Driving change: creating the digital accessibility champions group at John Lewis
In a world where everyone deserves a front-row seat in the digital shopping experience, John Lewis is taking a bold step forward. Introducing the Digital Accessibility Champions Group, an initiative devoted to building a strong foundation of inclusivity in your shopping experience through hard work and unwavering passion.
By bringing together passionate individuals from various digital disciplines, this group aims to champion accessibility, break down barriers, and pave the way for an omni-shopping experience that caters to the diverse needs of every customer.
Join me as I delve into the journey of how John Lewis is transforming the digital retail landscape, one accessible stride at a time.
Why this approach?
The Accessibility Champions group approach aims to foster a culture of accessibility within the online experience. This approach recognises that accessibility is not a one-time fix, or a feature that can be purchased, but rather a complex and ongoing commitment that involves the entire digital team.
Here are a few reasons why we went with the Accessibility Champions group approach.
Cultural shift
It helps create a culture of accessibility within the organisation. By empowering and educating a group of Accessibility Champions, the company is signalling its commitment to accessibility as a core value.
Education and awareness
The group can serve as advocates for accessibility, spreading knowledge and awareness among the team. This can help individuals understand the importance of accessibility and how they can contribute to it.
Continuous improvement
Accessibility is an evolving field. Having a dedicated group of champions helps the company stay up to date with the latest best practices and regulations.
Problem solving
The group can serve as a resource for addressing accessibility challenges and finding creative solutions. They can collaborate with different departments to identify and implement accessible design and development practices.
Compliance
While compliance with accessibility standards and regulations (WCAG AA) is essential, it’s not enough. The Accessibility Champions can help integrate accessibility into the company’s processes and projects from the beginning, rather than being an afterthought or a checkbox.
Long-term sustainability
I believe investing in people and empowering them with knowledge is often the most sustainable approaches. When employees are educated and motivated to “do the right thing,” accessibility becomes a part of the company’s DNA.
How to start an Accessibility Champions group
Do the right thing
A series of favourable circumstances played into our hands to make this endeavour a success. Firstly, John Lewis was in the process of launching a new design system, and many of the updates made significant strides in enhancing our accessibility standards.
Additionally, at the time I had just moved to John Lewis from Waitrose, where I had helped establish an Accessibility Champions group. This allowed me to expedite the implementation of a tried-and-tested framework within John Lewis. I believe when you are doing the right thing, it’s not a coincidence when everything seemingly comes together.
Find the enthusiasts
You don’t just want ‘experts’ for the group. Having expertise in any field would be a great asset but not required. The Accessibility Champions group isn’t just another time-consuming project; it’s a dynamic forum where individuals, each carrying their daily responsibilities, come together. It’s a place to showcase your diverse skills and strengths, and it’s equally a space for constant learning and growth. When assembling the Champions group, I sought out individuals with the right intentions and patience, knowing that these qualities are the cornerstones of meaningful progress.
Guide, rather than lead
Navigating a fresh assembly of individuals embarking on a subject that may not be intrinsic to their daily responsibilities can undoubtedly raise some uncertainties. To keep everyone on course, we regularly provided feedback to both our directorate and specific areas of expertise.
Balancing the role of a leader in a group composed of passionate individuals who simultaneously manage their day-to-day responsibilities can be a delicate task. The objective isn’t to impose rigid directives but rather to act as a guiding presence, allowing the group’s genuine intent to steer our collective efforts and celebrate victories together. This approach may sound like basic leadership, but in a setting where any disruptive element can potentially derail the entire group, maintaining this equilibrium becomes paramount.
Measure your successes
We established OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) to create alignment with the digital product teams and set up measurable success markers. However, it’s important to strike a balance when formalising a group that inherently lacks a rigid structure; excessive formality can dampen the group’s enthusiasm and passion.
During the group’s initial setup, it’s advisable to maintain broader, adaptable OKRs. As you delve deeper into the subject matter and grow as a team, you’ll naturally refine and adapt these goals to reflect your evolving understanding and capabilities. Sometimes doing the right things isn’t measured by a percentage or monetary value.
What have we accomplished so far?
Empathy and success
During my time at Waitrose, we investigated different tools that could provide us with deep insights into the genuine challenges faced by individuals with impairments. We explored a few options but we ultimately saw the benefits of using a piece of software called Fable.
Fable is a tool that allows us to user-test our digital experiences with accessibility needs. We’ve already written a story to explain how we’ve used Fable within our Product teams. One of our test sessions included a video accompanied by insightful commentary, and the moment this was shared widely across our Digital teams, igniting a strong desire among team members to evaluate their own product areas. We took deliberate steps to make Fable readily available to everyone on our team, allowing them to conduct their own tests. I cannot emphasis enough the transformative power of empathy.
Our next steps are to create a test plan where we can generate a better idea of our end-to-end journey and share findings with the wider team.
Support and training
We conducted a survey within our digital team, and the results were clear: there was a unanimous desire to make sure everything we release is accessible. The predominant issue that emerged from the feedback was a lack of confidence when it came to accessibility matters. It was evident that different areas of the business required tailored treatment and approaches to address this challenge effectively.
In response, we took proactive measures. We crafted a presentation that could be customised according to the specific audience, providing a comprehensive introduction to the world of accessibility. Additionally, we collaborated closely with Antonio Ferreira Martinez and the team at Applause to design specialised accessibility sessions tailored to the needs of digital specialists.
Our journey doesn’t end here. We’re actively exploring further opportunities to create a valuable resource where our Partners can access the knowledge and support they need to learn and develop their confidence in the realm of accessibility.
Part of the process
Another significant finding from our survey was that a substantial majority of respondents viewed any product with accessibility issues as defective. This insight underscored the critical importance of not treating accessibility as an optional add-on to existing processes, but rather as an indispensable component that every discipline must incorporate into their roles.
To support our designers, we introduced an accessibility-focused Figma library. This resource serves as an instructive handbook for designers seeking to enhance accessibility within their respective areas. It includes components that facilitate the seamless transition of design work to the development phase, ensuring that accessibility requirements are effectively met.
Our frontend and quality engineers (QE) teams collaborated to develop a Lighthouse dashboard aimed at assessing the accessibility performance of distinct product teams. While it’s worth noting that the dashboard scores encompassed approximately 40% of all accessibility concerns, it served as a valuable tool for accountability and introduced an additional metric for measuring our success in addressing accessibility issues.
Our quality engineers took a proactive step by revising their pipeline and production strategy, ensuring that accessibility considerations were incorporated at every stage of the process. This comprehensive approach underscores the significance of addressing accessibility holistically, from the initial stages of development through to the final production.
Created a community
We established an accessibility Slack channel as a hub for not only staying updated on the latest trends, but also offering assistance to those seeking advice. However, it transcended being just a digital space; it became a thriving community where we embarked on a transformative journey together, working closely and collaboratively. With our diverse backgrounds and varying skill sets, the Champions have not only united us but also propelled the conversation surrounding accessibility to the forefront of our digital domains.
A journey of dedication and innovation
While it’s important to note that our John Lewis digital experiences may not yet be entirely 100% accessible (again, what does that even mean?), it signifies our unwavering commitment to doing what’s right. Fostering a culture of accessibility within an organisation is a journey marked by unwavering dedication and relentless innovation.
Through the establishment of the Accessibility Champions group, the cultivation of empathy, and the seamless integration of accessibility into our processes, we unlock the incredible potential to craft more inclusive digital experiences for everyone. Accessibility transcends being a compliance checkbox; it stands as a profound commitment to ethical practice. Together, we’ll continue to shape the online world into a more inclusive and hospitable place for all.
