{"id":6694,"date":"2021-12-15T05:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=6694"},"modified":"2021-12-15T05:59:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T13:59:00","slug":"license-to-innovate-7-ways-salesforce-drives-ethics-and-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/au\/news\/stories\/license-to-innovate-7-ways-salesforce-drives-ethics-and-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"License to Innovate: 7 Ways Salesforce Drives Ethics and Accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Building ethically and inclusively<\/a> takes more than good intentions. It takes a solid plan, and the ambition to build a movement bigger than any one company. That\u2019s why at Salesforce, we\u2019re leading by example with a focus on intentional<\/em> innovation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By putting passion, planning, and powerful tools into every step of our design and management process, we show that ethics, inclusion, and accessibility deliver real-world value. For us, progress isn\u2019t just something to patent. Here are some of the ways we\u2019re working to build a brighter future:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scanning for unintended consequences and mitigating risk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We leverage diverse perspectives to think through complex issues and creatively problem-solve to mitigate ethical risks in our products. We use Build with Intention workshops, an expansion of an idea created by UK-based think tank Doteveryone<\/a>, to consider the unintended consequence of our technology and create action plans to add ethical guardrails in our software and services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Build with Intention workshops, we are able to intentionally take time to reflect on the positive and negative consequences of our work, and build features that better enable the safety and success of our customers and their customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This process can be helpful for anyone in the tech space. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve built a step-by-step guide to innovating thoughtfully, based on our experiences. You can find our toolkit with tips, resources, and practical insights here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embedding ethical features into products \u2014 by design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We strive to intentionally embed ethics into our products and services by design, empowering our engineering and product teams from the very outset to consider the impact of the technology they create. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through our Ethics by Design<\/a> work, we are helping teams innovate ethical pandemic-response technology<\/a>,  inform our teams\u2019 creation of trusted Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/a> products, guide Salesforce\u2019s efforts in ethical marketing personalization<\/a>, and emphasize a human-centric approach<\/a> to Customer Service \u2014 all of which empower our customers and users to use data and AI responsibly.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empowering teams with a robust process to build accessibility and inclusion into our culture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We aspire to use inclusive design<\/a> to break the cycle of exclusion, helping to create products, services, and experiences that users of all capabilities can access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure our products are accessible to all, our Accessibility Support Engineers are experts in accessible technology, including WCAG standards and Section 508<\/a>, and certified Salesforce Administrators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, to help others build more accessible products, we\u2019ve launched Sa11y<\/a>, our accessibility test automation framework. Sa11y is open-sourced, so all developers can take advantage of its features to promote accessibility in the tools they\u2019re creating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leveraging research and conversations across difference to implement guardrails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to building ethics and inclusion into our products, we seek to understand the direct impacts of our technologies in the world<\/a> \u2014 and prevent the misuse of our technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we can\u2019t always predict what will happen, or what unintended consequences will arise, we do have a robust and repeatable process to address concerns, which centers on active listening and engaging in difficult conversations<\/a>. We\u2019ve opened up various channels for listening to concerns, including an email alias, a Salesforce \u201cEthicspoint\u201d site, an internal Slack Channel, and open office hours for employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engaging diverse perspectives through our Ethical Use Advisory Council<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We also leverage an Ethical Use Advisory Council \u2014 made up of a diverse group of external experts, internal executives, and frontline employees \u2014 to receive critical feedback on our policy decisions from various points of view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Council meets regularly to have constructive conversations across the spectrum of human ability, experience, and perspective. Its guidance ensures that we address the impacts of modern technology collaboratively, consider a wide set of perspectives, and mitigate risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While getting input on our work from a variety of individuals can slow down the decision-making process, it ultimately results in better policies and features that our customers and their end users benefit from, such as prohibiting<\/a> the use of our AI products for facial recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n

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