Barcelona, 28th February, 9:00am:Global technology companies including Google and Microsoft have pledged to continue to tackle disability inclusion and tackle the digital divide as they unite at Mobile World Congress this week. The Valuable 500 members will highlight their strategies to better serve the 1.3 billion people across the world with a disability.

In 2021, the GSMA, an industry organisation representing the interests of mobile providers, launched its global State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report

showing that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of the world’s population is now using mobile internet.  Access State of Mobile Internet Connectivity Report.

Mobile internet usage translates to just over 4 billion connected people, 225 million more than 2019, and up from a third of people globally just six years ago.

More recently, the GSMA released The Mobile Disability Gap Report 2021  revealing that the global disabled community have lower levels of mobile ownership than their non-disabled counterparts. Access The Mobile Disability Gap Report 2021. The research found that the disability gap typically widens at each stage of the mobile internet journey. In almost all the countries surveyed, disabled users were more likely to own basic phones, which have either no or fewer built-in accessibility features and may not be internet-enabled. A disparity in digital connectivity was also found by the World Economic Forum’s revelation in September that Americans with disabilities are three times more likely to never go online than those without a disability (15% vs. 5%). Read the WEF article How can we ensure that more people with disabilities have access to digital devices?

The lack of connectivity to the internet poses a huge barrier to persons with a disability. Whilst technology exists to enable easier access to banking, healthcare, employment, and entertainment, its failure to accommodate disabled users in turn exacerbates their exclusion from these fundamental services. At a time when the pandemic has accelerated digital transformations across the globe, it is more essential than ever that tech companies continue to adapt to include the disabled population. From inclusive product design to service delivery, there is a huge amount of work to be done across the industry. In June 2020, a review of 10,000,000 websites carried out by accessiBe found that 98% of menus and 71% of online forms failed to meet accessibility guidelines. Access the article Why your website’s lack of accessibility options is opening you up to lawsuits.

At MWC 2022, the Valuable 500 along with key tech partners such as Google and Microsoft will explore the critical role of inclusivity to enable competitive collaboration and business growth. Inclusion and diversity are the currency of innovative design and thriving societies. The major technology platform providers are building increasingly accessible products that empower consumers and fuel inclusive innovation across their developer ecosystems. They have collaborated on accessibility standards and other industry initiatives including skills development. By centering on the disability community and its mantra of Nothing Without Us, companies can lead this transformation in how we innovate.

Each will share their own experiences of the technological innovations and game-changing outcomes that they have achieved through their own inclusion initiatives. Digital accessibility is crucial if we are ever to achieve inclusion for all. Although the use of digital Assistive Technology is proven to enhance the independence and productivity of disabled people, many members of this community remain digitally excluded. The full report is available at Access to Digital Assistive Technology in Low- and Middle- Income Countries.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 90% of those who require assistive technologies (AT) do not have access to them (source: WHO World Report on Disability, 2011).

The responsibility of telecommunications and technology businesses to address disability inclusion is fundamental to achieving inclusivity and the sector is already taking proactive approaches. The Valuable 500, the global collective committed to disability inclusion within business, has seen a huge uptake within the sector with companies from the telecommunications and information communications technology sectors making up over 10 percent of all members of the 500-strong collective. Notably, Apple is a global partner of the Valuable 500 and an iconic partner for inclusive design, leading in the integration of innovative accessibility features into their products and services. Google is also a Valuable 500 iconic leader company, whose efforts are currently focused on building more accessible products and developing a disability Self-ID solution in collaboration with Deloitte. The data collected from disabled employees will inform key disability employment metrics to enable strategic and meaningful reporting in the future. Microsoft is a pioneer in disability inclusion and leader in this space, with its Accessibility Maturity Model of key learnings developed over many years.

