How A&O Fund Provinces applied WCAG
Employees today want to be in charge of their own development. As an employer, shouldn't you then give everyone, including people with disabilities, the opportunity to learn independently? A&O-fonds Provincies sees up close that there is a great need for self-direction among employees within the provincial sector. That is why they use SkillsTown's online learning platform, which complies with the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).. This allows every employee to develop to their fullest potential.
We spoke to Marga Waldekker, program manager at A&O-fonds Provincies. She told us how important inclusiveness is for learning and development within the provincial sector.
"If you state in your collective bargaining agreement that employees have their own direction over their career development, then you must also be able to offer everyone the tools for this. After all, even people with disabilities want to be able to do everything independently."
- Marga Waldekker, program manager at A&O Fund for Provinces
Who is A&O Fund for the Provinces?
A&O-fonds Provincies focuses on the employees of all organizations within the provincial sector in the Netherlands. They ensure that all employees have the tools to work in a healthy, safe and enjoyable way. Marga shares, "Learning and development is an important part of this. We ensure that this is accessible and inclusive is for everyone within the provincial sector."
The importance of WCAG legislation
It is a legal requirement that government agencies make and keep their websites and apps accessible, or WCAG-proof. But really, every organization should embrace this legislation. "If you don't go along with this, you exclude some of your employees. Think of people with visual or hearing impairments," says Marga.
So if, like A&O Fund-Provincies, you place a high value on issues of diversity and inclusion, pay attention to your learning and development opportunities as well. "Practice what you preach," says Marga. "If you state in your collective bargaining agreement that employees have their own direction over their career development, then you must also be able to offer everyone the tools for this. After all, even people with disabilities want to be able to do everything independently."
Marga continues, "Within the provincial sector, we ensure digital accessibility, according to the WCAG. For example, our videos are always subtitled and our newsletters can be read by read-speakers. People in our sector are all self-employed. It is important that they do not have to depend on others to develop themselves alongside this."
Find collaborative partners who understand you
If you want to comply with WCAG, then you also have to consider this aspect when choosing your collaboration partners. "For organizations like us, it is important to have partners who are aware of the legislation. In fact, it is a must that our resources are WCAG compliant, even when it comes to learning and development. Not every collaboration partner understands that," shares Marga.
"WCAG is a very technical story. Your collaboration partners should have enough IT knowledge to support you and understand the importance of the regulations. That works much better than having to convince your partner every time. Take, for example, the AVG and the digital security requirements involved. There are specific requirements for your partners for this as well. Digital accessibility is just as important. The fact that SkillsTown has this knowledge and expertise is therefore the reason for our long-term cooperation."
With more than 500 products accessible to everyone, SkillsTown is putting itself on the Dutch map as the online training provider with the largest learning offering that is WCAG-proof. In doing so, we take into account the audience in the broadest sense of the word. Karin Bremer, Manager Product and lead of the content team, is justifiably proud of this achieved success. She tells you below how they handle WCAG guidelines within online courses.Are you at a loss as to what exactly WCAG means? Our Front End Web Developer, Martijn Halekor, is happy to explain it to you in detail. The importance of a good user experience "For us, the user experience is the most important (...)
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There is a great need for knowledge sharing
A&O Fund Provinces has now been in partnership with SkillsTown for 10 years (!!!!). They were one of the first within the sector to embrace online learning. "Meanwhile, almost every province has its own online academy and knowledge sharing between provinces has become very important. There is a great need to share knowledge with each other and to learn and develop together. For this, we deploy SkillsTown's online learning platform."
Marga continues, "Within the online learning platform, we have wide choice of e-learning modules that we can deploy. Furthermore, in collaboration with experts within the sector, we have created various training courses. An employee with complete hearing loss has also created a number of Essentials himself, which can also be followed by people with a hearing impairment," Marga enthuses. "I really like Create," says Marga about SkillsTown's authoring tool, which allows you to create your own training courses. "Through the learning platform, we can reach a large group of people at the same time with our knowledge and accessible trainings."
Also offer accessible development opportunities?
Do you think it is important to be WCAG compliant or would you just like to give all your employees the opportunity for development, regardless of limitations? Then SkillsTown is the right partner for you! With SkillsTown's online learning platform everyone can develop themselves through a wide range of online trainings. You can also easily create and share your own WCAG-proof trainings here.
Like A&O Fund Provinces getting started with online training in your organization?
Jerry or one of his colleagues will tell you all about the possibilities during a no-obligation demo.
