What is Inclusivity? + Difference from Inclusion

We believe embracing inclusivity for individuals with disabilities across physical and digital spaces is one of the noblest acts we can do. Ensuring complete and equal participation across both online and offline environments allows people of all backgrounds and abilities to participate and ultimately become more productive members of society.

Keep reading to learn more about inclusivity and how it differs from inclusion/inclusiveness. This includes a brief overview of all three concepts; they explain why they are essential in today’s accessibility environment, their benefits, and how you can apply simple, practical steps toward full inclusion by focusing on physical and digital accessibility.

Although inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness sound remarkably similar, each has its definitions regarding physical and digital accessibility. To better understand the nuances between inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness, let’s go over each of their definitions below:

What is Inclusivity?

Inclusivity means designing products and services that are compatible with the able-bodied and individuals with disabilities. It does not consider ability or background.

Nowadays, inclusive physical spaces, websites, and mobile applications must be fully equipped to adapt to individuals with disabilities with features like Braille digital displays, widened entryways for commercial centers, designated parking spaces, adjustable height seating for mobility-impaired employees, and much more.

What is Inclusion?

Inclusion refers to the social aspect, allowing all individuals with disabilities to feel welcomed and respected, regardless of whether or not they are in a bus depot, bank ATM, banking mobile application, or your average Joe eCommerce website with three products in it.

One of the best ways to describe inclusion is by using the example of an auto parts company hiring individuals with disabilities to form its core parts delivery team. As you can see, inclusivity would imply that its website meets WCAG standards, whereas inclusion focuses on embracing the skills, abilities, and input of individuals with disabilities.

What is Inclusiveness?

As opposed to inclusivity and inclusion, inclusiveness is a far broader and far-reaching term, going a step further in actively engaging with (and not only providing opportunities for) individuals with disabilities.

The idea is that individuals with disabilities (e.g., cognitive, visual, mobility, and hard of hearing) can participate in any decision-making process related to accessibility and accessibility improvements. 

Similarities/Differences between Inclusivity, Inclusion, and Inclusiveness

Here are the similarities/differences between inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness:

Similarities

Two similarities between inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness are its goals, promise to celebrate cultural differences, and a strong focus on equity and fair treatment.

All three concepts have a single goal: promoting inclusivity for individuals with disabilities, regardless of their abilities or background. All three concepts work to ensure equity and inclusion for all individuals, irrespective of their ability.

Secondly, all three concepts seek to promote diversity and treat everybody equally, ensuring that individuals with disabilities have the resources to navigate physical and digital spaces following accessibility plans and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, web content accessibility guidelines, and much more.

Differences

One key difference between inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness is its scope and application. Inclusivity is a more abstract term that seeks to include individuals with disabilities. In contrast, inclusion focuses on actions and specific steps to increase compliance, e.g., making your website compatible with screen readers.

Lastly, inclusiveness should focus on the actual outcome. For example, if a recent physical facility upgrade increased foot traffic for users who used wheelchairs, you can argue that the project was excellent at inclusiveness.

Another area where inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness differ from actual focus areas is that inclusivity has much to do with culture and personal identity. Advocacy groups, Disability Pride Month organizers, or anyone’s primary focus is creating a welcoming environment for individuals with disabilities.

In turn, inclusion is all about practical implementation. For example, focus areas could lock in on increasing accessibility at bus shelters with Braille signage for the visually impaired or whitened entryways. They could also extend employment with inclusive hiring practices and notifications to improve comfort, e.g., adjustable desks.

Regarding focus areas for inclusiveness, it’s all about outcome measurement. Inclusiveness involves conducting surveys and compiling results from focus groups. Other types of feedback are provided as part of accessibility audits and plans.

Lastly, a third area where inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness differ is measurement and evaluation. Inclusivity is an abstract term that describes acceptance and cultural attitudes, with feedback more extensively collected through surveys. In contrast, inclusion uses quantifiable metrics (no wonder, as it’s all about execution!). Inclusiveness follows a more evaluative approach that relies on assessment tools to determine if accessibility plans are correctly implemented.

