation for creating accessible technology objectives, restate that vision statement. This was the case for Unum Provident, whose vision statement reads, "Be the number one provider of services that help our employees and our customer's employees get back to work when they become injured or ill."
Define success metrics and clarify the specifics of the vision. Using the vision statement, create accessible technology objectives that also align with business objectives. You'll use these objectives to measure success .For example R BC estimates that 40 percent or more of Canadians have trouble using financial services because of disabilities such as mobility impairments or literacy skills. In order to be a leading financial institute in Canada, RBC Financial Group wanted to improve the accessibility of its branches to ensure it was reaching these customers. Therefore, a sample business objective for the bank might be, "Ensure that 90 percent of branches are accessible to customers with disabilities such as mobility impairments or low literacy."
One technique is to form a council or committee that meets regularly to ensure that the plan is moving forward and that the next steps and responsibilities are clear. You might even find it helpful to assign a person within the organization to project manage the accessible technology plan. RBC Financial Group developed such a position called the Accessible Technology Consultant. Responsibilities of this position include educating IT staff about the business value of accessibility, selecting assistive technology products, and advocating employee accessibility needs whichever unique approach your organization takes, two elements are critical to success: support from senior management and alignment with business objectives and the organization-wide technology plan. As with any strategic planning process, the leaders and senior management in your organization must clearly understand the business value of accessible technology. Only then can they stand behind the plan, be spokespersons for the strategy, and help ensure support from other key stakeholders important to gain the support of those responsible for executing the plan and other key stakeholders including those who manage the budget. Although some resistance is normal with any change or new idea that has not yet been implemented, one key to success is ensuring that stakeholders fully understand and embrace the strategy because these stakeholders will be responsible for carrying out the next four steps.