New Center of Excellence for Accessibility to strengthen inclusion

Inclusion is and always has been core to who we are at ServiceNow. I’m excited to announce the creation of the Center of Excellence for Accessibility to help strengthen our commitment to inclusion—for our employees, our customers, and our end users.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 61 million Americans have a disability. That’s one in four adults. By equipping product teams with training, accessibility experts, and robust product testing, the Center of Excellence for Accessibility will help ensure ServiceNow products deliver an optimal experience for all users.

An inclusive work environment

The Center of Excellence for Accessibility is just as committed to employees as it is to customers and partners. The center will work with departments across the company to maintain an inclusive and accessible work environment for more than 16,000 ServiceNow employees.

The scope of work goes well beyond physical accessibility, such as accessible restrooms and wheelchair ramps. It will also focus on digital accessibility—making information and communication technologies accessible to everyone.

In 2021, for example, we overhauled the language in our products to make it more inclusive, replacing problematic words such as “master,” “slave,” “blacklist,” and “whitelist.” In addition, in our Rome release, we ensured our public and employee-facing products—such as our Customer Service Portal, Employee Center and Virtual Agent experiences—reached WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.

Diversity, inclusion, and belonging foster innovation and are a business imperative for the long-term success of our company and our customers. Accessible technology for all increases productivity, attracts a wider talent pool, and can play an important role in driving business growth.

An inclusive leader

That’s why I’m also excited to announce that we’ve chosen a seasoned accessibility veteran to lead the Center of Excellence for Accessibility. Eamon McErlean will serve as vice president and global head of accessibility. He’s an industry visionary, hailing from Nike and Apple. At Nike, he created and implemented digital accessibility initiatives to ensure accessibility in all of the company’s products.

“Accessibility needs to be at the forefront and core of every modern software experience,” he says. “Companies should think about accessibility in the same way they think about security or performance and make it a standard part of their overall product development processes.”

At ServiceNow, we make the world work better for everyone. The Center of Excellence for Accessibility is just one example how.

Find out more about our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging.