Seeing the Light: Accounting for the Blind
http://uk.accomplishglobal.com/
By Jane O'Connor
Featured in 'INTHEBLACK' magazine, June 2009
Terry Bartlett from a small town on New Zealand's south island is an unusual business owner. Bartlett is blind, but rather than letting his disability pitch him into the common scenario of being either unemployed or underemployed, he has made it his mission to create a global network for not only the blind, but disabled people generally to find ways to start their own businesses and run them efficiently.
Until now, however, a major impediment, particularly for the vision-impaired, has been the availability of a business accounting system that provides all of the accurate, computer-based features that any business operator would regard as part of their "toolkit".
However, Bartlett mounted a search for such systems and when he found one, approached and worked with the software providers to help refine it for disabled users. The Australasian company responsible for the package, Accomplish Pty Ltd, was founded in Sydney 20 years ago by accountant Peter Busch and is now attracting global attention for being the world's first accounting software developed for the blind and for being endorsed by organisations that cater for those with vision impairment.
Bartlett's business, Corner Enterprises Ltd, started in the tiny rural town of Mosgiel and he set it up as "a corner shop" that offers a variety of services. He builds web pages and teaches touch typing, which extends to teaching people how to use the internet and other IT services. He also assists people with property management services and even arranges firewood and coal deliveries for the cold winters that are a feature of the region.
Now, Bartlett's diverse, small operation employs four other people. Through necessity, he has become an expert on accessible technology for the disabled and exchanges ideas and advice globally, particularly in relation to running a business.
Accomplish's general manager Grant Hewson says that when Bartlett started his business two years ago his biggest headache was finding accounting software that was simple to use but was also powerful enough to allow the business operator instant access to financial reports, budget updates and forward forecasts to help better manage everyday finances, as well as help guide business planning decisions.
"I didn't know how I was going to be able to write quotes or send out invoices, let alone handle money, reconcile bank accounts, keep track of GST and taxes and so on," Bartlett says. "I jumped on the internet and studied all the accounting packages available, every brand you can think of. But none of them actually worked OK with adaptive technology. Then I stumbled across Accomplish CashManager, downloaded a trial version and found that it did work OK."
Bartlett explains that blind people use screen-reading software that verbalises letters and numerals as they are typed and verbalises the position of the cursor in pull-down menus or in dialogue or command boxes. But, Bartlett decided the CashManager system, although immediately usable, needed some modifications. "At that stage it was not perfect - no software ever is," Bartlett says. So he contacted Accomplish with ideas for improving the software for blind users.
Bartlett flew to Auckland and worked with them. Hewson says the company's technical and programming teams in Australia and New Zealand took up the challenge of expanding on Bartlett's ideas. The CashManager system now works with the three major screen-reading packages available today - Freedom Scientific JAWS from the US, GW Micro Window-Eyes and, and Dolphin HAL from the UK.
Hewson says that what began as discussions with Bartlett as "just part of normal customer service", has turned into a remarkable global success story.
Accomplish serves around 25,000 small to medium-sized business enterprises throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK with accounting software designed specifically for the needs of business people who are not accounting or IT experts.
Its CashManager software is based on it being user-friendly and simple to operate. The company concentrated on a system that could unlock the power of accurate information, putting it readily at a business operator's fingertips. "This is extremely important in these recessionary times when many businesses are struggling," Hewson comments.
It is this ease of use and simplicity of operation that allowed Bartlett to create an efficient business system.
"Furthermore, the changes made to improve accessibility for blind users have also had the benefit of making CashManager even easier to use and understand for all our sighted customers as well. That's another big plus, particularly these days when so many accounting packages are just too difficult and time-consuming for lay people to use, even after long hours in training," Hewson says.
In December 2008 the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind (RNZFB) undertook a comprehensive audit of the new software, using both sighted and blind testers, before endorsing the product's accessibility for the blind and partially sighted. Bartlett has also become a vocal backer of a system that encourages any form of business or self-employment for the vision impaired and disabled.
While statistics vary in different countries, up to two-thirds of blind people are thought to be unemployed or under-employed.
Hewson says that it was only after talks with the RNZFB and other blind user groups around the world that the firm realised there was a global niche market for products that can work with adaptive technology.
He also urges other manufacturers and developers of all sorts of products and services to take into account the needs of the disabled in designing and refining their products.
"Chances are you will find all sorts of unexpected dividends from making that little extra effort," Hewson says.
For Bartlett, the thought of creating his own business was "quite scary, but also very exciting".
"I would like to encourage those of you who feel you aren't achieving as much as you would like to, to contact me as I would love to assist you in beginning something that will be highly fulfilling, wherever it may lead," Bartlett says.