Planning for Accessibility
The Accessibility & Accommodations team proactively engages with client services teams, product owners, development teams, and other shared services teams to be an advocate for building accessible assessment products and services.
We help Pearson team members and clients make plans to address the accessibility of the assessments we develop as well as the systems and tools that are used to deliver content. We guide on how to best support students who require accommodations by sharing information on how the accommodations can support a fair and equitable assessment experience.
Designing Accessible Products and Services
The Accessibility & Accommodations team will support product owners, development teams, content creators, and our customers in understanding the needs of people with disabilities, the technologies that support them, and the requirements for creating accessible digital and print materials.
Designing accessible products and services begins with capturing requirements at the design phase that will support accessibility. The Accessibility & Accommodations team supports the requirements capture process, creation of accessibility milestones, and prioritizing defects found during the accessibility evaluation process.
Planning for Accessible Technology
Capturing Accessibility Requirements for Technology
The Accessibility & Accommodations team will utilize native user expertise, as well as known accessibility standards and research, to advise technology teams on specific requirements for new features or products. We will also advise technology teams on how users with disabilities might be using assistive technologies and the impact this might have on user experience in the digital content. This work is relevant in two major areas of requirements capture:
- New development – As software and other technology products are being developed, the Accessibility & Accommodations team will work with development and UX/UI teams to understand what accessibility requirements need to be in place to ensure access to people with disabilities.
- New features – When existing technology products add or change features, the Accessibility & Accommodations Team will work with technology teams to capture which accessibility requirements are necessary, based on the needs of users with disabilities.
Creating Accessibility Milestones for Technology
The Accessibility & Accommodations team will help technology teams determine key accessibility milestones during the life of a product. This might anything from conformance to an accessibility standard (e.g. WCAG) or the complicated task of allowing assistive technology access to a piece of technology.
Prioritizing Accessibility Defects in Technology
The Accessibility Quality Assurance team will review technologies and produce reports of accessibility defects as defined by the most recent version of WCAG and native user expertise. As a part of this service, the Accessibility & Accommodations team will assist technology teams with prioritizing the defects found during these reviews, or those found during third-party reviews. We will provide guidance based on how impactful the defects are expected to be for users with disabilities. The Accessibility & Accommodations team will help teams understand these impacts and prioritize defect fixes into releases.
Planning for Accessible Services
Capturing Accessibility Requirements for Programs
Whether responding to the requirements outlined in a new contract or working with an existing client to expand or improve the accessibility of assessments, we are here to help. The goal of the Accessibility & Accommodations team is to understand customer needs while also advocating for the needs of users with disabilities. This is accomplished by advising our customers on how these disabilities will impact new or existing solutions and the ways in which assistive technologies will need to interact with these solutions so that requirements can be gathered that both fulfill customer needs and support users with disabilities.
Creating Accessibility Milestones for Programs
The Accessibility & Accommodations team will work with our Sales and Contract Management teams and clients to ensure that accessibility for users with disabilities is included in project planning and schedules by helping these teams determine milestones and appropriate timelines for solutions updates. This is done in conjunction with technology teams to ensure that our customer expectations around accessibility are met by the technical solutions being provided and vice versa.
Prioritizing Accessibility Defects for Programs
When accessibility-related defects are identified in program content, or within assessment solution platforms, the Accessibility & Accommodations team will work with content authors, technology teams, and customers to ensure that these defects are prioritized appropriately.
Sharing Information About the Accessibility of our Products and Services
As new features are added to our products or we offer new services to our clients, the accessibility impacts of these enhancements must be shared internally and with our clients and partners. The Accessibility & Accommodations team helps product owners, sales and marketing teams, and client relationship managers by creating resources that can be used to talk about the accessibility of Pearson products and services.