Transforming digital spaces for equity, accessibility, and user empowerment
Text messages—over 23 billion sent every day today (source: TechJury)—were originally designed for the deaf. Curb ramps, which we use for strollers, carts, or suitcases, were mandated by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) to provide access to public buildings for people with mobility challenges. Do we, the 7 billion+ people without disabilities, think about equitable access? Shouldn’t we?
I think so. It’s time we boost our efforts to foster an inclusive and accessible digital world. I also believe it would be justified to rephrase the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 11) or Global Goal 11 of the UN charter to state, “Make digitization, automation, and AI inclusive, safe, resilient, and accessible.” Let me take the liberty to create a new goal for the UN. I will call this Manav’s Goal 18 (MG18)—Inclusive & Accessible Digital World. [Trademarking it today.]
MG18 has ten targets: seven outcome targets and three implementation targets, tracked through one indicator for a measurable impact on our digital world.
The seven outcome targets include accessible design, affordable and safe packaged digital accessibility solutions, affordable and inclusive digital scanning technology, equitable legislation, contractual protection for inclusivity, protection of accessibility for customers and employees, and compliance for DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) protection for digital assets, products, and services.
The three implementation targets include prioritizing WCAG 2.1 Level AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1) mapping and alignment with digital business goals, strong software development planning for legislative and enforcement requirements of digital accessibility, and interdisciplinary engagement between DEI, technology, and business teams to support advocacy and talent for digital accessibility and inclusion.
Fifteen percent of the world’s population—over 1 billion people—has some degree of disability (source: WHO). In the U.S., 35% of the population with disabilities is in the working age range (16-65) and has a purchasing power of $490 billion and discretionary income of over $21 billion (source: American Institutes for Research). This is a serious untapped and underserved consumer segment, hungry to challenge the questioning of ROI on accessibility while building greater outreach and brand loyalty.
Target MG18.1: Accessible design
The full title of Target MG18.1 is “Ensure access to inclusive digital products for a full 360-degree usability experience.”
Target MG18.2: Affordable and safe packaged digital accessibility solutions
The full title of Target MG18.2 is “Enforce digital accessibility vendors to provide packaged solutions and combinations, with a WCAG Level AA prioritized approach to the digital accessibility process, compliance, and customer support.”
Target MG18.3: Affordable and inclusive digital scanning technology
The full title of Target MG18.3 is “Enhance the performance of accessibility scanning tools to reduce accessibility issues.”
Target MG18.4: Global equitable legislation
The full title of Target MG18.4 is “Establish equitable legislative policies globally, boosting innovation in digital accessibility solutions.”
Target MG18.5: Contractual protection for inclusivity
The full title of Target MG18.5 is “Create the demand and opportunity to adopt accessibility through contractual requirements.”
Target MG18.6: Protecting accessibility for customers and employees
The full title of Target MG18.6 is “Ensure employers engage with communities to expand and shape actions that fuel the cause of digital accessibility for both customers and employees.”
Target MG18.7: Compliance for DEI protection for digital assets, products, and services
The full title of Target MG18.7 is “Elevate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) compliance to include the cause of digital accessibility for digital assets, products, and services.”
Target MG18.a: Prioritizing WCAG mapping and alignment with digital business goals
The full text of Target MG18.a is formulated as “Prioritize capabilities based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) and alignment with business goals to assess and compare against specific business requirements.”
Target MG18.b: Strong software development planning for legislative and enforcement requirements of digital accessibility
The full text of Target MG18.b is formulated as “Legislative and compliance enforcement should strengthen requirements for digital accessibility to include mandatory compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, reject overlays as a solution, standardize compliance with agile practices, and ensure equitable access to digital assets, products, and services, elevating DEI to include digital accessibility with severe consequences for violations.”
Target MG18.c: Interdisciplinary engagement between DEI, technology, and business teams
The full text of Target MG18.c is formulated as “Engage and invest in DEI initiatives to cross over the chasm of customer experience into the digital workplace employee experience, boosting awareness and adoption that accelerates the reskilling of digital talent.”
Indicator MG18.1.1
These ten targets have one indicator: Indicator MG18.1.1 is the “Number of legal lawsuits year-on-year for digital products, assets, and services.”
As reported by Seyfarth Shaw LLP, plaintiffs in 2022 filed 3,255 website accessibility lawsuits in federal court alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—a 12% increase from the previous record of 2,895 lawsuits set in 2021.
– Manav Ahuja
Co-founder & Managing Partner
Stratgyk Consulting Inc.
