I recently came across this dilemma and decided to do a bit of investigation on my own and in so doing I discovered that there is a definite gap when it comes to training and the trained. So what am I referring to today? Here it comes.
Companies are supposed to provide adequate training to their staff with regard to the services that they provide to all customers; but even more so to customers with special needs/requirements. Yes, training but after my informal investigation I have been left with the sad realization that even if this type of training is being fully provided, the trained still seem to be missing something.
Example: Front line service staff at accessibility or special needs departments still do not seem to fully comprehend how screen readers work, their purpose and use, and how customers who are blind or vision impaired use them.
Just imagine my horror when I had a phone conversation with a service rep at a said department with regard to my inability to use their audio captcha and this service rep told me that it all had to do with the inadequacy of my screen reader.
I went to great lengths to explain to them that when I was required to enter an audio captcha, I first had to listen to the audio and then enter it into the text field. I told them that my problem had to do with an audio that was extremely unclear and difficult to decipher and no way to enter what I heard because the text field was not clearly marked.
Just imagine my shock when I discovered that this lack of understanding and training was not just confined to said company. I then decided to conduct other types of inquiries and quickly realized that some staff at special needs departments did not even know that a blind person could not read printed matter, they were totally unaware of the existence of Braille, they had no clue when I started to discuss alternate formats, and on and on it went.
There is a definite gap here and several others also concur with me. Companies need to ensure that their training programs are on target, adequate, and include content that enables and allows their staff the ability to interact in a sensible manner with their customers.
Just my two cents for today.