What do we want to achieve?

Group goals….

•Harmonize not the same, Level playing field

•Evergreen, no loopholes, move large orgs forward, incentivize change, align orgs around goal

•Inclusive by design and accessible by default, measured enforcement, reporting, education, support any person with any technology

•Don’t need to have conversation anymore, everything accessible and available

•Access for marginalized groups, inclusive process, initial investments

•Harmonization, trickle down from large public sector, not reinvent the wheel, career opportunities in accessible market and to support employment

•More efficient global marketplace, support buyers and sellers, competitive advantage

Why accessible ICT procurement?

How do we get there from here?

Government: A Complex Adaptive System

•Politics

•Institutional structures

•Economics

•Citizens

•Vendors

•Media

•Competing interests

Complex versus Complicated?

Requires New Approach

•No black and white

•No fixed categories

•No fixed formulas

•No static outcomes

•No solutions or fixes

Balancing two ends of the spectrum…

Legal compunction with vigilant monitoring and strict punishment…

•best we can achieve is:

•role we put stakeholders in is:

•view of people with disabilities we engender is:

•Benefits:

•Disadvantages:

1. Perfect Enforcement
2. Participation Through Enlightened Self-Interest

•best we can achieve is:

•role we put stakeholders in is:

•view of people with disabilities we engender is:

•Disadvantages:

•Benefits:

What do we mean by harmonization?

Harmonization

•What do we adopt?

•What do we customize?

•How do we advance the effort?

Avoid Cobras…

Cobra effect: unintended consequences of  over simplistic “solutions” to complex problems

What are potential unintended consequences?

What are possible unintended consequences?

•only popular disabilities addressed

•separate, segregated accessibility stream

•separate, segregated accessibility service

•sunset date to effort

•achieve equity target only once domain has moved on

3 Dimensions of Inclusive Design

•Recognize diversity - strive toward integrated one-size-fits-one design & informed choice

•Inclusive process - who is missing from the “table”?- including diverse perspectives, recruiting participation

•Consider the broader context and connected systems - intervention into complex adaptive systems- strive for virtuous cycles and benefit for all

Who are the stakeholders?

Who are we designing for?

“Evergreen”

Future Friendly Approach…

•“Best before date” if you become technology specific

•Regulate process

•“Aha moment”-

•Things that don’t change referenced in slow to change layer, things that can be changed more quickly can reference the specific technologies in flux

•Continuous improvement required

•Accessibility away from legal to design

•Turn liability to opportunity

•Responsive feedback loops

•Awareness of accessibilty

•One way but not the only way

•Agility, cycles of update, trusted testers

•The user not the technology

•Users don’t evolve as fast as technology

Accessibility Ecosystem 

Graphical representation (descriptive text below)

Descriptive text 

A graphic representation of an Accessibility Ecosystem made up of three concentric circles: 1. Regulation: regulate overall process; functional accessibility requirements that remain constant, 2. Trusted Regulated Authority has the power to qualify candidate new methods of meeting regulatory functional accessibility requirements and ensure qualifying methods have accompanying tools and resources to employ methods; retire outdated methods, 3. Curated Open Repository to Support Compliance: tools; resources; exemplars; reviews; training; research and guidance. Individuals with Disabilities co-design, guide and contribute to these processes. Obligated organizations propose new methods to Trusted Regulated Authority and contribute resources to Curated Open Repository to Support Compliance. The public contributes to the Curated Open Repository by monitoring and reporting, gaps can then be addressed in training. Government fills resource pool gaps through procurement. Individuals with disabilities are engaged in co-design of Regulation section, guiding Trusted Regulated Authority, and contributing to all obligated organizations.