{"id":15663,"date":"2023-09-29T00:40:34","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T00:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/with-its-accessibility-adapter-td-bank-aims-to-personalize-web-accessibility-for-everyone\/"},"modified":"2023-09-29T00:40:35","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T00:40:35","slug":"with-its-accessibility-adapter-td-bank-aims-to-personalize-web-accessibility-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=15663","title":{"rendered":"With Its Accessibility Adapter, TD Bank Aims To Personalize Web Accessibility For Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In a press release published earlier this week, Toronto-based financial institution TD Bank announced its all-new TD Accessibility Adapter.<\/p>\n

The browser extension, which was piloted internally by employees earlier this year, is designed to enable people to personalize their online experience vis-a-vis their accessibility needs and tolerances. The Accessibility Adapter, made free for public use, has been \u201cexplicitly designed without using overlays and to co-exist with other assistive technologies, such as standalone screen magnification software.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Accessibility Adapter, available now on the Chrome Web Store, was developed by the bank\u2019s eponymous TD Lab, the internal group responsible for collaboration throughout the organization, as a way to make technology more accessible regardless of whether someone has a disability or not. The pilot began with 6,000 employees before ballooning to over 95,000 in June. The Accessibility Adapter is designed to co-exist along other assistive technologies, not be a replacement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had this [vision of] inclusive innovation with a purpose of benefiting our customers and our colleagues [and] all the communities we operate in\u2026 it\u2019s been a priority for today from the beginning,\u201d said Samantha Estoesta, product manager for social innovation at TD Bank, in an interview with me in early July. \u201cLooking at the ways that we\u2019ve kind of doubled down into that space when it comes to inclusive innovation, there has some really fantastic stuff that we\u2019ve been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Most people normally wouldn\u2019t associate accessibility with their financial institution\u2014as a lifelong disabled person, I certainly never have\u2014but Estoesta said accessibility \u201cabsolutely\u201d is a high priority at TD Bank. The main reason for this is the company\u2019s institutional embrace of diversity and inclusion; Estoesta told me TD Bank encourages its people to \u201cbe their most authentic selves\u201d on the job, and has created a supportive environment in which \u201ceveryone can thrive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Accessibility Adapter is but one manifestation of this ethos.<\/p>\n

Estoesta explained the Accessibility Adapter came to be in part due to the cognizance of a significant portion of the population coping with disability in some way(s) and thus requiring assistive technology. For Estoesta, the Adapter\u2019s advent is personally meaningful to her insofar as she has disabilities herself\u2014some of which are reflected in the software\u2019s feature set, she said. \u201cWe spent the time working on a colleague-first application to really see if we could solve some of those [access] barriers and also address how we think about changing that conversation about doing accommodations or what\u2019s available to you,\u201d Estoesta said.<\/p>\n

The eventual decision by the team to open up the tool to everyone, Estoesta told me, stemmed from a strong desire to \u201cincrease the accessibility and usability of web properties based on digital devices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estoesta emphasized the Accessibility Adapter isn\u2019t a mere overlay atop another piece of software. The Adapter, she said, is intended for customization extending beyond any legal requirements for accessibility.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with me via videoconference, TD Bank\u2019s head of enterprise innovation Baanu Ratneswaran echoed Estoesta\u2019s sentiments about the company\u2019s organizational stance on accessibility. She called accessibility \u201csomething that\u2019s important and critical across the organization,\u201d adding \u201cwe fundamentally believe our purpose is to enrich the lives of our customer colleagues and communities.\u201d Innovation vis-a-vis inclusion is a key pillar of TD Bank\u2019s digital work, according to Ratneswaran. Accessibility, she told me, is enthusiastically embraced by everyone throughout TD Bank, from the very top of the organization and running through everyone below it. It\u2019s a core value for the company.<\/p>\n

Ratneswaran also seconded Estoesta\u2019s comments about the goal in building the Accessibility Adapter, telling me it truly was created with the intention of helping make colleagues\u2019 work more accessible. She also noted how the tool removes a bureaucratic barrier because it allows people to get the accommodations they need without necessarily submitting a formal request or waiting for managerial approval. In short, not only is the Accessibility Adapter useful at a functional level, it also raises the bar in terms of instilling greater feelings of autonomy and self-esteem because workers can take ownership of their independence. Moreover, Ratneswaran acknowledged the awkwardness of, say, a new employee being forced to have a conversation with their supervisor and perhaps feel pressured to disclose their disability and consequent needs.<\/p>\n

All told, these factors ultimately mean the emotional appeal of the Accessibility Adapter matters just as much as the pragmatism behind it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been where we\u2019ve really leaned forward from an accessibility perspective\u2014to go beyond what\u2019s necessary in the market and go above to actually deliver for customers and our colleagues,\u201d Ratneswaran said.<\/p>\n

In terms of the reception towards the Accessibility Adapter, Estoesta said the feedback has been \u201coverwhelmingly positive.\u201d As a member of the disability community, she called working on the project a \u201creal career highlight\u201d and has been awestruck by all the praise from colleagues. \u201cAnecdotally, I\u2019ve gotten quite a few different responses from individuals that have shared how it has changed the way that they are able to work and the way that they\u2019re able to accommodate themselves using this [tool],\u201d she said. Estoesta added for her own self, using the tool has caused a significant reduction of headaches she experiences.<\/p>\n

Looking towards the future, both Estoesta and Ratneswaran expressed optimism around the continuation of TD Bank\u2019s work in the accessibility realm. Estoesta said she is \u201creally proud\u201d and how the teams went about building the Accessibility Adapter, while Ratneswaran told me TD Bank aspires to be a leaser in this space because \u201cit\u2019s just the right thing to do.\u201d Those in the disability community face so many incessant barriers and challenges, she told me, doing this work is just good karmic vibes.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, if you do the right thing, then everything else will follow,\u201d Ratneswaran said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen that in the investments we\u2019ve made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estoesta wholeheartedly concurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see as we continue to build and launch additional products when it comes to emerging technologies, and ensure [other people] also look at those intersections of accessibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a press release published earlier this week, Toronto-based financial institution TD Bank announced its all-new TD Accessibility Adapter. The browser extension, which was piloted internally by employees earlier this year, is designed to enable people to personalize their online experience vis-a-vis their accessibility needs and tolerances. The Accessibility Adapter, made free for public use, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15663","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nWith Its Accessibility Adapter, TD Bank Aims To Personalize Web Accessibility For Everyone | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a press release published earlier this week, Toronto-based financial institution TD Bank announced its all-new TD Accessibility Adapter. 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