WEBVTT

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 For some, data is a bit of
a cosy blanket under which they

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 can hide and feel a bit more
reassured and comfortable.

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A cosy blanket to talk about this
inclusion and accessibility 

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in and with companies.

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 I believe that we still have to

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 have data, but it will not
convince anybody who is not

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 already interested in the issue.

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 And the whole issue of

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accessibility goes both ways, of course,

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 it helps with getting

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 more consumers in, but also, of
course, it allows internally to

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not neglect a talent that
potentially is excluded.

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 So because I was just talking
about to an accessibility expert

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in one of our company members
who said, "Look, accessibility

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releases potential".

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And I totally agree with that.

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We surveyed or we looked
at information from 46 multinational enterprises.

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And at the time, so two years
ago, thirteen of these 46

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 companies had somebody with a
global job, I mean the job title

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of a Global Accessibility Lead.

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So that was, well,

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that was less than a third.

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And I saw in the meantime 

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2 of these people, that these
individuals have left.

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But I think is, of course,

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It's a practise that we want to

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and in see more often, 
in addition to global DI leads or whatever

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 terminology is nowadays.

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But in the end, if we do

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 the correct work, so to say, then
I don't care about the label, of course.

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 I care about the, the output, the outcomes.

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 We don't have to be accessibility

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 experts, but we need to raise the
awareness about the importance of

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accessibility and then make sure
that you know, programmers 

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or facility managers understand the
important, and then they can

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 figure out how to do it with our guidance.

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So I think DI practitioners, so to say,

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or Disability Inclusion practitioners,

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they don't need to be experts, 

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but they need to act as facilitators
to have a conversation 

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on accessibility and how to make it reality.

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 Before we could have looked at the

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 United States and the Americans
with Disabilities Act from 1990,

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that was, you know, really leading
the charge, so to say.

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Nowadays, in terms of
legislation at least, I think 

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the EU is the regional block, so to say,
where we see the most

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activity and leadership on
these issues.

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So I don't, I mean, and then
at the same time, of course, global network,

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we very much encourage the
interregional exchange.

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But at this point, I think 
a lot of regions looking at, also,

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in terms of disability inclusion,
accessibility, AI

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to the regulatory frameworks that
the EU is setting up.

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I usually tend not to waste my
mental energy on missed opportunities,

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so we need to deal with what we have.

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But look, I think, yeah, you said,

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of course, the European Accessibility
Act focuses on on products and services.

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At the same time, I think it's
fair to think that more

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 inclusive, accessible consumer
practises, products and services

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 have a high potential to also
translate into more

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accessible, inclusive, yeah, internal practises and
systems, which also then, 

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of course, have a positive impact on
employment and retention 

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of persons with disabilities.

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And we can see, maybe it's

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also vice versa, right?

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So it's mutually,

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if you, or maybe you started more
internally on accessibility 

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with your own employees, that it might
then also give you a comparative

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 advantage now implementing the
Accessibility Act in the EU.