A Letter from grace
Bookkeeping and Digital Accessibility
Recently, I was deeply impacted by a 10-minute presentation Narelle Gatti gave on digital accessibility at an online Bx networking event. This talk didn’t just touch me – it sparked a passion I didn’t realise I had.
My business has opened up the world for me – I spend 20+ hours each day lying down and through my business I’ve met many wonderful people, have created jobs for others and feel like I’m contributing to the world. It breaks my heart that software design, the colours we pick, or even poorly structured documents limit business owners from access to their own businesses! My mission is to help business owners understand their finances, whether they’re financially minded or not so I’ve always been about accessibility – I just hadn’t thought about it that way. My motto is “Know where you are and take charge of where you’re going.”
My Promise
I’m writing this as the start of a promise to make sure my business and our output is accessible to everyone – whether you use a screen reader, you’re not a numbers person and want your information presented graphically, or you want me to talk it through with you each month. I’ve set myself the goal of continuous improvement and I’m writing about it so that I can be held accountable.
I’m starting by fixing as much of my website as I can on my own and improving our internal templates. I’m going to keep going from there – getting the right help as I have the budget for it – and asking for feedback from anyone willing to assist. My vision is to be able to employ people with skills and knowledge and not exclude people because my systems don’t adapt to their needs.
I’m not a natural writer – in fact it’s the hardest part of my business – but I feel so strongly about this, writing came easily.
I’ve been asking and have heard that Xero works reasonably well with screen readers and keyboard navigation. What about the reports though? If they don’t work for you, I would be glad to create a template for your monthly reports, that does work for you. Whether that’s a one off project for you to use with your current bookkeeper or for my own clients. I just want to know that you have access to the information you need to run your business and make your decisions!
And to anyone reading this: if you know a BAS agent or bookkeeper facing accessibility challenges in their job hunt, please connect them with me. I don’t always have employment opportunities but if I don’t, maybe I can support them in building their own business? Who knows? I’d appreciate the connection anyway.
