Welcome to TechCheck

1

Start

2

Team and Leadership

3

Policy and Program Development

4

Staff Training and Awareness

5

Assessing and Improving Accessibility

6

Specific Technologies

7

Procuring Accessible Technologies

8

Implementing Accessibility

9

Measuring Progress

10

TechCheck Complete

Welcome to TechCheck, a powerful but simple tool to help employers assess their technology accessibility practices. Whether you have a formal accessible technology effort or not, TechCheck can help give you a benchmarking "snapshot" of the current state of your technology, the accessibility goals you want to reach, and what steps you might take to achieve them.
TechCheck is scalable and intended for U.S. employers of all types—public or private sector, large or small.
What you can expect:

  • It’s quick and easy. TechCheck takes about 10-15 minutes to complete.
  • You’ll get rapid feedback. After completing the questions, you’ll receive a Readout evaluation of where you stand across several dimensions, from internal training efforts to procurement policies.
  • It’s completely confidential. PEAT does not retain your answers except to create your customized Readout. And we will never publish any of your answers, or share that you have participated in TechCheck without your explicit permission.
  • A foundation for building a more accessible workplace. TechCheck provides formal documentation that you can use to win support from management to develop your accessible technology efforts further.

When it comes to managing accessible ICT in the workplace, all kinds of organizational structures can work. But there needs to be some leadership and some clarity on the various roles that contribute to your accessibility effort. The following questions relate to the organizational make-up of your effort. "Team" and "leadership" may mean a single individual, or a large group of people with formal roles.

Select all that apply; skip this question if you do not have an accessible technology team.

Our team, informal or formal, is located in this internal organization:

Select all that apply:

Successful workplace accessibility efforts require policies and a plan. Smaller employers may only need informal plans and policies. This section will ask about your status in these areas.

Select all that apply:

With proper training, employees will be able to perform their accessibility-related work, and understand why they are being asked to do their work a different way. This is true of both accessibility team members and other employees whose actions will affect the day-to-day operations of your accessibility effort.

The following questions relate to the amount of accessibility staff training and awareness in your organization. Please note, we are not referring to training on assistive technology, such as screen reader training for screen reader users, but rather training and awareness related to the importance of accessibility or methods used to achieve it

Select all that apply:

Select all that apply:

Specialized training is required for some roles. For example, the person or office that procures ICT for your workplace needs training on how to request accessible products from vendors, and on ways to evaluate vendor responses to accessibility-related questions.

Select all that apply:

The goal of your accessibility effort should be to improve the actual accessibility of the technologies your employees use at work. But in order to improve accessibility, you have to know where the problems are, and how to fix them. A thorough understanding of the overall and specific accessibility of each of the ICT products your employees use will make it easier for you to plan and make progress. The following questions relate to the overall accessibility and evaluation of the workplace technologies you already have in place

Select all that apply:

Select all that apply:

Your workplace uses many ICT products in different categories. For each of the following categories, indicate how accessible you think these technologies are overall.

Most workplace ICT comes from vendors or system integrators. Some background research may help you identify typical accessibility barriers and solutions related to the products in the category you will be purchasing. Some ICT vendors can provide product accessibility information, such as a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT). The following questions relate to the technology your organization purchases and how you go about ensuring the accessibility of that technology for your employees.

A VPAT or other accessibility report is usually the first step in understanding both the inherent accessibility of a product and how it can be implemented to work in your workplace environment. VPATs do not apply to web or software development services, but they may apply to the completed work product.

Getting accessibility information is only the first step. You may need to be able to compare the accessibility of different products under consideration as part of your decision. You may have to analyze how the product will interoperate with other technologies you use, including assistive technologies used by employees with disabilities.

Select all that apply:

Select all that apply:

Once you have purchased accessible workplace ICT, you need to implement it so that the accessibility is actually available to your employees with disabilities. In addition, you may need to manage assistive technologies (AT) for your employees so that they are compatible with your mainstream ICT. The following questions relate to the implementation of the ICT your organization procures.

Many employees with disabilities use AT such as screen readers and speech recognition software in order to perform their jobs. These AT products need to be compatible with mainstream ICT, or accessibility never reaches the user. Managing AT efficiently can improve overall accessibility in the workplace and save time and money.

Select all that apply:

Select all that apply:

Making your workplace technologies accessible can be a complex undertaking, but it is possible to measure your achievements. Measuring your progress will reinforce the value of your initiative, let you plan it better, and communicate about it more clearly. The following questions relate to the ways you are measuring the effectiveness of your accessibility efforts.

Select all that apply:

Select all that apply:

Thank you for completing your TechCheck benchmarking exercise. After you click "Submit" below, you will receive your Readout, which outlines your results along with some resources you can use to enhance your workplace technology accessibility effort further. These results are for your use only and will not be available to the public, PEAT staff, or partner organizations.

We'd also like to hear from you about any questions or problems you encounter, and any accessible workplace ICT practices that you think PEAT or the wider community should know about. Feel free to contact us!

In the meantime, we welcome your final thoughts, including suggestions you may have to improve TechCheck and PEAT. Thanks again.