作为一个 微软合作伙伴, one of the key benefits is access to the events 和 conferences Microsoft host. We recently attended the TechHer event discussing gender equality, 可访问性 和 allyship. 在这里 Beeta, we’re huge advocates of inclusion 和 working towards making the tech scene a more diverse industry, so we’ve put together a short blog highlighting the st和out topics 和 overarching message.
Allyship: ‘How can women engage more allies in a male-orientated industry?’
首先, Allyship 与 丹尼尔Kenyon-Smith. We discussed the importance of becoming a united force in the fight for gender equality 和 how it is crucial for men to step us as allies to effectively accelerate change. 统计, a diverse 团队 is more successful so encouraging men to take an active part in allyship is in everyone’s best interest. 丹尼尔解释了男人应该怎么做 放大、给予和赞助. 简而言之, if a female colleague is being interrupted, interject – make sure their voice is heard. Women’s ideas 和 concepts can often be overlooked until suggested again by a man, 他们通常被认为是什么. 然而, when a man takes an active part in allyship 和 endorses a woman’s idea, this fuels the momentum 和 ensures credit is duly given. 这就提出了一个问题:
‘How can I engage 与 male allies 和 establish the initiatives?’
最突出的回应是告知. It is crucial to generate awareness 和 educate both men 和 women in the workplace on the issues surrounding unconscious bias 和 subsequently, 消除障碍的重要性. Initiating open conversation 和 mentoring on the subject provides opportunity to answer any questions 和 to unearth 和 iron out any reservations 与 supported resources.
Accessibility: ‘Do you have an inclusion strategy?’
下一个话题是 可访问性，由 莎拉王子 和 苏西•米勒. We discussed how you can make 你的 business 和 content more accessible 和 how now, 更甚于以往, it is essential to take accountability 和 employ inclusive methods. Due to COVID-19, most people are working remotely. Interaction is almost exclusively virtual 和 on the rare chance of a physical encounter, masks are an unforgiving barrier for those that rely on lipreading. Now is the time to take this as an opportunity to progress the industry st和ards for 可访问性. Here are some tools 和 tips (brought to my attention by the speakers) that you might find useful:
- 翻译软件 – This is a fantastic tool for communicating 与 a variety of groups. This app can be useful for multilingual individuals but also for those that are hard of hearing. It also has a feature that enables you to take a photo of text 和 it will read it out for you, which can be helpful for individuals 与 neuro-diversity conditions.
- 颜色 -你的幻灯片和图片是什么颜色的? Such a simple thing to adapt yet it can make such a drastic difference. Consider those that may be colour-blind 和 struggle to differentiate certain colours. Certain coloured backgrounds can also be preferential 与 individuals that have cognitive conditions like Dyslexia. – get to know 你的 employees 和 find out what works for 你的 团队!
- Alt文本 -是的，对SEO有好处! 然而, for some these tags are a pre-requisite to accessing information. For individuals that are legally blind or have limited vision, alt texts provide descriptions of visuals via a screen reader.
We finished the workshop exploring how it can be daunting tackling diversity when you’re, “大机器中的一个小齿轮”. 然而, just initiating conversations on the matter is a step in the right direction that can influence senior leadership. 在Beeta, we are continuously learning 和 updating the ways we operate 和 will be proactively updating our strategy to incorporate some of the tips mentioned above.
The Beeta 团队 thoroughly enjoyed tuning in to this event 和 hearing from many insightful speakers! If you’d like to get involved, you can register here: http://www.techher.uk/
