Accessibility in the Workplace: Embracing Assistive Tech
The above picture shows the hands of a person in a wheelchair on wheels moving down a hallway.
Accessibility in the Workplace: Embracing Assistive Tech
It is fair to say that huge strides have been made in the
last few decades towards making the world a more accessible place, although, of
course, there is still a long way to go. Assistive technology has been truly
revolutionary for a lot of people in both their personal and professional
lives. Accessibility in the workplace has seen massive improvements as of late,
and this is largely down to assistive tech; let’s take a look.
The Importance of Assistive Tech
To put it as simply as possible, assistive tech levels the
playing field. It allows employees with disabilities to gain and retain
employment by removing barriers in the workplace. It can also have
psychological benefits because they boost a person’s functioning and offer them
independence which in turn does wonders for their well-being. Employers today
have a duty of care to their employees, and they need to offer them support
across the board regardless of whether anyone in the workforce has disabilities
or not.
Employees with disabilities have always been at a
disadvantage compared to their able-bodied counterparts, and this continues to
hold true in today’s fast-paced professional environment. Assistive tech is
designed to reduce and remove these disadvantages by making the job role more
accessible and helping workers to perform their responsibilities. It has a
number of applications in the workforce and encompasses a lot of different
tools. It is an umbrella term that includes things like ergonomic office
design, accessible devices, and even speech recognition software. The
technology itself doesn’t have to be particularly high-tech; it can even
include things like Smallpdf’s PDF
compressor making it easier to share files and collaborate.
Who Benefits from Assistive Tech in the Workplace?
The short answer here is everyone. Obviously, the employees
themselves will benefit from the use of assistive technology – especially those
with disabilities. The tech is designed to make life easier and improve the
functional capabilities of whoever is using it. This could mean making the
workplace itself more accessible and easier to navigate or making their tasks
and responsibilities easier to carry out. In addition to making their job roles
easier, assistive tech also helps to safeguard their mental and physical health
too.
Assistive technology also benefits employers too. Having the
technology in place means that the business should be meeting the standards and
requirements set out by HSE – Health and Safety Executive. Employers are
legally obligated to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the needs of
all of their employees, and this will include providing access to assistive
technology. While assistive tech might constitute a bigger upfront expense, it
can save money in the long run by reducing the risk of injuries or sick leave
and compensation claims. As mentioned above, assistive technology also helps to
buoy productivity which is obviously hugely beneficial for employers too.
If you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, assistive
technologies obviously also benefit people living with disabilities
regardless of whether they use them in the workplace or not. Assistive
technology is key to supporting disabled workers. It is only in the last decade
or so that the majority of businesses have really decided to make a concerted
effort towards building more inclusive and accessible workplaces. This has
helped to encourage a lot more disabled people into employment which has also
helped to make a more positive shift in societal attitudes too. Your business
could also choose to turn this inclusivity mindset outward and consider how you
could make your products and services more accessible for disabled consumers.
The Advantages of Assistive Tech
While these points have largely been touched on above, it is
worth going into more detail on the advantages of assistive tech. Assistive
technology is designed
to support workers to get their jobs done as efficiently as possible. For
example, if you have an employee whose job role includes a lot of working on a
computer, but they have difficulty using a normal keyboard, then getting them a
keyboard that they are better able to use will dramatically improve their
output. Again, a lot of these technologies can benefit the workforce as a
whole. Think about speech-to-text; all employees could use this to dictate
emails and correspondence more quickly or while they are doing other things
like commuting.
Assistive technology doesn’t just help employees with
physical disabilities; they can be used for mental health support too. Workers
with mental health issues can have an equally tricky time integrating into the
workforce, and assistive technology can help them too. For example, employees
with anxiety, ADHD, or autism could use noise-cancelling headphones to reduce
the ambient noise of the office, allowing them to focus and concentrate on the
tasks in front of them. Supporting your workers’ mental health is key to taking
care of their well-being.
Encouraging Independence
As anyone with a disability can attest, the need for
independence is immense and assistive tech helps to provide people with some
independence by lessening their reliance on other people. It is not simply for
the workplace, after all; it often forms the basis of a lot of people with
disabilities lifestyles. In terms of work, there are a number of tasks that non-disabled
workers are likely to be able to carry out without any assistance, whereas
other workers will need a little help, and instead of having to be at the mercy
of another person assistive tech allows them to get to work. A need for
independence is a unifying human trait, and by providing the tools that an
employee needs to be independent, you are much more likely to see higher levels
of confidence, self-esteem and job satisfaction too. The work environment and
company culture as a whole also benefits from inclusivity and accessibility.
Diversity vs Inclusion
Assistive technology makes a business much more
inclusive and promotes diversity. Inclusion refers to the workplace
environment as a whole; an inclusive environment strives to make all employees
feel valued for their contribution. Respect and support are a given. It is
something that all employees deserve as opposed to the outdated mindset that it
should be earned. Diversity, conversely, is about the demographics within the
workforce and whether it is representative. It is worth pointing out that
inclusion and tolerance are not the same thing. Inclusion doesn’t simply mean
putting up with someone or something but genuinely appreciating them.
Assistive technology helps to promote diversity in the
workforce because businesses can open up their recruitment practices or even
embrace blind recruitment processes to hire based on merit and not be
dismissive or discount candidates with abilities, which, while illegal, does
still happen. Bias does still exist, although not as open, it is still
prevalent, and it is insidious. Having a good company culture is paramount to
improving staff retention rates, and a diverse and inclusive workforce goes a
long way in creating a positive company culture.
To Sum Up
Today’s workforce is more diverse than it has been in
decades gone by, but this doesn’t mean that there aren’t still barriers in
place which block the way for certain people. Removing those barriers is a
societal issue that everyone should work towards; the onerous shouldn’t always
be on disabled people. Whilst things are better than they were, embracing
assistive technology is key for businesses today, and there are a lot of ways
that a business can do this. Making a concerted effort benefits everyone, so
consider how accessible your business is and what more you can do.