Disability rights help everyone

The availability of services over the web and other electronic channels has fundamentally altered the lives of many ­ none more so than the 10 million-plus people covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

If a visually-impaired person is unfamiliar with the route to the Jobcentre Plus office, for example, they can use the web site or the call centre.

Of course, the internet is not appropriate for everyone, and not all disabled people choose to access information online or over the phone. What is important is that we offer a choice and that we have a business model that meets everyone’s needs.

At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), we have started to develop a customer insight function, which will provide us with a better understanding of customer needs and build on the improvements we have already achieved.

The new ways of working heralded by technological developments also provide huge opportunities for employing disabled people. It is vital that employers provide accessible systems and good, reasonable adjustments where this is not the case.

Such initiatives promote equality of opportunity. But employers must remember that if they do not do these things they too will miss out on millions of prospective employees.

At DWP, we have an accessibility solutions team, which provides assistance on change projects. When a new system needs to be built, the team advises on accessibility issues.

DWP employs about 600 users of accessibility products such as voice-activated software and screen readers. The accessibility solutions team is fundamental to ensuring that we provide disabled staff with the technology they need to do their jobs.

But accessibility is not just about clever technology ­ everyone benefits from a well-designed web site. Supermarkets are a prime example: web site changes designed to improve accessibility for disabled people were preferred by most customers.

The Cabinet Office has produced a great deal of guidance about web accessibility, which government departments should comply with when developing web sites.

The key is to design accessibility into new IT systems at the outset. It will be essential that partnerships are established between those designing systems and web sites, business leaders, service providers, users and customers. The best results will come when these groups work together.

We have already established a special interest group, including representatives looking at our IT strategy and architecture, accessibility solutions users and major suppliers. Suppliers that lag behind face losing out.

Technology is not the answer for everyone. Yet for many disabled people it provides a major opportunity for greater employment and participation in society.

When we are developing new systems and functionality on the web, let us work together. Squander this opportunity and we all lose out ­ on potential customers, employees, new talent and new entrepreneurs.

Louise Wright is deputy director, corporate information technology, diversity and equality strategy at the
Department for Work and Pensions. This article is an excerpt from the IBM publication "Leaner, greener, keener ­ insights and inspiration on delivering change in UK public sector”.

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