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Our Middlest Accessibility Journey

Kelly Melcher| Digital Accessibility Coordinator - DHS

Aaron Arvig| Digital Accessibility Training Coordinator - DOT

(Kelly and Aaron)

Good afternoon, everyone! We hope that you've enjoyed the conference thus far and are excited to share our session with you today.

We titled our presentation "Our Middlest Accessibility Journey". Introductions…

Kelly and I have worked together in some capacity for over 10 years now.

Having attended CSUN for a few years now, we noticed that many of the sessions covered basic content or more advanced topics. But what about some of us that are simply stuck somewhere in the middle?

Today's sessions will cover the steps we took to advance digital accessibility at the Minnesota Department of Human Services to forge out of those beginning stages and move our eye towards the middle and end stages of our journey.

Kelly:

Audio description of image

Talk about “Middle Earth” as our theme

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One presentation to guide them all

Introduction and orientation
Our beginnings
The here and now
Find your accessibility partners
Our challenges
Our successes
Further to travel
Questions

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Different journeys have different maps

Disclaimer�Everyone has a different journey with accessibility and while what we talk about today worked for us, it’s important to determine what's best for you and your organization. What worked for us might not work for you and finding your path may take some trial and error. It's OK to change direction when it's needed.

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Where are you in your journey?

Beginning

Middle

End

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Our beginnings

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Getting Started

DHS efforts

No dedicated budget or staff
Volunteer accessibility team and accessibility training
Highly supportive environment (focus on equity and people)
Partnership with IT for accessibility software and testing
Survey to determine our baseline

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Creating structure and organization

2016 Employee accessibility survey

Limited knowledge of accessibility
Confusion about accessibility requirements
Accessibility is not a priority
More training needed

Approached leadership to ask for support and funding

2018 Digital Accessibility Coordinator position established
2019 Information and Communication Technology (ICT Accessibility Policy)

Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM)

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DHS Digital Accessibility Maturity

Level 5 Optimizing Innovating and sharing knowledge; process owners and feedback loops are well established

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Metrics and accessibility outcomes are in place and measured to ensure systems and documentation (i.e. content) are accessible

Level 4: Quantitatively Managed

Policy is put into action with clearly defined, documented are repeatable processes; roles and responsibilities identified and refined

Level 3: Defined

Some accessibility policies and processes are in place and being managed; consistency is emerging

Level 2: Managed

Accessibility awareness is limited; processes are�ad hoc and reactive

Level 1: Initial

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Digital accessibility work plan

Strong digital accessibility policy
Develop agency-wide accessibility governance structure
Develop agency-wide training committee that supports effective trainings and educational opportunities
Maintains an effective communications plan
Establish an auditing process, plan, and tracker
Build a framework to detect and respond to accessibility issues, test for compliance, resolve problems, and track improvements

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Early questions to explore

Where should your accessibility program live?
What will auditing and enforcement look like?
What data to capture?
What changes need to happen
How will initiatives be supported?
How will progress be tracked?

Where should your accessibility program live?

IDEA or Compliance

IT and/or business

What will enforcement look like?

What to Include/exclude

Tracking

What data should we capture?

What changes need to happen

Procurement

Budgeting

Another consideration is Setting your organization up for success is:

Do staff understand standards, policies and expectations as they apply?
Do staff have the software to make the content they produce accessible?
Are staff properly trained on accessibility to make the content they produce accessible?

Another important consideration is tracking our progress.

One thing that you'll want to consider is getting a baseline of where your at.

Creating an inventory that helps to determine what exists.

Using the Digital Maturity Model to showing progress as we mature.

Surveys can be a great option to help gather data from everyone. This data can be valuable in shaping your program.

It's also important to present on your progress when you have significant milestones.

Lastly we want to reiterate that progress is slow and while that can be frustrating, it's also rewarding knowing that your organization is shifting towards a more accessible space.

Baseline

Inventory

DAMM

Survey

Present Milestones

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The here and now

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DHS Digital Accessibility Maturity

Level 5 Optimizing Innovating and sharing knowledge; process owners and feedback loops are well established

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Metrics and accessibility outcomes are in place and measured to ensure systems and documentation (i.e. content) are accessible

Level 4: Quantitatively Managed

Policy is put into action with clearly defined, documented are repeatable processes; roles and responsibilities identified and refined

Level 3: Defined

Some accessibility policies and processes are in place and being managed; consistency is emerging

