Strategic Leader in Accessibility – making common sense more commonplace

How would you and your business benefit from a Strategic Leader in Accessibility (SLiA) Certification?

As an individual who understands the value accessibility brings to a business, this certification would give you the tools, knowledge, and proven credibility to determine strategic plans, influence senior stakeholders, and ultimately set your business up for success.

As a business, having a certified Strategic Leader in Accessibility in your talent pool will enable your organisation to grow by attracting and retaining talented employees and a loyal customer base. Accessibility really is simply good business sense and reputationally demonstrates that ultimately you value the people that enable your business to succeed.

For those who are already in accessibility leadership positions, how will this benefit you?

As you know, accessibility is ultimately about people. It’s about enabling people to perform at their best and enabling customers to purchase, use and provide feedback on products and services.

A taskforce made up of your peers from multiple industries is collaborating with the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) to design a certification that will not only validate your competency in this space, but also increase the recognition of accessibility as a career. As a leader in accessibility the value you bring is evidenced through the existence of your current role, therefore this Strategic Leader in Accessibility certification is the next step in development as an accessibility professional.

How can you support the development of this certification?

I am pleased to be able to share a couple of avenues where your input would be gratefully received.

1. Community of Practice (CoP) – we want to engage with other accessibility professionals and welcome you to take part in the SLiA CoP on IAAP’s Connection platform. The CoP will be open to the IAAP membership for both current leaders in accessibility and those who are pursuing this role as a career goal. If you aren’t a member already, now is a good time go get involved as we are making progress and would love you to be part of it. In order to take part in the Community of Practice individuals must be either a professional or organisational member of IAAP. Please visit the IAAP website.
2. Job Task Analysis Survey and Dedicated Body of Knowledge – we will soon be in contact with those who currently take a lead on accessibility, either for their organisation or as an independent practitioner, to ensure we prioritise the key skills and responsibilities of a Strategic Leader in Accessibility and allow the Taskforce to progress confidently through the development of a new certification. We need to receive a sufficient number of responses in order to progress and therefore would very much appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey to share your views.

This is an exciting time to be an accessibility professional. Many of us have already seen a lot of change, however many of us also still find we have to justify the value of accessibility to some audiences. Businesses simply do not run without people, be that staff or customers, and therefore whether accessibility is considered people smart or simply common sense, I feel privileged to be an early adopter and I look forward to seeing this profession go from strength to strength – I truly believe we WILL see “Accessibility Leader” on those drop down menus we often come across in surveys.

About the Blogger

Jodie Greer is the IT Accessibility Lead for Shell and also chairs the enABLE Network for Shell UK.  Jodie does not currently have a disability, however has been passionate about disability inclusion and accessibility for longer than she can remember and loves the fact she gets to use her passion full time to make a difference in a global organisation.

Jodie considers herself an accessibility professional, expects accessibility to be recognised as a career path in the near future and feels such roles are essential to enable organisations to benefit from the widest talent pool and customer base.  Jodie’s goal is to see “Accessibility Lead” in those drop down boxes you often find on surveys when selecting your profession. 

Outside of work Jodie also likes access to friends, travel, box sets and a wide selection of gin, whilst spending time with her partner Neil and house rabbit Dobby.