Going Beyond the Basics to Remove Barriers and Create Connections
B the Change Weekly: July 27, 2018
Does your business embrace all potential clients and employees? Or does it serve some of them better than others?
Hundreds of Certified B Corps asked those questions and then stepped up to the 2018 Inclusive Economy Challenge, committing to create more balance and opportunities for people of all backgrounds and experiences. These companies selected specific goals to improve on before the upcoming 2018 B Corp Champions Retreat.
This week, B the Change begins its look at Interdependence by examining how businesses can ensure their spaces and tools — such as websites — are accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
While the changes these businesses are making may now go beyond the basics, they soon will become the expected. And this growing inclusivity will make our workplaces all the better — on many levels.
Ensuring Everyone Can Use the World Wide Web
U.S. regulations that took effect earlier this year require federal websites be accessible to people with disabilities. It’s the responsibility of conscientious businesses to follow suit so their websites are more inclusive and align with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Tim Frick of Mightybytes recommends that clients adopt the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as quickly as possible. These guidelines provide the clearest path toward making websites accessible to people with disabilities.
This means making improvements to ensure websites are perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for all online users.
Frick outlines suggestions for each improvement area and provides access to this web accessibility guide in his latest article for B the Change.
Removing Barriers in the Built Environment
Globally, more than 1 billion people (or 15 percent of the population) have a disability. But the global employment rate for people with disabilities is 44 percent, compared with 75 percent for those without a disability.
Improvements to the accessibility of sites and offices would allow people with disabilities to work more hours. So what are the tangible improvements businesses can make?
Consider the experience from a variety of viewpoints — not just someone in a wheelchair, but a person pushing a double stroller, a person with a guide dog, a person with hearing loss and so on. This holistic approach is what creates real and meaningful access for all users no matter their physical abilities.
Learn how businesses can remove barriers in the built environment on B the Change.
Motivating Through Mission and Money
Corporate culture, employee empowerment and workplace wellness are hot topics in business these days. Yet many people — particularly women and minorities — might argue that the shift to less-toxic workplaces isn’t happening fast enough.
Every one of us, from executives to entry-level employees to even consumers, has the power to influence the way businesses operate. So how do we ignite that power and speed that process?
Learn three ways to create a better world at work in this B the Change article from Conscious Company Media.
Book of the Week
If you have a specific suggestion, let us know at info@bthechange.com with the subject line “book recommendation.”
Purpose & Impact
By Anita Hoffmann
This book is designed to provide guidance to senior executives and professionals for how to rethink and even relaunch careers that align with wider purpose and societal impact.
With our increasing longevity, the concept of retirement is becoming redundant, as many executives need, financially, and want, motivationally, to continue to work well beyond what is currently considered “retirement age.” Around age 50, when people often leave their mainstream employers, professionals could be looking forward to around 30 more healthy years — equivalent to a whole second career. “Purpose & Impact” sets out a topic that is becoming increasingly important and urgent for governments, companies and executives.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
