Limited awareness of people has constrained the use of the term ‘inclusion’ majorly with respect to culture, education and politics.  This has often led to the neglection of the importance of this term relating to the usability of many products and services for people with disabilities.  

Inclusive design requires a change in the usual pattern of thinking. It therefore widens and ensures the reach and accessibility of mainstream products and services to a vast majority of the population without the need for special adaptations.  

About 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability according to the World Health Organisation. In India, according to census 2011, around 2. 68 Cr of the population i.e. around 2.21% of the population has some of the other kind of disability. 

These disabilities include: 

• People with some form of physical disability– Upper limbs, lower limbs or both.  
• People with visual impairment– Low vision or totally blind 
• People with hearing impairment– Hard of hearing or deaf 
• People with speech impairment 
• People with cognitive impairment– Mild, moderate or severe. 

Along with this, there are other groups of people who do not directly fall into these categories but should be considered.  

• Elderly– Longer life expectancies and an aging population mean there will be more users with some impairments. 
• People with temporary disabilities– A person with a muscle pull, fractured arm etc. 

The problem: 

• Inclusive design is either often neglected or seen as an add-on, like an afterthought.  
• There’s a general lack of understanding and considering these user groups.  
• There’s a lack of understanding about how to design for inclusivity and the benefits it brings. 

Why invest in Inclusive Design? 

Inclusive design increases user acquisition and retention.

Inclusively designed products and services are good and accessible for all. With a growing population and longer life expectancies leading to an aging population, there will be more users with some or the other kind of impairments in the future. Designing inclusively creates better solutions and experiences for all. Not designing products and services inclusively would only mean losing out to a large and increasing market segment. 

Inclusive design has been practiced since a long time, but it has not yet been adopted by all.  A good example of a company which started designing with an inclusive approach was OXO good grips. A range of easy to use kitchen utensils. With their brilliant market research, packaging and marketing strategies, they were able to tap into the kitchen market to emerge as one of the best products.

Inclusive design means more profit

Imagine a product or service not being usable enough for any or multiple of these user groups. That would be a large amount of probable spending one would miss out on if they don’t design inclusively.

There’s an upfront cost but you’ll make a return on your investment.
While we may agree that designing inclusively does come with a good cost, but a company investing in good and inclusive design will in no time cover their costs and make a return on the initial investment. Not only would a not -so- useable design cost a lot of money to the company in terms of exchange and warranty but might also cause damage to the brand and goodwill. 

People are united by design

Inclusive design offers a great opportunity to bring people together. Creating and designing user friendly products and services which everyone can use, regardless of their abilities, unites people by design. It creates a sense of belonging. 

Why choose BarrierBreak 

1. Digital accessibility company with accessibility in out DNA! With inclusive culture being a big part of our company, our team comprises of individuals who can empathize with the disabled users. 
2. We understand users. We understand the different user groups and the challenges and limitations they face. 
3. It is not enough to just read about disabilities and design for to fully understand the diversity of users.  The designers at BarrierBreak work along with our accessibility experts that include people with disability and user groups to bring the most effective digital solutions and plan to do the same for products as well. 

Get in touch with our accessibility experts today. Write to us sales@barrierbreak.com 

The post How would inclusive design help your organisation? appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

In 2004, when I got funded by Aavishkaar, honestly I didn’t know much of the social enterprise or the venture capitalist world. I didn’t even know what it meant to have an investor.

Was fortunate to have Aavishkaar & Vineet Rai believe in the idea of BarrierBreak & my own family who was willing to back the idea with capital.

But honestly, was funding the primary need for us at that time.

In retrospect, no it wasn’t. I wish I knew this then.

I did find some amazing people who have mentored and helped me in my journey whether it was Pravin Gandhi, Arun Diaz or even conversations with the R. Sriram, Paula Mariwala or so many people I met through TiE or other connects and networks.

But the one gap I always felt, was no one really understood the disability market or the needs of the disabled community. Initially, it took time for everyone to realize that I was looking to go beyond the charity model. I wanted to create a sustainable & profitable business.

I am thankful that each of these people came into my life, asked the right questions, gave me the kind of advice that an entrepreneur needs, connected me with people I could learn from, helped me identify next steps, got me to think clearly of what I was doing or even just listened to.

As recently as last year, I was thinking of an e-commerce platform for disability solutions and the difficult conversations around the merits and perils of the e-commerce world, buying power of the audience, versus the scalability of the model made me decide to not go ahead.

My initial reaction was I want to do this but when I sat and listened and answered the tough questions, I realized that this wasn’t an area where I would get the impact I wanted to.

So if you want a mentor to help you in your startup focusing on disability solutions then apply now for the BarrierBreak Assistive Technology Startup Mentorship Program.

The post Mentorship — A gap for Assistive Technology Startups appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.

BarrierBreak is proud to announce the 3 month Assistive Technology Startup (ATS) Mentorship Program to assist startup founders focusing on solutions for people with disabilities. The ATS Mentorship Program will help startups identify & solve for their  focus areas.

What we bring to the table is the deep knowledge of the disability sector, market understanding from India  & global perspective & business acumen.

Our 1st Cohort will be mentored personally by Shilpi Kapoor, our CEO who has proven that disability solutions can be nurtured into a sustainable model. Being a serial entrepreneur herself, she saw this gap in the Assistive Technology startup community and is looking to break this barrier and see people succeed in this space.

India Perspective

In the last 5 years, India has seen a surge in startups focusing on assistive technology or disability solutions. This has been a pleasant change. Since this is a relatively nascent segment, we do see them struggle to find the business model & market access that would help them become sustainable, scalable and profitable.

In the period pre-COVID, we saw 4 startups bear the brunt and have to close down. Yes, in the startup world, not every startup is a success. A recent study, “Entrepreneurial India,” by the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, found that 90% of Indian startups fail within the first five years. So yes, this will be true for startups focusing on disability, but can we give them a winning chance?

Why BarrierBreak ATS Mentorship Program?

The BarrierBreak ATS Mentorship Program will be a 1-1 mentoring with the startup founders where they will learn to think through their challenges & opportunities, identify solutions, create task oriented measurable plans to get to their goals. We will be starting small with only 3 startups in the C0hort.

We don’t ask you for Equity but we do ask you to be open and transparent, so we can together find the solutions.

Your idea is yours, all we want to do is support you think it through and help you succeed.

We won’t be doing the hard work for you, you will be doing it for yourself.

We don’t offer you heaven and earth in 3 months, but we do offer that you will have clarity on your plan and steps ahead to achieve your goals.

Shilpi believes that “Disability is so entrenched in the charity model, and we see most startups struggle to break out of that mindset. Yes, CSR should be one of the areas for disability solutions to be delivered to the end customers, but the differentiator will be to see how we can look at other business models to scale and create impact. So if you want to break the shackles and think out of the box, then send in your nomination for the BarrierBreak Assistive Technology Mentorship Program.”

If you have any questions, send in an email to mentorship@barrierbreak.com with your mobile number, so we can call you back to discuss.

Timeline

• Applications Close – 8th October
• Application Interview Process – 12th to 16th October
• Final Cohort Announcement – 22nd October
• Mentorship Period – 1st November to 31st January

How to Apply

Before you send in your nominations, ensure you are:

• Open to discussions, suggestions, and feedback
• Committed to investing time and working on the plans
• Ready to think out of the box

If you are an entrepreneur focused on a solution that impacts people with disabilities, don’t wait, Apply Now!

The post Launching the BarrierBreak Assistive Technology Startup Mentorship Program appeared first on Leader in Offshore Accessibility Testing | Section 508 Compliance | WCAG Conformance | BarrierBreak.