Benefits of Inclusivity and Inclusion

Inclusivity and inclusion only serve to expand market reach and build advocacy and loyalty among individuals with disabilities. Naturally, these can boost the bottom line, increasing traffic, scholastic achievement, revenue, and more.

Here are some benefits of inclusivity and inclusion in three key areas: businesses, individuals, and society at large.

Businesses

One of the benefits of inclusivity and inclusion in businesses is improved market reach. Companies have done this by connecting with diverse audiences. One trademark example is Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign, which allows undersized and oversized women to participate in a broad branding effort.

Another example is with Nike’s “Dream Crazy” campaign. In collaboration with ex-San Francisco quarterback ex-quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the idea of this campaign was to support social justice initiatives. At first, Nike saw heavy backlash before eventually observing spikes in sales, brand loyalty, and other metrics that indicate a successful campaign.

Another area where businesses can benefit from inclusivity and inclusion is problem-solving. The workforce can improve upon existing products and services by opening up to diverse perspectives. For example, one organization looking to do this is IBM, with its diversity and inclusion initiative, which seeks to build a diverse workforce inclusive of individuals with disabilities.

Other examples of inclusivity and inclusion can even extend to product development. Another Microsoft example is the Xbox Adaptive Controller, which was built with individuals with disabilities in mind.

Lastly, remember employee satisfaction and retention. Roughly 15% of the world suffers from a partial or total disability, so focusing on inclusivity only increases employee opportunities.

Individuals

Promoting inclusion and inclusivity among individuals offers vital benefits: increased opportunities, fairer treatment, and improved personal growth.

Plus, inclusivity allows you to advance in your career. It also offers individuals with disabilities a greater likelihood of enjoying higher job satisfaction, promotions, and resources. We constantly hear of new opportunities granted to underrepresented audiences in the news cycle.

One classic example was Yahoo’s appointment of Marissa Mayer as CEO. At that time, there were questions over gender and background, which ultimately took a back seat to fair, inclusive practices that sought to promote this individual to the authority status of one of America’s most iconic internet companies.

How Does (EEOC) v. Abercrombie & Fitch Apply?

One famous case that advocates for inclusivity and fair treatment is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v. Abercrombie & Fitch. In this 2015 case, Muslim woman Samantha Elauf’s father sued Abercrombie & Fitch for its strict dress code policy, which banned wearing religious garb, citing a lack of religious accommodation (a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964).

After extensive court proceedings, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of Abercrombie & Fitch. After a successful appeal, the case was brought to the United States Supreme Court, which oversaw the opposite ruling (in favor of the EEOC), citing a violation of Title VII.

Ultimately, Abercrombie & Fitch paid Elaf $25,670 in damages and $18,983 in court fees.

One of the main reasons this case was so important is that it reinforced the message of non-discrimination in the workplace. It also forced employers to implement preventive measures to ensure discrimination against highly religious observant employees does not occur in the future.

All the cases apply model employment rather than web accessibility; note that non-discrimination is also a key asset of web accessibility.

What About Other Cases?

Other cases have showcased the importance of inclusivity and inclusion in recent years.

Another notable one is Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza, LLC, in which blind plaintiff Guillermo Robles sued Domino’s Pizza for having an inaccessible website and mobile app incompatible with screen readers. The actual settlement was never publicly disclosed.

A third iconic example is the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) versus Target. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the NFB claimed that its website was not accessible to blind users with missing accessibility features like alternative text for images.

Unlike the Robles case, the National Federation of the Blind won the case and settled for 6M dollars.

In short, not adhering to accessibility guidelines and other measures can result in plenty of legal lawsuits, making inclusivity and inclusion all the more worthwhile.

Society

If a society is based on inclusivity and inclusion principles, you can expect several benefits, such as broken barriers and equality between the non-disabled and individuals with disabilities. This means even having equal access to physical spaces and social services so that there is a significant disparity in income and opportunity.

Over the past decade, social media has been one of society’s best ways to learn about inclusivity and inclusion. In addition, there’s no shortage of educational platforms that allow individuals with disabilities to connect with a larger community.

Practical Steps for Implementation

Promoting inclusivity and inclusion extends directly to physical spaces and digital (websites and mobile applications) environments.

