“There are over a billion people with disabilities in the world, and more than 80% of digital content is not accessible,” explains Marion Ranvier. This situation prevents many individuals with physical, auditory, visual, or cognitive disabilities from fully utilizing online services.
Founded in 2020, the Contentsquare Foundation operates on three pillars: education, research and innovation, and advocacy. The goal is to make digital accessibility a priority, especially in training for digital professions.
“We realized that students pursuing careers in digital fields are hardly ever made aware of digital accessibility,” emphasizes Marion Ranvier. To address this gap, the foundation offers a free two-hour e-learning awareness program to higher education institutions.
It also supports companies with tailored training and an immersive experience that simulates various disability situations. “We really put people in the shoes of someone with a disability, and we see that in our daily lives, we constantly encounter digital exclusion,” explains Marion Ranvier.
For the Contentsquare Foundation, accessibility must be integrated from the design phase of digital tools: “Our goal is to make content creators understand that digital accessibility is a topic that should be universal and should be created by design, right from the start of developing an application, service, or website,” concludes Marion Ranvier.
