Chief accessibility officer
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Comment: Please connect the references to the article and indicate how this position was created. Is it specific to Canada? AngusWOOF (bark • sniff) 13:50, 11 July 2019 (UTC)
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The primary objective of a Chief Accessibility Officer (CAO) is to make their organization more accessible to people with disabilities. To do this, a they are required to be intimately familiar with the organization’s product or service offerings and as well as how their customers experience them. This C-Suite role is responsible for determining how to increase sales and satisfaction for the 1/5[1] customers who are often left out by traditional practices.[2] The CAO is also often responsible for culture change to see that the organization becomes more inclusive and that this reality is part of the organizational brand. The CAO often needs to be familiar with accessibility best practices for both atoms and bits. They are a change manager, problem solver and evangelist who helps departments improve their practices to be more inclusive.[3] The role tends to benefit from someone that is straight forward, approachable for all, and most of all serving the people in the organization.
Business has been leading the adoption of the CAO role, but it is also increasingly used in government as well. As an example of how this role is being used by the Government of Canada the Accessible Canada Act provides an example by specifically naming this role. This may be the first act of legislation in the world to specifically mention this role.[4]
Responsibilities
A CAO's responsibilities include:
- setting accessibility policy
- managing legal responsibilities associated and risk mitigation
- championing inclusion within other departments, especially human resources and procurement
- working with suppliers and clients to improve practices
- connect business units to eliminate silo's and compartmental thinking
- engage active stakeholder management with governments and other interest groups
Alternative titles
- Chief Information Accessibility Officer
- Global Head of Accessibility
News about appointments
- AT&T : Names Suzanne Montgomery as New Chief Accessibility Officer
- IBM Appoints Chief Accessibility Officer
- Frances West Announced as IBM Chief Accessibility Officer
References
- ^ "Nearly 1 in 5 People Have a Disability in the U.S., Census Bureau Reports". census.gov. USA Census Bureau.
- ^ "What Is a Chief Accessibility Officer?". jjslist.com. JJsList.
- ^ "New Role for the C-Suite: Chief Accessibility Officer". diversityplus.com. DiversityPlus.
- ^ "Canada's first federal accessibility legislation receives Royal Assent". Canada.ca. Government of Canada.
External links
- What Being A Chief Accessibility Officer Means - Ruh Global
- beyond alt-text: the new “chief accessibility officer”
- Jenny Lay-Flurrie – Chief Accessibility Officer At Microsoft - AxsChat
- New Role for the C-Suite: Chief Accessibility Officer
- Digital accessibility helps diverse users: participants at IIM-B meet
- Disability is a strength for any organisation: Jenny Lay-Flurrie of Microsoft
- The Future of Disability Rights in the White House
- Access for all
- Authentic Inclusion™ Drives Disruptive Innovation - Book by Frances West
- Inclusion Branding - Book by Debra Ruh
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| This article, Chief accessibility officer, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |