Accessibility maturity litmus test

Forward thinking organisations look for ways to improve. They collect data to benchmark their current state and to make evidenced based decisions on where and how they need to improve. Collecting evidence about an organisation's approach to accessibility is no exception.

I am strong advocate for the use of maturity models to capture data and inform decision making. What I like about maturity models is that they allow organisations to:

• Benchmark performance against industry best practices and standards
• Provide a clear roadmap for continuous improvement.
• Facilitate a common language and framework between different parts of the organisation.
• Structure for making informed decisions about resource allocation and prioritisation.

Accessibility maturity models like the W3C Accessibility Maturity Model provide a structured framework that helps organisations assess and improve their performance to produce digital products that are accessible to people with disabilities. It takes a holistic approach which recognises that different parts of the organisation such as HR and procurement all play an important role in determining an organisation's ability to consistently deliver accessible and usable products and services.

A simple solution for gaining executive buy-in to undertake a baseline assessment using an accessibility maturity model is to capture a high-level snapshot or litmus test of the accessibility maturity of your organisation first. This provides some clear evidence of the need to implement the maturity model. Listed below is my litmus test. It only requires a Yes/No response. A quick count of the responses gives you the snapshot of the organisation's level of maturity.

Governance

1. Does your organisation have an accessibility policy that aligns with the current versions of the Australian Standard AS EN 301549 and WCAG?
2. Does your organisation have a strategy to implement that policy?
3. Is the importance of accessibility communicated on a regular basis to all staff?
4. Is conformance with AS EN 301549 set as business requirement for the digital products and services you build or buy?
5. Does your organisation maintain a register of accessibility compliance for all new and updated digital products and services? (Applies to all products and services that you have built or bought.)

People

1. Do role descriptions include role specific accessibility requirements?
2. Do you have of role-based accessibility training plans and curriculums
3. Do you have a disability employee resource group (ERG) with executive sponsor?
4. Does your ERG directly contribute first-hand knowledge, and lived experience, to accessibility efforts

Methods and tools

1. Is conformance with AS EN 301549 set as business requirement for what you build or buy?
2. . (In AS EN 301 549Do teams have the tools they need to create accessible and usable products?
3. Are teams required to include accessibility requirements when creating digital products?
4. Are teams required to document testable and verifiable evidence their product is both accessible and usable.
5. Are teams required to create a log of accessibility errors/failures and have a plan to fix them.
6. Are teams required to share that log to a central register of accessibility errors/failures

Did you know?

Many forward-thinking organisations also align their practices with key Australian and ISO standards. The use of an accessibility maturity model is a powerful mechanism to measure and drive achievement aginst those standards. Some examples include:

• AS ISO/IEC 20071.1:2022 Code of practice for creating accessible digital products and services
• AS EN 301 549 Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services
• ISO 373001:2021 Compliance Management Systems
• AS ISO 31000:2018 Risk management