The Digital Accessibility Maturity Model: Measuring Accessibility Program Success

Tim Springer

Jason Megginson

Agenda

• What is a Maturity Model?• The Digital Accessibility

Maturity Model (DAMM)– Levels & Dimensions

– Aspects & Artifacts

• DAMM Reviews• Appendix A - DAMM-HR

– Recruiting & Hiring

– Reasonable Accommodations (RAs)

What is a Maturity Model?

Maturity ModelDefines organizational maturity level in addressing a business problem

Digital Accessibility Maturity Model (DAMM)Measures digital accessibility program maturity along a series of dimensions and aspects, to assign them to particular levels

The Five Levels of DAMM

Optimizing

Quantitatively Managed

Defined

Managed

Initial

4

3

2

1

5

DAMM Is NOT A Roadmap

More Maturity ≠ Greater Conformance

• Other models require that you must reach a higher level of compliance to achieve a higher CMM level

SSB explicitly rejects this idea

• A mature organization with a clear grasp of digital accessibility concepts may determine not to conform to a higher level of accessibility

Why A CMM based Maturity Model?

In addition to the accessibility-related components of DAMM, implementing CMM model process improvement adds values to other business areas:•Fewer Defects•Better on-time delivery •More likely to be on budget•Increased Quality Software Management Productivity Index

DAMM Dimensions

Program maturity is measured along ten key dimensions:•Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance•Communications•Policy and Standards•Legal•Fiscal Management•Development Lifecycle•Testing and Validation•Support and Documentation•Procurement•Training

Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance

Artifacts•Organization Chart

•Accessibility Monitoring Plan

•Accessibility Program Roles and Responsibilities

•Accessibility Project Management Plan

•Risk Prioritization Model

•Accessibility Coverage Questionnaire

Aspects•Organizational Ownership 

•Governance Policy

•Risk Management

•Compliance Program

•Accessibility Program Office

•Monitoring 

•Reporting

•Recordkeeping

Communication

Aspects•Program Communication 

•Internal Communication

•Market Communication

Artifacts•Public Communication Plan

•Organization-wide Compliance Statement

Policy and Standards

Aspects•Accessibility Policy •Accessibility Standards

Artifacts•Digital Accessibility Policy 

•Technical Standards

Legal

Aspects•Regulatory Process

Artifacts•Regulatory Calendar 

•Regulatory Filings

•VPATs and GPATs (in conjunction with Communications)

Fiscal Management

Aspects•Budget•Return on Investment

Artifacts•Central APO Budget

•LoB Digital Accessibility Budget Guidance

•LoB Digital Accessibility Budgets

Development

Aspects•Development Artifacts•Roles and Responsibilities•User Acceptance•Pattern Library

Artifacts•Lifecycle Roles and Responsibilities 

•Development Artifact Guide 

Testing and Validation

Aspects•Accessibility Testing

•Infrastructure

•Accessibility Testing Artifacts

Artifacts•Accessibility Testing Plan

•Usability Testing

•User Group Profiles

•Pilot Program

•Assistive Technology Catalog

Support and Documentation

Aspects•Support Process•Accessibility Issue Handling•Accessible Documentation

Artifacts•Accessibility Features Document

•Accessibility Resolution Policy

•Accessibility Issue Submission Form

Procurement

Aspects•Solicitations

•Contracts

•Vendor Governance

•Employee Guidance

Artifacts•Third Party Compliance Policies and Requirements

•ICT Procurement Contract Template

•ICT Procurement Policy

•Procurement Accessibility Email Address

Training

Aspects•Training•Certification•Job Aids•Internal Communication•Rollout Strategy

Artifacts•Accessibility Training Plan

•Internal Communication Plan

•Training Metrics and Trends

Get a DAMM Review

GRC Policy Legal Training Development FiscalSupport and Docs

Communi-cations

Procurement

Level 5 Optimizing                

Level 4 Quantitatively Managed                

Level 3 Defined                

Level 2 Managed                

Level 1 Initial

               

DAMM Review Process

• Preparation• On-site Activities• Preliminary Observations• Findings• Ratings• Final Reporting• Delivery• Follow-on Activities

DAMM – Next Steps

• CMM is a prototype• Should it be migrated to CMMI?

– Much more detailed

– Not specifically designed just for software, might be a better fit

Questions?

Thank You

Contact Us

Tim Springertim.springer@ssbbartgroup.com

Jason Megginsonjason.megginson@ssbbartgroup.com

Slide DeckInfo.ssbbartgroup.com/CSUN2015

Follow Us

@SSBBARTGroup

linkedin.com/company/SSB-BART-Group

facebook.com/SSBBARTGroup

SSBBARTGroup.com/blog

About SSB BART Group

• Unmatched Experience• Focus on Accessibility• Solutions That Manage Risk• Real-World Strategy• Organizational Strength and

Continuity• Dynamic, Forward-Thinking

Intelligence

• Fourteen hundred organizations (1445)

• Fifteen hundred individual accessibility best practices (1595)

• Twenty-two core technology platforms (22)

• Fifty-five thousand audits (55,930)

• One hundred fifty million accessibility violations (152,351,725)

• Three hundred sixty-six thousand human validated accessibility violations (366,096)

References

• SEI resource library, contains 3500 research and white papers http://resources.sei.cmu.edu/library/

• Location for new CMMI development http://cmmiinstitute.com

Appendix A

HR Dimensions

DAMM HR Overview

• P-CMM is the People Capability Maturity Model• Slightly different level names, but the same 5 levels• Two Dimensions related to accessibility

– Recruiting and Job Applications

– Reasonable Accommodations

• The two dimensions are dependent on each other– Reasonable Accommodations are required in the Recruiting

and Job Application process

DAMM-HR - Recruiting and Job Application

Aspects•Employee Recruiting Process•Job Application Process•Employee Onboarding Process

Artifacts•Job descriptions

•Completed job applications

•Job fair collateral

•Employment examinations

•Offer letters / "no thank you" letters

•Onboarding packets

Reasonable Accommodations

Aspects•RA Analysis Process•RA Issue Resolution•Accessible Documentation

Artifacts•RA Catalog

•503(b) filings

•VEVRAA filings

Maturity Level Content Breakdown

Aspects

Maturity Levels

Dimensions

Common Features

ProcessIndicate

Achieve

Address

Describe

Organized by

Contain

Contain

Goals

Infrastructure

Implementation