Level 2: Managed

Accessibility awareness is limited; processes are�ad hoc and reactive

Level 1: Initial

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Change management

	Scope	Who	Actions and leverage
Level 1	Implement at an individual level Immediate impact Does not require change to policy	All staff	Build basic capacity Survey of current knowledge and skill
Level 2	Implemented at local level Short-term timeline Requires change to some procedures and structures	Managers and supervisors	Support their staff Manage budgets and priorities
Level 3	Implemented across the organization Long-term timeline Requires change to policies and regulations	Senior leadership	Set overall tone and attitudes Implement policy and requirements

-Adapted from from Becoming a Person Centered System; Smull, Bourne, Sanderson (2009) �and �A Brief Overview of Considerations for Regional Centers When Implementing a Person-Centered Organizational Initiative; Allen, Shea and Associates

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Tasks and responsibilities

Governance & integration

Governance Committee
Exceptions

Partnerships and outreach
Procurement
Training & communications
Accessibility reviews and remediation

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Kelly

Progress is slow
Keep the big picture in mind
It’s OK to try something new
Multiple paths at the same time

This is going to be different for everyone. We had a lot of support from leadership, so that was extremely helpful in our journey in capturing funding. But some other things we did
Was put a lot of focus on our Training and Communications efforts.

Offering accessibility Training on Common Software used by staff
Using Existing materials both internal and external. No need to reinvent the wheel for everything.
We were also lucky to have a state agency that worked to provide each agency with accessible Templates. The problem was that many people didn't know that they existed or how to use them so that was one thing we incorporated into our trainings and resources.

We were also lucky to have a State of Minnesota Accessibility Policy that we could refer to amongst our Department policies.
Another place where we baked ourself into was Procurement and Contracts. Before Covid we had a lot of inaccesible content coming in simply because many of our contracts didn't have any language in our contracts requiring accessible products and content. Eventually we learned our lesson and built a team that incorporate language into our contracts and also review contracts or VPATS, PDAAs, etc.
And as we mentioned in the beginning everyone is at a different place so consider what might easier to leverage in the beginning stages. Get those early wins when possible.

Training and Communications

Policy

Procurement/Contracts

Other easy to leverage

Accessibility is evolving, but technology is evolving quicker.

Policies and standards updating

What worked then, might not work now. (Plans, Trainings, etc.)

Don't be afraid to try something new or different to overcome an obstacle.

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Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levies they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.

Judith Heumann

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What have we learned

Progress is slow
Find the low hanging fruit
Keep the big picture in mind
It’s OK to change directions
Try multiple paths at once

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Kelly

Progress is slow
Keep the big picture in mind
It’s OK to try something new
Multiple paths at the same time

This is going to be different for everyone. We had a lot of support from leadership, so that was extremely helpful in our journey in capturing funding. But some other things we did
Was put a lot of focus on our Training and Communications efforts.

Offering accessibility Training on Common Software used by staff
Using Existing materials both internal and external. No need to reinvent the wheel for everything.
We were also lucky to have a state agency that worked to provide each agency with accessible Templates. The problem was that many people didn't know that they existed or how to use them so that was one thing we incorporated into our trainings and resources.

We were also lucky to have a State of Minnesota Accessibility Policy that we could refer to amongst our Department policies.
Another place where we baked ourself into was Procurement and Contracts. Before Covid we had a lot of inaccesible content coming in simply because many of our contracts didn't have any language in our contracts requiring accessible products and content. Eventually we learned our lesson and built a team that incorporate language into our contracts and also review contracts or VPATS, PDAAs, etc.
And as we mentioned in the beginning everyone is at a different place so consider what might easier to leverage in the beginning stages. Get those early wins when possible.

Training and Communications

Policy

Procurement/Contracts

Other easy to leverage

Accessibility is evolving, but technology is evolving quicker.

Policies and standards updating

What worked then, might not work now. (Plans, Trainings, etc.)

Don't be afraid to try something new or different to overcome an obstacle.

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Find your accessibility partners

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Build Allies and Alliances

Created A11Y teams
Recruited cool people
Train staff
Be Inclusive.
Join and contribute to Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
Help goes both ways.

(Aaron)

So, how do you build strong allies and alliances within an organization?

We started by creating two department wide Accessibility teams, one dealing with governance and another focused on training.

To make teams work, you need to recruit the right people. When the right people are in the room, it's amazing what can get done.

We also wanted to be inclusive. Inclusive of all types of abilities. And have representation across as many work areas as we could.

We also joined and contributed to Employee Resource Groups which helped give us some traction when we had an ask and could also communicate any changes or updates.

Lastly I'll mention that the help should go both ways. While you'll be oftentimes asking for help, try to also extend a hand to others when you can.

