Making your website more accessible has a number of well-known benefits, including expanding your business. Even if you make your website accessible, however, you need to go a step further for your organization to be truly committed to accessibility.
Many people don't quite understand what accessibility is and how it affects their own positions, but to ensure your accessibility strategy is maintained, each of your employees needs to understand the importance of website accessibility and how they can work to level the digital playing field for people with disabilities. Training and education programs play a critical role in improving your staff's understanding of accessibility practices and technologies.
Basic Accessibility Training
Regardless of their role in your organization, all staff members should receive general training and education about the importance of accessibility. Depending on your industry, this training could emphasize different aspects of accessibility. It's important for all accessibility training programs to clearly discuss the basics of disabilities and accessibility, such as typical problems and obstacles that people with disabilities face in daily life. You should also go over assistive technologies, such as screen readers and magnifiers, and how to make your website compatible with them, as well as discuss how accessibility benefits both businesses and their customers.
Technical Accessibility Training
Various technical positions at your organization might also receive specialized digital accessibility training, depending on their exact function and department:
- Web designers, developers, or anyone who posts online content should be familiar with some of the most common Web accessibility standards, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. They should also understand how to implement common features for accessibility, such as alt text for images and closed captioning for videos.
- QA testers should conduct automated and manual accessibility testing of your product and understand how to use tools such as website validators and checkers to evaluate accessibility.
- Your legal department must work to ensure that your website remains in compliance with laws and regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Partner with BoIA, an experienced accessibility provider
BoIA will help you get the most out of your digital accessibility training. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility can evaluate how well your staff already understands digital accessibility and help fill in the gaps with our on-site and self-paced training courses, specially developed by accessibility experts.
Interested in learning more? Fill out this form and we'll get in touch about a free 30-minute consultation for your business.