Three ways to do this include Implementing web accessibility standards. Designing for inclusivity. Directly engaging users with disabilities to gather feedback and roll out accessibility features.

Let’s go over in-depth on each of these steps for implementation:

Implementing Web & Physical Accessibility Standards

Arguably, the most important practical step for implementation is ensuring web accessibility standards. To do this, refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which offers a series of best practices on actual website features to implement that will significantly assist the visually impaired, mobility impaired, cognitively impaired, and hard-of-hearing.

These features include but are not limited to, larger fonts or more extensive text, additional reading lines, and increased contrast between text and background colors.

On top of that, physical spaces must also ensure ADA compliance, complete with regular ongoing inspections. This also means designing inclusive physical spaces with upgrades like accessible entrances, accessible restrooms, and clear, easily readable signage for the visually impaired.

Remember, increasing compliance can help prevent potential lawsuits. Let’s not forget the NFB v. Target Corp. (2006) case, in which the southern district of New York ruled in favor of the NFB because Target’s website was not fully accessible to Blind users, a clear violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Another way to implement web accessibility standards is via manual or automated accessibility audits. Automated accessibility audits use tools like WAVE and Axe to scan websites and identify accessibility errors with suggested changes quickly. Remember, accessibility audits can also extend to websites, e.g., PDFs and many electronic documents.

Designing for Inclusivity

Another critical practical step for implementation is designing for inclusivity. Designing for inclusivity means using clear and concise language and making media more understandable to all users, regardless of cognitive abilities.

One of the best examples of designing for inclusivity can be explained through the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) v. Amazon (2006) case, which brought the national spotlight to web accessibility for screen readers and the potential impact thereof.

A third means of designing for inclusivity is by providing text alternatives. Offline, many reputable websites (e.g., CNN and BBC) deliver accurate alternative text for images across their websites and mobile applications.

Engaging Users with Disabilities

A third practical implementation step for inclusivity inclusion is to engage individuals with disabilities in gathering feedback to create or improve existing accessibility features.

One trademark example of how users can contribute towards accessibility improvements is via Apple’s iOS, which provides several accessibility tools like VoiceOver, Magnifier, and Color Filters, all to customize the navigation experience for individual disabilities.

One excellent example of successful engagement of users with disabilities belongs to Microsoft’s Ability Hiring Program, which works to recruit and hire more individuals with disabilities into Microsoft’s workforce with targeted initiatives, e.g., working alongside advocacy groups and providing reasonable accommodations while interviewing.

In short, understanding the differences between inclusivity, inclusion, and inclusiveness will go a long way towards helping you know all three are essential in building an advocacy culture that celebrates differences between the Able Body and individuals with disabilities. By recognizing these concepts, individuals, small businesses, and organizations can focus on creating a more balanced society where the promises are fulfilled and equal participation for individuals with disabilities will always be the goal.

How Can Accessibly Help with Inclusivity and Inclusion?

When it comes to accessible or inclusive web design, one of the quickest ways to celebrate is by considering one of the leading accessibility plugins for websites, Accessibly.

Accessibly is an accessibility overlay widget that allows users to customize websites and mobile applications with additional options and tools for individuals with disabilities. 

Features include, but are not limited to, text size adjustment, colored filters, text-to-speech functionality, audio captioning, and keyboard navigation. This allows users to navigate easily through helpful focus indicators and the ability to skip nonessential content/skip directly to key website pages.

Plus, anyone can use Accessibly, which can be installed on any website using custom HTML code. As of this writing, Accessibly also enjoys native integrations with four platforms: Shopify, WordPress, Elementor, and WooCommerce, as well as seamless integration with site builders like PrestaShop, HubSpot, Umbraco, SpaceCraft, Tilda, Dreamweaver, and CMS Max.

Note that Accessibly does not automatically guarantee compliance. However, it is said to help increase ADA and WCAG compliance for a more inclusive web design.

All users can also benefit from a free 7-day trial with access to all of Accessibly’s features. Monthly pricing is reasonable, starting at $20 monthly (Shopify) and $25 on all other platforms.

Get started on the road to inclusion and inclusivity today by downloading Accessibly. It only takes a minute!