Zendesk Accessibility Plan - 2024 Progress Report

<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Publication date: </strong>May 31, 2024</span></p><h3 class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify" id="h_01K81HY8NWHSWQ92JASDJYSWD5"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>General</strong></span></h3><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is pleased to present the Zendesk Accessibility Plan - 2024 Progress Report. Should you require an alternate format of the contents of this Progress Report or a description of our feedback process, you may submit your request by email to the Senior Manager of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at </span><a href="mailto:accessibility@zendesk.com"><span class="wysiwyg-underline">accessibility@zendesk.com</span></a><span style="color: #17494d;">. Zendesk will endeavor to respond to requests to make this Progress Report or a description of our feedback process available in print, large print, Braille, audio format, or an electronic format that is compatible with adaptive technology as soon as possible.</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">As outlined in the </span><a href="#h_01K81FCD1M08487GEWBEPSN4JZ"><span class="wysiwyg-underline">Feedback</span></a><span style="color: #17494d;"> section below, we have designated the following individuals to receive feedback on accessibility matters on behalf of Zendesk:</span></p><ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e39a9dd7cda6f2c2d8656d3782605cf92"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">General accessibility feedback and requests for alternate formats: Senior Manager of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ee735fa52229b2ef0e3f33eee258eba2a"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Product-related accessibility feedback: Senior Director of Product Accessibility</span></p></li>
</ul><h3 id="h_01K81FCD0CPZ95JZNVBZWPMM10"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Removal of barriers</strong></span></h3><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk has made progress in identifying barriers to accessibility, as further described below:</span></p><div><figure style="width: 100%;" class="wysiwyg-table"><table class="wysiwyg-table-resized">
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large"><strong>Area</strong></span></td>
<td style="text-align: justify;" colspan="2"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large"><strong>Progress Notes</strong></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FHRE6YRVP6JERMC39WZT8"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Employment</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e36e77c3cf121b1744ec22145257cc19d"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk has begun research and discovery of accessibility training to educate and enable hiring managers on employment accessibility.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e33942b89963f7f5426c57655d2b6a320"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is researching inclusive hiring practices, and is planning a Talent Acquisition assessment to review current practices and policies.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eb438adc3f29fec16342c76929eb8f447"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is approximately halfway through reviewing human resources policies , with an accessibility lens to ensure inclusivity.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e98fab31e4edcf5acc82a7f20edf6e4c2"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk continues to engage in ongoing consultation with Employee Community leaders to receive input into the development and implementation of employee accessibility standards.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e42a8998cbcd53e698fa1c86fa1ba73ee"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk continues partnerships with external organizations including DisabilityIn.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e3c48e11937e2fb01862458d9cc1a03eb"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk continues to engage in ongoing campaigns to increase awareness of accessibility features to enable employee productivity.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e6078f30dfffdc67cfea4dd703c3a8ca2"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk has an accommodations process whereby an employee who requires assistive technology to complete their jobs can request it, such as a screen reader or zooming tool. Wherever possible, the software will be pre-installed for their first day.</span><br> </p></li>
</ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines</strong></span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Overall, progress continues to be made in advancing accessibility in employment, with a focus on removing barriers, promoting inclusivity, and fostering equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in the workforce.</span><br> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified</strong></span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">None</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities</strong></span></p>
<ol>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ee7c762b959c2193ad8da4f34dc64a9ff"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Continuous Review and Enhancement</strong>: Regular review and enhancement of employment accessibility standards to ensure they remain effective and responsive to evolving needs and best practices.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="efc2926d59def6e3a65681065d452ca91"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Promotion of Inclusive Workplaces</strong>: Ongoing efforts to promote inclusive workplaces through awareness campaigns, education, and outreach activities aimed at fostering a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e44ac9d72b020d33eb301ab949a31d2fb"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Partnerships and Collaboration</strong>: Strengthening partnerships and collaboration with stakeholders, including employers, disability organizations, government agencies, and industry associations, to leverage expertise, resources, and collective efforts in advancing employment accessibility.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e94976982864aba9147b6c0e9a9554000"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Policy Advocacy and Leadership</strong>: Advocacy for policies and practices that promote employment equity, diversity, and inclusion, both within the federal government and across the private sector, to create more opportunities for persons with disabilities to fully participate in the workforce.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e7e16906c091c33e8568ebe85f48b30af">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>International Collaboration</strong>: Collaboration with international partners and organizations to share knowledge, exchange best practices, and learn from global efforts to advance employment accessibility and disability rights.</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</li>
