What accessibility considerations must product managers make during the product life cycle? Learn best practices that can be applied to large and small scale projects.

1. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
An Product Offering
Manager’s Perspective on
Accessibility
An IBM Case Study
2 March 2017

2. © 2017 IBM Corporation2
IBM Accessibility
The Team
Sheila Zinck
Advocacy and Eminence Programs
@sheilazinck
Maureen Kraft
Transformation Lead
@moekraft
Mary Jo Mueller
IBM Accessibility Standards Program Manager
@1mjmueller

3. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM 2014 Snapshot: Products and Acquisitions

4. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Product Management Approach
Product Development
• Design
• Development
• QA
• Release Management
Product Marketing
• Market Analysis
• Requirements Definition
• Strategy
• Portfolio Management
• Messaging
Go-to-Market
• RTM Analysis
• Channel Enablement
• Campaigns
• Client Engagement

5. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
From Product Management to Offering Management
Underlying principles of
IBM Offering
Management
• Offerings must integrate all IBM
capabilities at the earliest stages of design
and development.
• Offering Managers lead cross functional
teams and set priorities across disciplines
• Offering Managers are business
owners, accountable for results.

6. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Scope of Offering Management
Markets are a segment of customers with a shared set of
requirements:
• Industry (e.g. healthcare)
• Buyer role (e.g. CMO)
• Business domain (e.g. equipment maintenance)
• Technology domain (e.g. DevOps)
Markets are not be defined in terms of specific products or offerings.
An offering is a product or service, or some set of them,
designed for a market of users who will value the end-to-end
experience of the offering

7. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
How is This Different from Product Management?
Product Management Offering Management
Orientation • Products or services
• On premise
• Within units
• Markets and users
• Next Gen Delivery
(SaaS, Services, On Prem, etc.)
• Cross-IBM
Scope • Feature and functionality
• Dev / Design + Ops
• End-to-end user experience
• Dev / Design + GTM + Services
Ops + Ecosystem
Accountability • Consensus decision making
• PM practitioners part of teams
• Individual accountability
• OM practitioners leading teams
Ways of Working • Process-centric
• Waterfall
• Outcome driven
• Agile

8. © 2017 IBM Corporation8
IBM Accessibility
Why Accessibility matters to IBM
… is more than just the right thing to do.
It expands our market.
“And as a happy by-product of doing
the right thing, we … reach every
possible person on the planet
regardless of their technical capability”
- Phil Gilbert, IBM Design, General Manager

9. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Accessibility for Offering Management
Offering
Management Design Develop
& Test
Accountability Inclusion by Design Automation

10. © 2015IBMCorporation // IBMConfidential

11. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
First Step: Accessibility 101
OM Bootcamp
• 2 week intensive in-person training
• New hires & existing product managers
• Plus 1 week “Accessibility Hack Week” w/design
• Goal: “Get every offering manager thinking about
Accessibility”
Accessibility Module
• What is accessibility?
• Differentiate offerings
• Government & industry regulations
• Case studies / Innovation
• Tools & Resources

12. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Accessibility Training Classes
Delivered onsite training to IBM offering teams
Number of
Sessions
Total
#Attendees
NPS Average
28 1500+ 9.25 out of 10
• “You really revealed a whole new world to my team. …this was invaluable. …the best
training they have ever attended.”
• “It was fascinating to hear from a real user's perspective… It has changed my thinking about
how to tackle accessibility for future apps.”

13. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11yRocks Initiative
OM Model
• Embed accessibility in the OM
process, artifacts and deliverables
at offering initiation
Field Guide
• Deliver physical handbook of
inclusive approach, guidelines and
methods
Enablement
• Consolidate accessibility guidance
into a consumable, interactive format
and deliver across IBM teams
Portfolio
• All strategic offerings to meet the
defined accessibility framework
requirements
Technology
• Develop new tools for strategic
browsers, hybrid mobile apps and
design
Talent
• Implement career path and programs
designed to grow accessibility talent
base across the company

14. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (1 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Exploration Playback
Market opportunity
and approach
Market Playback
Define
and
prove
Playback 0
Commitment Pitch Playback
Build and
deliver
Launch Readiness Playback
Sense
and
respond
Business Review Playbacks
F
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

15. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (2 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Exploration Playback
Market opportunity
and approach
Market Playback
Identify buyer and user demographics
Assess risk and mitigation for a non-
compliant offering
Define
and
prove
Build and
deliver
Sense
and
respond
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

16. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (3 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Market opportunity
and approach
Define
and
prove
Playback 0
Identify personas and sponsor
users with disabilities
Define accessibility requirements
Build and
deliver
Sense
and
respond
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

17. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (4 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Market opportunity
and approach
Define
and
prove
Commitment Pitch Playback
Define compliance goals
Accessible technologies
Skilled accessibility resources
Build and
deliver
Sense
and
respond
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

18. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (5 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Market opportunity
and approach
Define
and
prove
Build and
deliver
Launch Readiness Playback
Generate, review VPAT
Accessible digital marketing materials
Sense
and
respond
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

19. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
A11y and OM Deliverables/Artifacts (6 of 6)
Continuous
Delivery and
Evaluation
Strategic planning and
portfolio management
Market opportunity
and approach
Define
and
prove
Build and
deliver
Sense
and
respond
Business Review Playbacks
Use market feedback and adjust
Decision Checkpoint
Artifact

20. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM Accessibility Handbook - cover

21. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM Accessibility Handbook – Accessibility importance
Does my team know the
importance of Accessibility?

22. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM Accessibility Handbook – Target market
What are the accessibility
needs of the target market?

23. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM Accessibility Handbook – User diversity
Within our target market,
how diverse are the users?

24. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
IBM Accessibility Handbook – Accessible for launch
Is the complete offering
accessible for launch?

25. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Quick Guidance – OM page: Getting started

26. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Quick Guidance – OM page: Accessibility importance

27. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Quick Guidance – OM page: Target market

28. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Quick Guidance – OM page: Ready for launch

29. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Case Study: Brass Ring
• Target market(s): Fortune
50, Global recruiting across
150 countries
• User needs: assistive
technology, accommodations,
keyboard access, low vision
support, speech, clear
instructions, languages

30. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Case Study: Cúram
• Target market(s): Social
Programs, Healthcare market
• User needs: assistive
technology, accommodations,
keyboard access, low vision
support, speech, clear
instructions, languages,
captions

31. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2017
IBM Accessibility Research
Thank you!
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3:20 PM Open Accessibility: Delivering at Speed and Scale
Moe Kraft, IBM
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