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Country

Israel

Import/Export

Export

Topic

Zero Project 2021/2022

Transfer Model

Status

Access Israel, a leading NGO, trains people with different disabilities to act as ‘mystery customers’ to covertly assess the level of accessibility and usability of services. Businesses pay for the service to improve their services, and many use it regularly. By 2021 testing teams had completed more than 300 assessments.

Solution

Many services in Israel are not fully accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities (PWD) despite being compliant with local laws.

Access Israel trains persons with disabilities to test and evaluate how usable and accessible services are by conducting undercover accessibility audits. The process of using undercover customers is also known as ‘covert customer control’ or ‘mystery shopping’. An individual who behaves like a regular customer assesses the business services by using a pre-determined script to check various parameters of its accessibility and usability. 

For example, to assess a supermarket Access Israel prepares various scenarios and puts together a cross- disability team comprised of one person who is blind, one with a hearing disability, another who uses a wheelchair, and someone with a hidden disability. The team tests the accessibility of various features in the supermarket, such as ordering, shopping, customer service, online shopping, and mobile application. The information is then recorded and compiled in an evaluation report that includes recommendations for improvement. 

Over a period of three years Access Israel has conducted more than 300 evaluations, including companies that test their accessibility every year.

Impact

To date, Access Israel has been working with over 20 large scale organizations in Israel, across various industries, to make their user experience more inclusive. 

Over a period of three years Access Israel has conducted more than 300 evaluations, including companies that test their accessibility every year.

From the changes they recommended, on average 80% have already been implemented. 

Goals

Access Israel aims to support more organizations to improve the accessibility of their user experience. In Israel in particular, they are interested to tap into new industries such as Retail, E-commerce, Governmental Organizations.

They are also looking locally at including people with cognitive and communication disabilities into their mystery customers team.

Internationally, they are looking to replicate their model by training 10 accessibility promoting organizations in other parts of the world.

Needs

They are looking to connect with potential partners around the world who would be interested in leveraging this knowledge to enhance the accessibility of the user experience of various sectors. 

 

Transfer Model

Through a train the trainer model, Access Israel is looking to share their mystery customer methodology and knowledge to organizations such as:

  • Accessibility promoting organizations
  • Marketing and CSR departments
  • Chambers of Commerce 

 

 

Further Info

Contact person: Lilach Segal, MC@aisrael.org

Website: www.aisrael.org/eng

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