</ol>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FHXGBM4YDSJHH6A9QQGPK"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Built Environment</span></h4></td>
<td style="text-align: justify;" colspan="2">
<p><span style="color: #17494d;">Please refer to the “</span><a href="#h_01K81FJFCKT57K62ND2VS510G4"><span class="wysiwyg-underline">Procurement of facilities and site selection</span></a><span style="color: #17494d;">” section below.</span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJ1YG4ZWED2AK84QPSDNC"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Design and delivery of products made available to customers (including external-facing information communication technologies)</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li data-list-item-id="e1d9ac1540f6d6516d84b86c14053d810"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">In 2024, we continued our 3rd-party compliance program and published updated Accessibility Compliance reports for our Login/Signup experience, and our mobile SDKs for iOS. These and other reports are available on our public </span><a href="https://www.zendesk.com/company/agreements-and-terms/accessibility/"><span class="wysiwyg-underline">Product Accessibility Statement</span></a><span style="color: #17494d;">. All audits were based on WCAG 2.1 AA, and we are expanding scope to  WCAG 2.2 AA in 2024.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e5b6356ce20bf0d21f945d2ad5be2557d"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Our teams made extensive progress remediating bugs identified in audits, including Agent Experience, the Guide Help Center and our end user messaging teams. Work continues in 2024, along with further refresh audits.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e9dae6ea1ef204a8851c6cd6b6d988160"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Our Product Dev organization invested heavily in automated testing for Accessibility, extending coverage to 8 new tech stacks meaning that all our end user and agent facing experiences now have improved QA. In addition to that we trained over 100 Zendeskers in manual testing best practices and extended our champion program to 50+ scrum teams.</span></p></li>
</ul>
<p><br> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e0ebf2daa973049121cfd10b733ab74e7"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk continued to release incremental Accessibility improvements to our end user, admin and agent facing products in 2023. Wherever possible these are documented in release notes and in subsequent updates to our Accessibility compliance reports.</span><br> </p></li></ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li data-list-item-id="e89309fc593459e41bb5191fabef82237"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk publishes </span><a href="https://www.zendesk.com/company/agreements-and-terms/accessibility/"><span class="wysiwyg-underline">Accessibility Compliance Reports</span></a><span style="color: #17494d;"> to inform customers and their employees on any  updated exceptions around  WCAG 2.1 AA compliance In 2023, we published updated audits for our Mobile SDKs (both iOS and Android) and for our login experience. Our audit program is ongoing and customers can expect both refreshes of previously published audits, as well as first audits for new product areas. </span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ec0fcf45b2647378612f95bd15a98cc8a"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">See below for more details on specific feedback that Zendesk has received, as well as actions we are taking to remediate.</span></p></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ea7ff09b84d42ceb96eb6028ca35a24de"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is fully committed to at minimum meeting WCAG 2.1 AA and exceeding it wherever possible to provide full usability for people with disabilities. All our activities are ongoing, and audits, remediation and quality improvements will continue in 2024.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eac68a4b2aa315186a6859aacfbe7891c">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">In 2024, we are reviewing the latest version of the industry standard, WCAG 2.2 AA and increasing our quality target to meet it. In the meantime, we have already extended the scope of all new audits to include all new WCAG 2.2 AA criteria. The results will be documented in future Accessibility Compliance Reports so customers can review our gaps and progress.</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJ6JHT9WB988DHGGEZKDQ"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Information and communication technologies (internal facing)</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e921dcf3742323aac1569063f28ff697a"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is establishing a core working group to identify and remediate barriers in information and communication technologies. The working group will improve how well new systems, including internally developed or externally procured hardware and software, meet modern accessibility standards and address accessibility barriers in legacy systems during maintenance, redevelopment, or renewal. Additionally, they will set up guidelines for posting accessible documents and media on the intranet and develop training and awareness sessions on Accessibility, Accommodations, and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) for employees.