Squiz

Today is a very important day in the digital calendar. It's GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) Foundation. One billion people in the world live with a disability and yet not all websites are made to be accessible. This is a huge problem that we are trying to help address with our partners. On this day, ask yourself this question as a marketer, IT professional or digital leader... am I doing enough for my students and/or citizens? If this is a topic you'd like to discuss in more detail, please book in a call with me using the button on my profile. #globalaccessibilityawarenessday #accessibilitymatters #digitalaccessibility #digitalexperience #dxp

3 things I learnt when my leadership team flew in for 3 days of intense planning. Love the flexibility of our hybrid workplace at Squiz, with diverse teams working from wherever life leads them. BUT, last week I was reminded of how much f2f skyrockets a team's ability to get through difficult challenges. After reuniting over 2 years since our last f2f, the globally dispersed team was back in the flesh! With only 3 short days to finalize key FY25 decisions, what unfolded made for a fascinating observation. Here's what happened: 1. 😄 Day 1 - Stretching - Discussions went long, people had to go "out" before they could "come back in" on topics. It felt as though we needed room to breathe as a team and feel each other out in person. It was collegiate, fun and built on already-strong comradeship. 2. 😥 Day 2 - Jogging - We started to accelerate our decision making and got more breathless. We broke down the strategies with more rigorous debate. We'd had a good stretch on Day 1, got more comfortable with pushing each other's thought boundaries. Time was ticking and we needed to get past ideas and make tangible decisions. This forced the right kind of discussions with the appropriate amount of probing and pushing. We needed to be uncomfortable to challenge each other's perspectives. To make sure our rationales were sound. 3. 🏃♂️ 💨 Day 3 - Sprinting to the finish. After 2 short, yet intense days, we had to bring it all home. The team were exhausted, but had developed a short-hand. They understood each other's perspectives more clearly than 10 video calls could have achieved. It made decisions efficient and quick alignment possible. They left the tactful comments and polite deferment. They shifted to decisive points-of-view, and said the things that needed to be said without fear or favour. ______ When you put a team of leaders together in a pressure cooker environment, you quickly see whether they rise together or tip toe around each other to make things "non confrontational" and easy. Really privileged that this crew were clearly the former. What's been your observation of remote vs. f2f strategy sessions? Any observations? PS: Because I'm subtle...🏅 For avoidance of any doubt as to our end goal - Axe Throwing one night landed the plane. HIT OUR TARGETS, team! 🎯 ...Let's just say thank goodness it's an analogy. 🤣 The floor and walls got a bit more steel than expected! 😬 Glad I have these mani-AX on my side! They're the AXE-perts I need to get things done, Chop Chop! Sorry, not sorry... it had to be done. ;) Lorna Hegarty Leonie May Mary-Clare Russell Laura Scholey Andrew Byrne Connor Jones Go to battle with you ANY DAY (But I'll stand behind you thanks)! 😜

Exciting times continue at Squiz... We continue to grow across all our regions - #EMEA, #USA, #ANZ. Professional Services Sales & Marketing Product Engineering Migrations & Upgrades All current opportunities to join #TeamSquiz can be found on our careers page https://lnkd.in/gTN_5Y4u with more to come. Are you looking for a company that truly lives and breathes 'come as you are' for both our clients and our employees? A company where there are no passengers, each and every one was of us plays a part in our success. Interested?....Apply or reach out directly for a chat. #salesandmarketing #accountexecutive #migrations #qaengineer #deliverydirector #productmanager #digitalstrategy #linuxengineer #professionalservices #productengineering #dxp https://lnkd.in/dsjgnpjP (Our 2023 wrap up) #norecruitmentagenciespleasewegotthis

How is your organization managing the accessibility of your digital experiences❓ Allow us to go first... 1️⃣ From the get-go, content authors can check accessibility as they build with the Accessibility Auditor. Get real-time errors & warnings per component to fix issues on the fly. 2️⃣ Preview how your page looks to end-users, ensuring accessibility of the complete content. 3️⃣ Monitor your website as a whole with the Accessibility Auditor Dashboard. Analyze conformance against WCAG, explore top failures by criteria/technique, and drill into problematic documents. Any issues are highlighted and guidance is provided on how to fix these ⭐️ By embedding accessibility checks into every stage, from authoring to publishing to reporting, inclusivity is not an afterthought. Your turn! How are you managing accessibility in your organization❓ #GlobalAccessibilityAwarenessDay #Technology

Cannot wait to attend #LGPNNorth next week hosted by the brilliant Local Government Partnership Network (LGPN) The 5 talks I cannot wait for are: 1) AI Empowerment: Transforming Local Government in the Digital Era with Cliff Dean Timothy Spiers Madeline Hoskin and Daniel Dredge Tech IRRV 2) Empowering Communities: Technology for Public Good with Mark Lumley Samantha Smith Socitm and Beena Puri 3) Evolving Loval Government Through Diversity and Digital Inclusion with Cliff Dean Timothy Spiers Ade Marques, MA, MSP, Digital Transformation Expert and Kit Collingwood 4) Fireside Chat: Strategic Transformtion Unleashing Unity with Automation with Cliff Dean Stephen Lugg and Alison May And 5) Silicone Stoke: Pioneering Digital Innovation for a Future-Proof City with John Bowler It’s going to be a great couple of days

❓Did you know❓ Over 96% of the world’s top one million web pages are not accessible. Many orgs struggle to consider web accessibility from the get-go. It's often left as an afterthought and creates a whole host of issues. Enfield Council and Ulster University are dedicated to accessible experiences and have been showing us all how it's done! 🏆 Enfield Council were awarded the Shaw Trust Web Accessibility Accreditation for their website 🙌 🚀 Ulster University achieved an accessibility score of 99% 🤯 placing them 1st out of 30 institutions. Shoutout to both teams for leading the charge! This Thursday is #GlobalAccessibilityAwareness Day – what can your organization do to become more accessible❓ We hear advice from Lucy Morgan and Toby Margetts in this video 👇 #DigitalMarketing #Accessibility #Technology

⚡️ We're loving the journey of AI ⚡️ It's been incubating for years. Back in the early nineties, people were tinkering with chatbots, trying to make them work. But it was just the beginning. Then came platforms like ChatGBT, and BOOM! 💥 The democratization of AI began. Suddenly, anyone with internet access could explore and integrate AI applications into their own domains. And what happened next? It accelerated at an incredible speed! Now, AI is part of our everyday life. From writing articles to generating reports, we're using it constantly. It's become as common as scrolling through social media or sending a text message. 📱 Who would have thought we'd see such a transformation? It's not just about technology anymore; it's about how we live and interact with the world around us. And it's only going to continue to grow and evolve. So buckle up, folks! The AI Era is here, and it's changing everything! 🚀 📖 https://lnkd.in/dnVZew7J #DigitalMarketing #AI #DXP

An early 2023 Gartner study showed: 1️⃣ 70% of organizations were building awareness of AI 2️⃣ 15% were experimenting 3️⃣ 5% were taking applications forward At the end of 2023, Gartner ran a similar study and predicted... By 2026, 80% of organizations will have implemented AI. 🤯 5% in early 2023 to what is potentially 80% is a huge jump. So, how do you address some of the blockers that are preventing organizations from getting to the 80% ❓ Chris Howard and John-Paul Syriatowicz share their advice 👇 https://lnkd.in/gYh6EqXN #DigitalMarketing #AI #Technology

Improving web accessibility... you need three things 🎯 Advice from Neil Jarvis – Consultant at Intopia. 1️⃣ Automated tools. They're a must-have in anyone's toolkit. 2️⃣ Manual audits. These dig deep, picking up where automated tools leave off. 3️⃣ Usability testing by people with a range of disabilities or access requirements. Remember, it's not just about ticking boxes. It's about making your digital product accessible to everyone. Companies have definitely got better at building in accessibility from the start, but there's still a way to go. This Thursday is Global Accessibility Awareness Day – how are you making sure your products and services can be used by all❓ #GlobalAccessibilityAwarenessDay #DigitalMarketing #Technology

Wow – we are blown away by Ulster University's accessibility score! 🤯 The Silktide Accessibility Leaderboard has rated the university 1st out of 30 institutions 🏆 With a score of 99%, the university remains at the top since August 2023. In the words of Mark Kennedy – Web Development Manager at Ulster... 💬 Inclusive design is central to everything we do, guaranteeing a welcoming environment for everyone who visits us. 💬 ⭐ We love working with Ulster – congratulations to the team for this fantastic result. #DigitalMarketing #Accessibility #Technology