Selling AccessibilityKarl Groves, Director of Training, Deque Systemskarl.groves@deque.comTwitter: @karlgroves

About Me• Karl Groves, Director of

Training, Deque Systems• First websites, 1998• ZCE PHP Developer• PHP, JSP, Java, Flash/Flex• 8 years, Usability &

Accessibility Also, a rock star

Background• Fundamentally, the prime reason why ICT is not accessible is

that it has not been institutionalized among those who design, develop, and buy ICT products and services.

• Accessibility advocates need to have new strategies for getting buy-in so that accessibility can become institutionalized

Robert Cialdini

“Influence: The Science of Persuasion”

Researched the psychology of compliance.

Found 6 types of tactics used in compliance gaining

Robert Cialdini• Reciprocity - People tend to return a favor.• Commitment and Consistency - Once people commit to what

they think is right, orally or in writing, they are more likely to honor that commitment

• Social Proof - People will do things that they see other people are doing

• Authority - People will tend to obey authority figures• Liking - People are easily persuaded by other people whom

they like• Scarcity - Perceived scarcity will generate demand

Guy Kawasaki

“Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions”

A practical application of Robert Cialdini’s persuasion research.

Converting cynics into believers.

Guy Kawasaki

1. Be likeable2. Be trustworthy 3. Have a great cause

Also a lot of really obvious stuff about dressing right, firm handshakes, being nice, etc.

Still good if you don’t want the heavy psychology orientation of “Influence”

G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa

“The Art of Woo”

Names 4 steps in convincing others

One step includes the need to address potential barriers to reception

G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa

1. Survey your situation – Analyze your situation, goals, and challenges

2. Confront the five barriers - relationships, credibility, communication mismatches, belief systems, and interest and needs.

3. Make your pitch - People need a solid reason to justify a decision, yet at the same time many decisions are made on the basis of intuition. This step also deals with presentation skills.

4. Secure your commitments - In order to safeguard the longtime success of a persuasive decision, it is vital to deal with politics at both the individual and organizational level.

Chris M. Law“Responding to accessibility issues in business”

Found common characteristics among orgs which are successful at implementing accessibility

Also found common issues among those which are unsuccessful

Chris M. Law• Adopting the social model of disability• Establishing executive-level backing• Establishing accessibility as a priority on the agenda• Taking a planned, proactive approach• Making accessibility a shared task• Providing enabling resources• Providing sources of accessibility expertise.

Interviews• Matt Feldman• OpenFocusIT, IRS, DHS

• Robert Pearson• Accessible Media

• Jim Tobias• Inclusive Technologies

• Jay Mullen• College Board

• Denis Boudreau• AccessibilitéWeb

• Cher Travis Ellis• CSU Fresno

• Neil Milliken• BBC

• John Foliot• Stanford U.

• Monica Ackerman• AVTA/ Scotia Bank

• Barry Johnson• Deque Sys. Staffed at Dept. of

Ed

• Elle Waters• Humana

• Glenda Sims• Deque Sys., Formerly UT

Austin

• Rob Yonaitis• Founder, HiSoftware

Positive Factors

Internal Factors

• Personality• Effective Communication• Pragmatism• Training• Collaboration &

Integration

External Factors

• Executive Sponsorship• Working in litigious

industry• Existing policy,

regulation, or law• Vocal end users• Successes of peers

Negative Factors• Existing misconceptions• Hostility & FUD• Looking like a hurdle• Overstated importance• Overstating business value• Chasing perfection

NEGATIVE FACTORSLet’s address our roadblocks first

Negative Factors

Existing misconceptions• People generally

misunderstand the 5-Ws of accessibility

• This must be addressed before you can make progress

• This needs to happen across the entire org.

Negative Factors

Hostility & FUD• Hostility and

arguments are the last resorts of those with nothing to say

• Avoid hostility and arguments; avoid those prone to hostility & argumentativeness

Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do. - Dale Carnegie

Negative Factors

Looking like a hurdle• Accessibility is

viewed as nebulous, expensive, and difficult

• People have a strong preference for things that are easy, quick, and cheap

Negative Factors

Overstating Importance• Equivocating

accessibility with security

• Overstating risk

Negative Factors

Overstating Business Value• Overblown claims of

ROI • i.e. Legal & General

• Extrapolating global PWD buying power into potential ROI for the business from PWD

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. - Thomas Jefferson

Negative Factors

Chasing Perfection• Perfection is the

enemy of the good• Getting lost in

minutia may create roadblocks in cooperation

POSITIVE FACTORS - EXTERNALWhat may exist outside our control

Positive Factors - External

Executive Sponsorship• This is your prime goal• No effort is expended,

no money is spent without an executive calling for it to happen

Positive Factors - External

Working in litigious industry• Finance & Insurance• Healthcare• E-Retail• Public Sector• Education

Positive Factors - External

Existing policy, regulation, or law• Rehabilitation Act• ADA• IDEA• Equality Act/ DDA• CLF• State/ Province law

or policy

Positive Factors - External

Vocal end users• Public users/ users

outside your dept. can help make what you say more “concrete”

Positive Factors - External

Successes of peers• Successful peers or

competitors can be used as examples to demonstrate value, effectiveness

POSITIVE FACTORS - INTERNALWhat’s inside ourselves that we can control

Positive Factors - Internal

Personality• “Be a mensch”: John

Foliot/ Guy Kawasaki

Positive Factors - Internal

Effective Communication• Speak to people on

terms that reflects their perspective.

• Altruism has less impact than real, clear discussion of things that are concrete for audience.

Positive Factors - Internal

Pragmatism• Understand that the

“ideal” is different than reality

• We must understand the org. has concerns other than accessibility

Positive Factors - Internal

Training• Fundamentally, why

people “get it wrong” is that they don’t know what’s right

Positive Factors - Internal

Collaboration & Integration• Seek efforts – always

– to cooperate, collaborate, and integrate

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Putting It Together

Do This Stuff

• Goal #1: Executive Sponsorship.

• Goal #2: Get commitment in the form of policy

• Goal #3: Get a11y included in process as shared responsibility

• Goal #4: Get people trained

• Goal #5: Track successes & iterate

Do Not Do This Stuff

• Making enemies• Forcefeeding