How Can We Make Identity Accessible for Everyone?

Original Article

Wheelchair ramps, braille, text captions, large print books are all examples of accessibility in the real world. We use these as tools to help ensure everyone has equal access to places and resources. But what about the internet and technology? What tools exist in the digital world to ensure everyone has access to digital resources?

One of the opportunities we have through the internet and technology is a better chance at leveling the playing field for everyone and ensuring equal access to digital resources and experiences, especially for those experiencing disabilities.

The Complexity of Accessibility

Developers are already familiar with many of the complexities of identity and access management (IAM), but one often overlooked complexity is around accessibility. How do you ensure that the steps you’re taking to secure your customers and their accounts aren’t introducing unnecessary friction for some groups?

Here, we talk specifically about accessibility as it relates to Customer Identity and Access Management, but many of the same considerations also apply to Identity and Access Management as a whole…

The Cyber Hut Comment: When we think of IAM platforms, there is often an assumption that the “i” aspect will be homogeneous across the entire population. A generic “identity” - that is the same age, race, sex, location, has the same device, always takes the happy path, always behaves in the same rational way and so on. This makes product management and software design (and in turn testing) much easier. However as we know this is never the case.