As a digital company, Accenture is convinced accessibility benefits everyone in the organization—not only those with disabilities. Accessibility also assists with language barriers, cultural understanding and any person facing a permanent or temporary disability due to physical mobility, neurodiversity, disease or aging. An “Accessibility Council” was established in 2017 to focus efforts on workplace and digital accessibility and inclusive design for all employees. Comprised of several senior leaders across functions including Legal, HR, CIO, Workplace, Communications and more, the group focused on developing an accessibility framework and strategy. The council felt that having an inclusive culture started with the infrastructure to include employees with disabilities in all aspects of the employee lifecycle. Initially, the scope included all physical workspaces in over 600 global locations, as well as all digital tools and assets that employees need to access for information, complete their job responsibilities, and develop their skills.
Today, the council has evolved into an “Accessibility Center of Excellence” led by their CIO organization and is focused largely on the assistive technology aspects of an inclusive workplace. Successes to date include:
- The establishment of Workplace Accessibility Standards;
- Review and update of all internal marketing and communications processes to ensure creation of accessible content; and
- Establishment of digital accessibility targets for all internal employee traffic.
Looking ahead, Accenture will continue advancing its multi-year road map that is putting the company on
the path to addressing its goal of making 100 percent of technology interactions accessible. Learn more: Disability Inclusion | Accenture.