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DIVERSITY, EQUITY INCLUSION AND ACCESSIBILITY:
DRIVING PROGRESS
BEYOND POLICIES
Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) are perennially important topics in the government that President Biden’s June executive order has elevated. Many state and local governments were leading the charge to equitably serve diverse communities, and the pandemic has amplified the need to evolve those efforts with urgency and intention. We’re spotlighting approaches and mindsets toward DEIA that can elevate this critical work happening nationwide.
King County, Washington, has a process and tool to “identify, evaluate, and communicate the potential impact — both positive and negative — of a policy or program on equity.” Chief Information Officer Tanya Hannah and her team use the county’s Equity Impact Review (EIR) Tool when evaluating all IT projects, regardless of size. A valuable lesson that Hannah has learned from conducting EIRs is that what’s perceived as modern and intuitive internally might not be viewed that way by the very people that tech solutions are meant to help. For example, the county’s process to modernize its property tax system includes a public-facing component online that allows seniors to see if they qualify for certain tax exemptions. As part of the EIR, Hannah’s team ran usability tests. They found that users generally wanted to know the qualifications upfront, rather than having to enter personal information to verify if they qualified.
MEASURE EQUITY ACROSS PROJECTS
→ How do people connect with your organization? → Who is not connecting with your organization but should be? → What’s available for your user base to access, and are they using those resources? → Are you providing the best delivery methods to reach your users, particularly underserved individuals and communities?
The technology didn’t impress users, so the county had to redesign it, she said. They wanted an experience they found easy to use and understand. Hannah shared questions to ask as you weigh equity across projects:
Innovations that Mattered in 2021