</span><br> </p></li></ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ed5767f26748c6ca07aa4b32a1919c022"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">The core working group will be established by Q3 2024.</span></p></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e78e2919a848aac32d5763902869ac78f"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">None identified</span></p></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e8425f1e7cc7cba59019cbd649278e5e7">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Establish an evaluation process that allows Zendesk to outline and measure success metrics.</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</li></ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJAAJACH2WZM1GKE64WKW"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Other communication</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ec730449e51fe12bf1e52145255eea59d"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk is establishing a core working group to enhance accessibility across our offline communications. This group will identify key content for adaptation, incorporate inclusive language and imagery, and promote accessibility leaders within our communications. Additionally, they will make recommendations for training on accessible communication best practices for employees and managers, ensuring these are integrated into all public-facing materials.</span></p></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="ef7b01893c745ec893bef14a1b3fc3fa6"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">The core working group will be established by Q3 2024.</span></p></li></ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><br><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e761852ddb8874355e4f25e3f61d46ae8"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">None identified</span></p></li></ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e9c48a140fdb33737e7fcf9dece51ab6d">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Establish and evaluation process that allows Zendesk to outline and measure success metrics</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</li></ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FHC19WHVHR4CAR9V1D48R"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Procurement of goods and services</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers: </strong>Incorporated evaluation of suppliers progress into QBR; Productive meetings with DisabilityIN and Allyant with resources to leverage</span><br> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines: </strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eefb37c068e6de7c05c7aaf24174652f4"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Supplier reference doc to be published Q2 2024 and incorporated into RFP in Q3 2024; incorporated into SIM onboarding during larger scale implementation Q1 2025</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e63c62e12672958d37ba534ccd3bd810d"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Outline process to onboard Allyant by end of 2024</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e7824d06ec3fdc2f72826567c44a1db39"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Complete training development and lead training by end of 2024 </span><br> </p></li>
</ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified: </strong>processes and language requirements from acquired entities are still under review<strong> </strong></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities: </strong>Redeploy SIM onboarding process and Supplier Portal with Coupa to streamline processes and communication with more accessibility features; share learnings with Suppliers</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJFCKT57K62ND2VS510G4"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Procurement of facilities and site selection</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers: </strong>Zendesk is continuing to track areas of improvement related to accessibility within our current global office footprint.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines </strong>The development of written guidelines around accessibility requirements for our leased premises which would include relevant accessibility awareness and best practices is still in progress. </span><br> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified </strong>None identified, but review and development of guidelines is still in progress. </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities </strong>Zendesk will continue to conduct periodic progress reviews against the plan, and will identify additional action items as needed.</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJKB7FY2J673N4YDAZ58B"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Design and delivery of programs and services</span></h4></td>
<td colspan="2">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Progress removing or preventing barriers</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e8ff7b1f951d397b45841633efc3a3615"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk has begun research and discovery of best practices for designing and delivering accessibility programs and services.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eaff6149f50bc24faead27da9afff625d"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk continues to engage in ongoing consultation with Employee Community leaders to receive input into the design and delivery of programs and services.</span></p></li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Updates to timelines</strong></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e9f34d8f15cfc660ce30786a3671ebc2b"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Progress continues to be made in advancing accessibility in the delivery of our programs and services, with a focus on identifying best practices, removing barriers, and promoting inclusivity in the workplace.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e0568eaaf56114d873162ecbc0ffa1150"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk will conduct focus groups consisting of persons with disabilities in core service teams in Q4 of 2024. </span><br> </p></li>
</ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>New barriers identified</strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eac3c558e09e5d4036cf7939d69ffc509"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">None identified</span><br> </p></li></ul>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Long-term plans or activities </strong></span></p>
<ul><li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="eb1923cb28dff79d69983e41611b6a51a">
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Establish a core-working group to periodically review the accessibility of Zendesk’s programs and services Coordinate with Employee Community leaders and our Internal Communications team to raise awareness on the importance of creating accessible programs and services among employee teams by developing options for operational employees to collect, respond to, and consider feedback from persons with disabilities.</span></p>
<p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"> </p>
</li></ul>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: justify;"><h4 id="h_01K81FJQ0DHQ5T0Y32WYECX7QY"><span style="color: #17494d;" class="wysiwyg-font-size-large">Transportation</span></h4></td>
<td style="text-align: justify;" colspan="2">
<p><span style="color: #17494d;">Zendesk does not offer transportation services and therefore has nothing to report under this heading.</span></p>
<p> </p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></figure></div><h3 id="h_01K81FCD1JFJND9A4V638Y0DG6"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Consultations</strong></span></h3><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Across all our accessibility efforts, Zendesk endeavors to consult with persons with disabilities during initial planning, as well as through the course of ongoing improvements when we strive to provide regular progress updates.</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">We continually gather requirements and collect feedback from all our employees and stakeholders. This includes employees with disabilities, such as those represented in our Whole Self Employee Community and Product Accessibility team.</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">During our product development process, we aim to involve persons with disabilities at multiple stages of our release cycle by:</span></p><ul>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e3a470042c35051ca09cbdda8115d2bb3"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Conducting internal testing with accessibility testing tools and assistive technology. Some of our employees are native users of these technologies.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e64451d9b57563f2fe2314ea4d3acfdcd"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Running third-party audits relative to the industry standard, WCAG 2.1 AA, with companies who employ many native users of assistive technology. This year we have upgraded our audits to WCAG 2.2 AA.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e36775bb8b1bab288c443b950e1b7e232"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Collecting customer feedback before release, during EAP/betas and after release via help tickets, our customer community and regular research sessions. Please see below for a summary of received feedback.</span></p></li>
</ul><h3 id="h_01K81FCD1M08487GEWBEPSN4JZ"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Feedback</strong></span></h3><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">All product feedback is first reviewed by our expert Product Accessibility team before being assigned to product teams with additional technical direction. We strive to prioritize user and customer feedback ahead of audit-driven enhancements and in 2023 introduced a tighter SLA for external feedback. Improvements are tracked by a coordinated quality program with regular reports provided to the highest levels of our product and engineering leadership.</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Examples of product feedback received in 2023 regarding our agent, admin and end user facing products include:</span></p><ol>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e13264c453d40308d353cc12151ad2e67"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Requests for improved keyboard support. In response, we are continuing to provide additional keyboard shortcuts as well as improved support for screen reader keyboard commands.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e55991ba6c1910559a644d89060f51a3e"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Asks for additional assistive text on images. These requests are first verified by Product Accessibility and then passed to our documentation team. Before release, like all product text, the assistive text is then localized into all target languages.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e5a698eff3fc808232eef50053701fb78"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Issues around certain interface components not responding correctly to standard screen reader commands. In these cases, the solution typically involves the correct application of the ARIA industry standard.</span></p></li>
<li class="ck-list-marker-color" data-list-item-id="e9fd23d0adec1702eae553297f14755d9"><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Areas where we can improve color contrast, both for text, for focus highlights and for interface controls. These are handled by our Design System team who are systematically upgrading our color contrast levels throughout our core component library.</span></p></li>
</ol><h3 id="h_01K81FCD1N31R70Q9GV9T1G4Q3"><span style="color: #17494d;"><strong>Contact information</strong></span></h3><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">To the attention of: Senior Manager of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (for general feedback) or Senior Director of Product Accessibility (for product-related feedback)</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Email address: accessibility@zendesk.com</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Mailing address: 181 Fremont St. San Francisco, CA 94105</span></p><p class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify"><span style="color: #17494d;">Phone number: 1 (888) 670-4887</span></p>