Transcript: Dean Halstead Makes the Business Case for Implementing Accessible Technology
PEAT asked Dean Halstead of Microsoft: If you were riding in an elevator with a Fortune 500 CEO, what’s your pitch for why implementing accessible technology matters?
>> Accessibility matters because when you’re looking at all of the challenges that face CEOs today, whether it be modernization, mobility, security, or all these different areas that they’re struggling with, they kind of look at accessibility on the side. But actually accessibility is enabling technology and an enabling approach that addresses across all of those different types of cylinders, right? So you kind of raise all boats at once. I’ll give you an example, so if you’re looking at accessibility and it’s designed for somebody who may be blind, well, that certain feature may help somebody be more productive. Maybe they’re on a mobile device and now they can have their invites or other sorts of information read to them. So when you look at universal design, when you look at accessibility as a complete part of your modernization of IT, that’s where you get your biggest bang for your buck.