For my series of blogs on accessible communication and digital accessibility, I spoke to various professionals who are involved in one of these topics. This time you can read what I learned from Bianca Prins, who works as head of accessibility at ING.
Bianca started working on accessibility around 2010 when more was done with working with a disability, especially when the participation law was coming and many more people were helped to work from the Wajong. In 2012 she did research on the sustainable deployment of people with a disability. You can read more about it here.
Global head of accessibility
As Global Head of Accessibility at ING, she ensures that employees (with a disability) can do their work well. For example, by insisting that accessibility options are available. On the other hand, she advises and supervises projects in which new products and services are developed. In this way, she contributes to the accessibility of ING’s products and services. Such a project takes years. In 2017, they already started with a new card with a wavy notch so that people with a visual impairment can feel it. This makes it easier to find your debit card among all your other cards in your wallet. Also useful for people who can see well and can find their card quickly, because this card will be available to everyone, so that everyone has the same model of card.
Microsoft 365
“Did you know that Microsoft 365 also has a lot how to build telemarketing data of accessibility options?” Bianca tells me. They use this at work, but the accessibility options are not always enabled. If you know that Microsoft 365 has these options and you see that you can use them at work, you naturally click on them. Then you suddenly can’t use them and you have to ask for them anyway. By disabling these options, you do create an extra barrier. I recognize it, because I don’t always feel like asking for help either.
Accessibility is business
Bianca says that she finds accessibility important because it is simply part of your service. She says: “Accessibility is business”. If you want to reach your target group, make sure you can reach your entire target group. There have been studies that showed that accessible websites or accessible communication generated more turnover, sometimes as much 2024 mga nangungunang trabaho sa japan linggo as 30% more. And about 80% of visitors to a website that is not user-friendly disappear within the first minute, if not the first 10 seconds. It is important that people get started with accessibility when they want to and are motivated to do so. If it is only made mandatory, people do not really want to cooperate with accessibility.
International
Bianca thought she already knew a lot about accessibility until she came to America in 2017. They are often much further along there. The legislation is also very different in different countries. She sees that in America, England, Australia, but also in Spain, a lot has already been arranged in the field of accessibility. You can’t do everything the same here either, it also has to do with cultural differences.
In the EU, from 28 June 2025, there will be a complete list of unit phone numbers directives and legislation stating that products and services must be accessible. This will make it easier to start a business if a product or service is not accessible.
In America, there are even cases now because the metro network is not accessible, because not every metro station has an elevator. And that is not only important for wheelchair users, but also very convenient for people who are traveling with a stroller. We can also get these kinds of things in Europe in the future with the new regulations that are coming.
Future
Bianca hopes that in the future accessibility will become a real part of companies, just as some large American companies already have a head of accessibility or even an executive accessibility (or in English Head Accessibility or Chief Accessibility Officer).
Small tip
I ask every interview for a small, quick or easy tip that you can already think about accessibility. Bianca gives several tips:
- Use an easily readable font
- Use good contrasts
- Make sure your website is easy to use because the structure is logical and orderly
