Accessibility, diversity and inclusion – we’re already doing it!

[suchona.kani.z]

Diversity, accessibility and inclusion – big terms that we come across almost every day. Reason enough to take a look back and look ahead at the inclusion ambitions within the IT industry.

The current efforts of many companies to ensure inclusion, diversity and barrier-free access to the daily working world are increasing. Professional groups that are committed to these issues experienced global growth of over 100 percent by 2020 compared to 2015, as shown in the illustration based on a LinkedIn data analysis :


We talk about diversity, devote more time to our own inclusion efforts and set ourselves ambitious goals – for example, achieving a certain quota of women in management positions – but the question of “how” presents many with challenges.

Inclusion is part of the company philosophy and should be demonstrated italy consumer email list top-down. Without the necessary support and active implementation of a strategy, it will not be successful. The efforts of the current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to develop a culture of accessibility are exemplary and have an impact across the entire globe. How could it be otherwise as the proud father of a son with a mental disability? He is an exemplary example of turning his personal fate into an opportunity for as many Microsoft users as possible.

The current situation – from first positive developments, personal experiences and legal regulations
However, a look at the current situation of our customer segment within the DACH region clearly shows that barrier-free application development is still a rarity rather than the norm.

This does not have to be the case, as barriers to the use of technology are falling in record time and are being replaced by support services. For example, Microsoft PowerPoint now offers the option of adding live subtitles to presentations of the spoken word. This feature can be used optimally for presentations to an audience who does not speak a language other than English, as well as for barrier-free presentations to hearing-impaired people. Live subtitling is already available today with a choice of 60 different languages.