Helen Keller Achievement Award Highlights Cisco Systems' Commitment to Accessibility

May 22, 2006

By Terry Timm Moos, News@Cisco

For most of us, logging on to a computer to check email or accessing voice messages is almost second nature.

But for people with disabilities, such as vision or hearing impairment, these seemingly simple tasks are anything but second nature. Nearly 20 percent of the worldwide population is currently coping with some type of disability. Cisco Systems is devoting time, resources, and energy into company-wide Cisco Accessibility Initiative programs that are making an impact in the lives of people around the world.

American Foundation for the Blind honors Cisco Systems

The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is honoring Cisco Systems with its prestigious Helen Keller Achievement Award. This award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of organizations and individuals who are improving the quality of life for people who are blind or visually impaired. Cisco Systems is being honored for being an industry leader in addressing accessibility in their products for all people with vision loss.

Cisco Accessibility Initiative launched in 2003

Cisco Systems launched the Accessibility Initiative in 2003 at its San Jose, California headquarters. Overseen by a cross-functional team, the initiative's plan created programs for Accessibility Design Requirements, accessibility training, and an accessibility design and evaluation lab.

Don Pitchford is co-founder and manager of the Accessibility Initiative at Cisco. "People are living and working with disabilities every day, so our goal with this initiative has been to raise awareness, reach the widest possible group of people, and strive to incorporate accessibility into our solutions," said Pitchford.

"Accessibility issues affect our own employees and the employees of our customers, and accessibility just makes good business sense," he continued. One of Cisco's biggest customers - the federal government - requires vendors to have accessibility integrated within products. "The IT community will make decisions based on how accessible our solutions will be for their own employees, so we want to remove barriers that hinder the use of our technology," Pitchford said

Designing for life: accessibility from the start

Kent Boucher, Accessibility Specialist for the Cisco Accessibility Initiative, discussed the importance of the Initiative, and the impact it has had on customers. "The initiative was launched to develop guidelines for the company to ensure that our products, Websites, and documentation are accessible and usable by everyone, including those with disabilities," Boucher explained.

The group has some basic goals. According to Boucher, "we help ensure that Cisco products conform to accessibility regulations, and we make accessibility a priority consideration at every stage of the Cisco product life cycle."

Cisco Systems Accessibility is factored in to product concept, design and development, because it is much easier to consider accessibility at the beginning, rather than doing a retrofit. "From concept to final ship, we go through all the stages and address accessibility. The key is in product development, where we can design accessibility features into the product from the start. It's more difficult and costly to try to retrofit products later," noted Boucher.

Accessibility Design and Evaluation Lab enables product evaluations

In March 2004, Cisco completed construction of a state-of-the-art Accessibility Design Lab and Evaluation Studio at its headquarters in San Jose. "We evaluate products and train people internally so that anyone can understand how to integrate accessibility best practices into their product," Boucher said. Cisco employees actively participate in the testing of products. "We bring in product managers and engineers, including those with disabilities."

"You need to sit down with people who have disabilities, and learn what needs to be done to make products usable for everyone. There is just nothing like having people using the products and helping determine how they can be improved," added Boucher. "It could be as simple a solution as adding color and a backlit feature to a screen to enhance readability and clarity."

Cisco's Call Manager voice technology, for example, is accessible both on the administrator and user sides. "By having the product tested by people who are visually impaired, we were able to learn how the product was and wasn't accessible, so we could address 90% of the accessibility issues in a single release (Call Manager 5.0)."

The Accessibility group also considers products that Cisco acquires or OEMs. "The idea is that we are continually looking for ways to improve accessibility throughout Cisco's product offerings, so it is certainly always at the top of our minds," Boucher added.

The Accessibility team also provides information that can be useful for Cisco's sales people. "We let them know what to look for, from an accessibility point of view, so they can offer better solutions for Cisco customers. Not all products are fully accessible, but we can identify issues and let customers know," he added.

Training for employees raises awareness

Cisco Systems developed and implemented online training for accessibility awareness, as a milestone in developing a comprehensive training program called the Accessibility Academy. "We are making our own employees aware of the need to incorporate accessibility into our products and services. Our advice to Cisco employees is to be aware and consider people with disabilities when we do our jobs. Most people don't think about accessibility," Boucher noted, "but when our employees take the training, it helps them understand what people with disabilities are facing. This makes everyone start thinking about accessibility and how we can provide solutions. "

Boucher acknowledged that the Helen Keller Achievement Award is a significant accomplishment for Cisco Systems. "From our customers' view, it's a very positive sign that we are making a difference in the lives of many people." The AFB worked closely with the Accessibility Team to provide guidance, product evaluations, and recommendations that have enhanced Cisco's ability to create accessible products.

Accessibility Initiative making a difference

The Accessibility Initiative plays a significant role in the company's product cycles, but it doesn't stop there. Boucher has seen the enthusiasm among his co-workers since the launch of the company's accessibility programs. "This is something that our employees embrace - the fact that Cisco is making an effort to improve quality of life issues," he said. "When employees learn about the accessibility program, they think it's cool that we are making a difference. It's awesome."

According to John Chambers, Cisco president and CEO, "Our aim is to change how people work, live, play and learn, regardless of ability. We don't want to leave anyone behind - that's not what we are about."

Through the company's commitment, accessibility is being built into the products Cisco develops and the standards and regulations followed. "Accessibility is now built into the way we work," Chambers continued. "We have a responsibility to make our products and services usable by people with disabilities and this is something every Cisco employee embraces. It's the right thing to do."

Terry Timm Moos is a freelance journalist located in Seattle, WA