Other iconic leaders in sector include Verizon that is currently working to scale Teach Access, a collaboration among education, industry, and disability advocacy organisations. The programme aims to build comprehensive curriculum reflective of industry needs to 1 million students by 2030. U.S. cloud technology giant, Oracle, is implementing a new Universal Design and have appointed a committee to oversee and determine the path toward evaluations, training and new design principles. Updates include all handrails to display braille signage, audio equipment to describe each experience, and tactile materials to highlight certain zones and transitions. Based in the MENA region and servicing over 48 million customers and 7500 employees, telecommunications company Zain has developed a bespoke sign language library that has been integrated into their internal Zlearning platform. This ensures that the platform is accessible to all employees. The company is developing a public-facing version that will be free to all users and be readily available on the 8th of March, World Hearing Day.

Since the Valuable 500 was launched at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos in 2019, some of the most recognisable businesses from across the world have joined the campaign for inclusion, including Allianz, Apple, BBC, BP, The Coca-Cola Company, Daimler, Deloitte, EY, Google, GSMA, Microsoft, Nestle, P&G, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Prada, Salesforce, Shell, Sky, Sony, Twitter, Unilever, Virgin Media, Verizon and Vodafone. The membership includes 36 of the FTSE 100 companies, 46 of the Fortune 500 and 28 of the Nikkei.

Almost three quarters (70%) of its members, have a turnover of over $1 billion, with half (52%) of those committed to the Valuable 500’s transformation programme employing more than 10,000 people. The organisations supporting the Valuable 500 have a combined revenue of over $8 trillion and over 22 million employees across the world, demonstrating the weight of the Valuable 500’s reach and influence.

Mobile World Congress always marks an important moment for disability inclusion. Given the increasing centrality of digital technology to our lives, the commitment from this sector to tackling inclusion for all is essential to allow equal access to fundamental services from health to employment. The rest of the tech sector must now follow the lead of Apple, Google, and Microsoft and step up to serve the disabled community.

Caroline Casey, Founder of the Valuable 500

At Google, we are committed to building helpful products with and for people with disabilities, as well as creating an inclusive workplace for the disability community. We are proud to participate in such an important conversation and encourage other companies to continue to think of how they can incorporate accessibility and disability inclusion into their own work.

Eve Andersson, Senior Director of Accessibility at google

Microsoft strives to create accessible products, services, websites, and company culture for all. We believe that we are stronger together: by championing diversity in all that we do and create, we aim to fuel exciting progress beyond our technology sector.

Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Chief Accessibility Officer at microsoft

Media Contacts:

For interviews and further information, please contact:

Elysia Taylor-Hearn, Seven Hills

 

Richard Poston, Director of Communications, the Valuable 500

Notes to Editors

About the Valuable 500 

The Valuable 500 was launched by social entrepreneur and activist Caroline Casey at One Young World 2017 in Bogota, Colombia and the inception of the Valuable 500 was announced at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January 2019. Today the Valuable 500 is the largest community of Global CEOs committed to disability inclusion in business.

Since its creation, the Valuable 500 has achieved its initial goal of getting 500 multinational organisations to make a public commitment to disability inclusion in their organisation, igniting a historic global movement for a new age of diversity in business. The Valuable 500 and their global impact partner The Nippon Foundation, will be working closely with the World Economic Forum and International Disability Alliance – bringing together a leading philanthropic organisation with the most prestigious global business network and the voice of the global disability community.

By engaging with the world’s most influential business leaders and brands, the network now has a combined revenue of over $8 trillion and employs a staggering 22 million people worldwide. Its members include 14 global CEOs and companies who will be spearheading the programmes and services to be offered under Phase 2 of the campaign, which will be activated through global disability surveys, disability trend reports and an executive disability resource hub.

After reaching this important milestone, the Valuable 500 is determined to create a community that supports and empowers its 500 members to systematically transform their businesses, so they include the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide, thereby unlocking their business, social and economic potential.

We believe that if business takes a lead, society and government will follow. Truly inclusive businesses can build truly inclusive societies.