HP Means High Performance for People with Disabilities

By Joan Leotta

HP's logo Technology to improve quality of life has long been central to the mission of the multi-faceted, multi-national Hewlett-Packard Company. HP's expertise and commitment to innovation characterizes every aspect of this high-technology firm. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California and with facilities in more than 170 countries, HP excels in setting up frameworks for success, both with its product line and with internal processes for customers and its approximately 156,000 employees worldwide. Through it all, HP works hard to make accessibility a reality.

Photo of Michael Takemura Recognizing the need to establish a centralized process for championing development of accessible technology, information and services, in 1999 the company organized all accessibility efforts into one office, located in Houston, Texas. Michael Takemura, a past board member of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) and other disability-related organizations, and an individual with lengthy experience in disability issues, was named director of HP's Accessibility Program Office.

Takemura's personal experience of living with a disability also helped him shape the program's success. "I've been using a wheelchair for over 25 years, since an auto accident at age 19," explains Takemura, "and while the generation before me was not very tech savvy, my generation and the ones who will follow me see technology as a way to improve health and daily living."

In many ways, HP demonstrates a commitment to creating a positive total customer experience. For example, the HP Web site features a page (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/prodserv/index.html) that lists accessibility information for all HP products and services. Another area of the site, (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/successstories.html) provides testimonials and case studies detailing customer successes with accessible HP products. A third site has best practices to help customers develop accessible web sites: (http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/webaccessibility)
Technology Vendor (HPATV) program
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/partnerships/hpatp.html

Takemura notes that although he heads the accessibility program, HP's empowered culture challenges each employee to be responsible for identifying, and initiating improvements and innovations. Over the years, says Takemura, individuals from senior management and at all levels of the company—including suppliers, contractors and line employees—have been responsible for improvements in the accessibility of HP products, web sites, and customer service.

Noting that HP has grown through various acquisitions, Takemura says, "HP today is a marriage of companies. We have blended the best practices and strategies of those companies for people with disabilities and age-related limitations, and their needs in terms of products, services and employment."

Spreading the word

"Every place we are," says Takemura, "we are a part of the culture in general, so the needs of our employees, as well as those in the general population who have disabilities or who are aging, need attention for access issues."

"One of the programs we are most proud of," states Takemura, "is Disability Mentoring Day" (DMD). During DMD, the company highlights the accomplishments of people with disabilities in HP locations throughout the world, bringing people with disabilities into their offices to showcase technologies that can enhance their career and personal development options.

Disability Mentoring Day has won praise from participants and community members alike. "I appreciate HP's accessibility efforts to make technology and information accessible to people with disabilities," stated a recent Disability Mentoring Day visitor who brought her son to an HP office. "I enjoyed the opportunity you and your team took to demonstrate the accessibility of your HP Tablet PC to my son, as well as the other assistive technologies that your partners have developed."

To Takemura, Disability Mentoring Day is a "learning time for HP employees as well as a time to open the minds of those being mentored to possibilities for themselves in the future."

Learning is a Two-Way Street

"We like to be involved with projects that have strong symbiotic relationships so that learning goes both ways," says Takemura. "It's good for us to make sure that our agenda for people with disabilities really does empower them—and to make sure that we are receiving the input we need to continually revise products and services designed to help customers with disabilities or with age-related limitations." Indeed, HP's openness to new ideas from customer groups, suppliers and anyone else with whom the firm does business is a hallmark of HP's accessibility success. "The more input and information we have flowing into us, the better our organization will be," Takemura states.

HP actively cultivates partnerships with organizations that work for improvements in the lives of people with disabilities or age-related limitations. The firm works closely with many national and local organizations, http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/accessibility/partnerships listed here, that serve the rights of people with disabilities, in order to ensure that products and services meet the concerns of these individuals.

Takemura describes how HP partners with third-party assistive technology (AT) companies that develop solutions that improve access to HP products for people with disabilities or users who have challenges due to aging. "We realize that we are always going to need third-party providers to make our products even more accessible," he explains. "For instance, you can build an accessible house—wide doors and elevators, but the person with a mobility disability is still going to need a wheelchair to navigate that house." This attitude typifies the firm's relationships with companies that manufacture devices for customization: open and receptive.

Measuring Success

The obvious measure of any business's success is its ability to increase revenue and market share and, if publicly held, to make money for shareholders. By that measure, HP's success has made it the world's largest technology vendor in terms of sales. HP was number one in revenue among firms in its sector, posting US $97.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ending April 30, 2007. Takemura notes that the company's financial success "enables us to be good global corporate citizens and to fund philanthropy efforts, including projects that help people with disabilities."

To gauge its Accessibility Program efforts, HP uses a number of measures. "One metric of success," Takemura explains, "is to look at the number and quality of Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates—also known as VPATs. We look at these to see how well our products conform to accessibility standards." As a second measure, HP counts the number of members in their Assistive Technology Vendor Program (HPATV). Extensive relationships with third-party vendors who partner with HP on accessibility solutions also mark the company's achievement in this area. Finally, the amount of requests for accessibility information (including VPATs) and the amount of revenue where accessibility has an impact signify accomplishment.

HP's web page (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/welcome.html) declares: "We apply new thinking and ideas to create more simple, valuable and trusted experiences with technology, continuously improving the way our customers live and work." The company establishes frameworks for success internally, and uses product development externally to allow its customers to achieve beyond what was previously imagined.

U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao presented the New Freedom Initiative Award to HP recognizing the company's workplace and employment practices as well as its products that are accessible to people with disabilities. The Secretary of Labor gives the award annually to individuals, non-profit organizations and corporations that further President George W. Bush's New Freedom Initiative by increasing employment opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities. Other winners whose products or services have an HP connection include the Microsoft Corporation and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, which is running a pilot program using technology, built on the HP iPAQ Pocket PC.

Looking to the Future

As the population ages, the number of people with disabilities will increase, feeding the market's need for accessible products. "Understanding how technology can be used to open new doors is the challenge for the future," says Takemura. "Making HP's products easier to access and simple to use for people with disabilities and older workers is our goal."

Because of this, the successful utilization of technology in everyone's daily lives is both the current philosophy and future goal of HP. As Takemura has stated on several occasions, "Accessibility is an evolutionary process – not a destination. As technology continues to rapidly change and impact every area of our lives, we need to ensure that every individual, with or without a disability can use that technology to improve how they work, communicate, shop, or spend leisure time." So, despite all its success and industry leadership, accessibility is still a process—and a journey—HP undertakes every day.

Edited by Mary-Louise Piner.