Passionate staff
Leadership
Stakeholders
ERG’s
People with Disabilities
Other organizations
Creating Teams (Governance, Training, Genera.)
Content Creators

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Accessibility Advocates Program

Original Idea from CSUN 2020 (Presentation from Intuit)
Adapted to Work for Government
Created Pathways and Incentives
Four levels to embed knowledge (for a large Division of 50+ staff)

All staff at Apprentice (level 1)
10-20 staff at Active (level 2)
5 staff at Expert (level 3)
1-2 staff at Certified (level 4)

(Aaron)

One thing that really helped our program grow was the creation of our Accessibility Advocates program. The original idea was from CSUN 2020 which was a weird year for CSUN. The company Intuit had offered a session on there Accessibility Champions program. The original program was based off of swag, stickers and meetups which could be challenging to navigate in government. We adapted the program by making some small changes to make it work for us. Instead of swag we created incentive by congratulating staff that progressed levels of the program and copied there supervisor to notify them of the accomplishment. We also provided pathways for participants such as offering ways to become Certified on Accessibility via IAAP or Homeland Security. The program naturally created a network of staff that were passionate about accessibility.

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Key partnerships and relationships

Direct reporting

Equal Opportunity and Access Division (EOAD) > General Councel’s office
Accessibility Governance Committee > Compliance > Deputy Commissioner for Agency Effectiveness

Partners

Equity directors and equity teams
DHS Business Solutions Office (bridge between the business side and the IT side)
MNIT Office of Accessibility and digital accessibility coordinator’s (DAC) network
MNIT @DHS DAC Partner
DHS Workgroups

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Our challenges

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Systemic roadblocks

Resources

Staff
Budget
Accessible tools/software (exceptions)

Complex Organization

Silos
Awareness
Unclear ownership

Older systems

Compatibility
Support

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Addressing the challenges

Seek balance
Use your strategic plan/work plan
Ask for help
Keep A11y in the conversation
Complex problems require creative solutions

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Kelly

When things do get difficult. And they definitley will! Here’s some things to consider:

Look for the balance

The more you know, the more you notice.
Exponential growth of work
When you reach your limits (know when to hold em, know when to fold em

Refer to Strategic plan/work plan

The easy stuff happens first, the next steps can take time
If you get stuck, work on something different

Utilize your groups, teams, and others to gather advice when needed.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. (colleague, peer, supervisor, IT, etc.)
Complex problems require creative solutions

Keeping A11Y in the Conversation

Be involved in relevant groups and teams.

Consistent Communications

Making trainings relevant

Reoccurring item in meetings.

Keep it fun and engaging. Not dry.

We've also find it difficult at times to keep Accessibility constantly in the conversation. Otherwise, like anything else, out of site, out of mind.

Some things to Consider that really helped our program include:

Becoming active and involved in relevant groups and teams within our organization. This like emploee resource groups, training teams, and lets try to involve people with disabilities as much as possible instead of just making assumptions and decisions without the people that may be experience some of the difficulties with accessibility. )
Another thing that worked for us was consistent communication whenever possible. So things as simple as email or putting in a news article talking about our program or a new training that we offer. We also looked at Making our trainings relevant to staff. Much of our trainings offered were specific to our Department and would utilize things like department templates or things that they may encounter in there own position.
We'd also try to be on agendas and meetings whenever and wherever we could. It didn't matter if it was a small team or larger leadership groups. Every meeting and encounter was important to planting seeds for the future of our program.
One thing we really tried to do with our teams and trainings is Keep it fun and engaging. Not dry. Accessibility is an easy topic to get complicated and dry really quick.

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Our successes

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Acknowledging our advantages

Work started even before us
Lots of passion from the start
Highly supportive leadership
Culture of DHS
We had an opportunity to set the standard
Network of Departments
Federal and State laws

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In the past year and a half….

Level 1�All Staff

150 Accessibility Advocates
Monthly training sessions

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Level 2�Supervisors and Managers

Workgroup representation
Integration with equity work

Level 3�Senior Leadership

Required accessibility training
Updated policy and RFP/contract language

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Celebrate the wins

Acknowledge the hard work
Set milestones
Keep your partners in the loop
Engage with your teams
Any progress is good progress
It’s OK to brag

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Further to travel

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Planning the future of your program

Keep focus with a strategic plan/work plan
Stay flexible
Capture and track data
Find and build relationships
Look for your next adventure

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Questions?

Kelly Melcher

Kelly.T.Melcher@state.mn.us

Aaron Arvig

Aaron.Arvig@state.mn.us