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where commercial transactions can be fulfilled online at a cost of cents on the dollar compared with those in-store or by telephone and where instant messaging is essential to social dialogue and relationships among mostly younger people, there is greater risk today that people with a variety of disabilities and conditions will fall further behind their non-disabled counterparts in this all too human race.
Due to IT inaccessibility, some disabled people will not know of Web-posted-only jobs; many will be limited in their choices and access to the fullest range of commercial goods and services at the lowest prices; and they certainly will not be able to establish and maintain social—even romantic—relationships in this tele/Web-connected world. Unless there are legal and market-based solutions that require and assure IT accessibility as a fundamental right, the gaps will widen.
While IT accessibility will always be “a work in progress,” IBM and other progressive companies and governments understand there is a compelling business and citizen case for offering the best accessibility features that research and innovation can drive, enabling their enterprise and government customers to serve more readily and responsively the business, health, social and societal needs of their diverse consumer base equally.
A cross-sector strategic partnership that demonstrates this concept and captures the unique contributions of each partner is emerging. With federal funding to study and develop accessible instructional materials, the nonprofit CAST of Wakefield, Massachusetts, in partnership with IBM, is strengthening the effectiveness of how all children—including children with cognitive, sensory and other disabilities—can best learn via online materials and instructions. We will soon know even better how all children and adults can learn and excel.
Today, it is insufficient for people with disabilities simply “to belong”; we want as much access as possible to pursue and perform well-paying, challenging jobs; to be true consumers in the real-time digital marketplace; to receive the best educations throughout our entire lives; and to exercise our civic responsibilities and even pursue elected offices.
Belonging just isn’t enough; each of us wishes to live in a society where we can thrive to the fullest of our abilities. That’s full inclusion.
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