Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility at TTS

At TTS, our mission is to design and deliver a digital government with and for the American public.

To ensure that the products we build and services we offer truly serve everyone, we center our work on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (also known as DEIA).

In particular, we align our efforts with recent Executive Orders on , external,DEIA in the federal workforce and , external,advancing racial equity through government services.

Our approach to DEIA

We believe that diversity is vital to a successful organization and that we must reflect the diversity of the public we serve. We also believe in transforming our strategies to meaningful action and have outlined our DEIA initiatives here.

Diversity

Our definition: Diversity is the presence of different identities, perspectives, and experiences. Does our team reflect the diversity of our country?

Our efforts:

• Internally publishing , external,TTS-only, demographic data on a quarterly basis. For those outside of TTS, , external,FedScope is the most detailed public-facing website for federal employee demographic data.
• Partnering with organizations that focus on recruitment and hiring for underrepresented groups.
• Supporting all employees to join an affinity group and/or create new groups. Our affinity groups are spaces where employees of similar identities come together in community.
• Coordinating with GSA’s Senior Advisor for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility who provides oversight and professional advice to TTS leadership, guilds and affinity groups.
• Investing in DEIA with dedicated funding and support for employees who work on DEIA-focused internal projects. In FY23, there will be a $500,000 DEIA budget.

Equity

Our definition: Equity implores us to examine the impacts of the structures and systems that govern our policies, processes, and decision-making. Are outcomes and opportunities different, depending on someone’s identities?

Our efforts:

• Holding quarterly feedback sessions between affinity groups and the TTS Executive Director.
• Providing unconscious bias training to all new employees during onboarding.
• Leading regular information sessions for candidates that focus on demystifying the federal hiring process.
• Reviewing interview guides for bias.
• Training hiring managers and interviewers on how to identify and reduce bias.
• Sending interview questions to candidates ahead of time.

Inclusion

Our definition: Inclusion and belonging focus on our workplace environment. Do our colleagues feel included, valued, welcomed, and respected?

Our efforts:

• Conducting an annual Inclusion and Belonging Survey.
• Delivering a DEIA onboarding class to all new employees.
• Writing content and building products externally which follow , external,inclusive language principles.
• Maintaining an Inclusion Bot that nudges Slack users about exclusionary language and hurtful phrases.
• Maintaining a list of inclusive behaviors and a list of resources to help our employees understand and advance DEIA through their work.

Accessibility

Our definition: Accessibility focuses on access to tools and capabilities that foster equal and full participation. Does everyone in our organization have what they need to fully engage? Can everyone in the public use the products and services we deliver?

Our examples:

• Training for best practices and manual testing, along with developing and procuring accessible software, supporting the , external,Section 508 team and their responsibilities.
• Maintaining an , external,Accessibility for Teams guide, equipping people across disciplines with the skills needed to successfully run an accessibility audit.
• Sharing our learnings by publishing , external,writing guides, , external,holding talks, , external,writing blogs, and speaking at conferences.
• Ensuring our products and services satisfy all the , external,Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA. We offer a , external,checklist to make sure we’re meeting all the guidelines.
• Promoting inclusive design by including people of all abilities in user experience testing. This means adopting a “Solve for one, extend to many” methodology.
• Ensuring all new supervisors meet with our GSA reasonable accommodation coordinator.

How we learn

As an organization, TTS is committed to learning from its DEIA efforts. We strive to collect and publish data, and use these results to reflect honestly and critically about our progress. We have a number of channels through which we regularly collect feedback from employees.

• The Inclusion and Belonging Survey: In 2019, the Diversity Guild released the first-ever TTS Inclusion and Belonging survey as a benchmark for measuring how TTS is doing in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The responses inform the work of the Diversity Guild, both in guiding TTS-wide action items and in planning weekly Guild Office Hours. View results from , external,TTS-only, 2019, , external,TTS-only, 2020, and , external,TTS-only, 2021.
• Affinity Groups Listening Tour: We work with TTS affinity groups to understand colleagues’ unique experiences, perspectives, expertise, and needs, and advocate for visibility, sponsorship, and accountability with leaders across our organization. The TTS Executive Director and the Diversity Guild Co-Leads hold quarterly listening sessions with each Affinity Group. Guild Co-Leads work with senior leadership, Talent, our People Ops team, and other internal partners to map feedback into meaningful action.
• , external,Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey: The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sends an annual, quantitative survey to federal employees across the government.

DEIA Guilds

TTS has two Guilds that support our DEIA efforts: Diversity Guild and Accessibility Guild.

Diversity Guild

Founded in 2014, the Diversity Guild advances TTS’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Its purpose is to help make TTS a great place to work for people of all backgrounds.

Getting involved

There are a number of ways you can get involved or support the Guild’s grassroots DEIA efforts.

1. Attend Guild programming: The Diversity Guild Co-Leads host weekly sessions (“Office Hours) focused on a variety of DEIA topics. Office Hours are held every Friday at 12:30-1pm EST. The meetings show up on the , external,TTS Working Groups and Guilds Calendar. If you would like to be added to the invites directly, message one of the Diversity Guild Co-Leads.
2. Join the (Slack) conversation. TTSers regularly share articles, ask questions, and celebrate milestones via the , external,TTS-only, #g-diversity Slack channel. To promote a healthy and respectful environment, there are , external,TTS-only, special guidelines for #g-diversity.
3. Reach out with questions: the Diversity Guild Co-Leads are available to chat with you.
4. Become a DEI representative (Rep): These are volunteers across TTS that help teams create a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and welcoming TTS. While everyone on a team has a responsibility to advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, the DEI rep role is to make sure that DEI concerns are always on the table for their team. And, they use their team-specific knowledge to inform Guild efforts and initiatives which are typically focused organization-wide. TTS staff can become DEI reps by reaching out to their team lead, current DEIA rep, or the Diversity Guild leads. For more information, see the , external,TTS-only, DEIA rep internal listing.

Accessibility Guild

Our Accessibility Guild aims to empower TTS staff to center accessibility in their work. In particular, this guild’s mission is to help TTS procure and develop accessible products to provide an excellent user experience for everyone. This includes thinking about accessibility in every step of a project: vendor management and procurement, inclusive usability testing, universal design principles in visual design and prototypes and software engineering best practices. The guild provides training and awareness to make accessibility everyone’s responsibility.

For more information, see the Accessibility Handbook page, , external,Accessibility Guide, or join the , external,TTS-only, #g-accessibility Slack channel.

Affinity Groups

Affinity groups are spaces where employees of similar identities can talk freely amongst themselves. Depending on the group, it may be open or invite-only. Visit the affinity groups, working groups, guilds, and other communities Handbook page for more information.