Are the systems in your business accessible?

There is no doubt that technology can be a great investment, it can save time and can increase productivity. However, choosing the right platform for your business can sometimes be very confusing.

When choosing the right tech for your business, there are a few factors you should consider:

1. Cost - is it affordable? is it good value for the price?

2. Ease of use - is it useable?

3. Features - does it have all the features you need?

4. Training - do they offer any free training? 

5. Support - do they have a helpdesk if you have any issues?

6. Growth - does it have the ability to grow with your business?

There's another consideration I'd urge all small business owners to think about before committing to a platform:

     7. Accessibility - does it support users that have additional needs? do they have an accessibility policy?

So, how do you find out?

Simply Google the "[name of tech] + accessibility" and you should be taken to their own website with a break down of what they do to be inclusive. i.e. "Zoom accessibility", "Asana accessibility". Go through the results and see what the business has on their own website about accessibility, any blogs, articles in their forum or reviews from users.

What's Asana doing to be more inclusive?

It's no coincidence that I use Asana in my business. Asana was built on inclusivity. Justin Rosenstein, the co-founder of Asana, wanted to fulfil his father's request: that he, as a blind person, could someday use his son's creation. 

Asana's mission is to "help humanity thrive by enabling the world's teams to work together effortlessly. That includes empowering teammates with disabilities by embracing accessibility throughout our experiences" 

You can read Asana's full Accessibility Statement here 

Asana, has some great features which make it more inclusive for teammates that have disabilities:

1. Colourblind Friendly Mode

Colourblind mode allows Asana users who are affected by deuteranopia and protanopia (red-green colourblindness) to better distinguish between different project and status update colours.

• Click your profile from the top bar

• Select My Settings

• Navigate to the Display tab and select the Enable colour blind friendly mode (protanopia and deuteranopia) checkbox. You should see colours changed immediately.

2. Dark Mode

Dark mode is a colour scheme that uses a dark background with lighter text. It allows you to view Asana according to your own display preferences. 

• First click on My settings.

• Then navigate to the Display tab and choose Dark from the list of themes.

• Dark mode will then be enabled.

3. iOS VoiceOver Support

VoiceOver is a gesture-based screen reader that allows you to use the Asana iOS app without having to see the screen.

To enable VoiceOver, go to your General Settings on your iOS device and click Accessibility.

• Click VoiceOver in the Accessibility menu.

• Click the VoiceOver switch to enable VoiceOver mode.

• You can then receive updates and create tasks using VoiceOver capabilities.

Asana added text descriptions to all of its visual elements, like buttons and text fields, and added what is commonly called "accessibility hints." These are textual cues that say what the next sensible action is, or what will happen if they take an action.

4. Create tasks with Siri

This integration works in the multiple languages supported in Asana.

1. Download the latest version of Asana for iOS

2. Press and hold the Home button or say, “Hey Siri.”

3. Say a task name—like, “Create a task in Asana to post photos of the conference”

4. Make sure to say, “in Asana” or “using Asana” somewhere in your task name

5. The new task will appear in your My Tasks

What if you or your team have ADHD?

Asana has the ability to really help users with ADHD, but can also cause overwhelm, so it's important to know how to make it work FOR you. 

I work with clients who have ADHD, (and I myself identify as neurodivergent) and I have seen both happen when first implementing Asana in your business.

iDO Clarity (an Asana Solutions Partner) have a great document about how to get Asana to work for you if you have ADHD. 

You can read the document here Asana + ADHD  

Even as solo business owners, it's important to make small changes to ensure your clients, and audience, feel included. Picking tech platforms that are accessible is a great place to start if it aligns with your values.  If you would like to know more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, I recommend following someone like Sim Fitzgerald, who has an Inclusive Content Toolkit with all the whats, whys and hows to create inclusive content.