Workplace Accessibility

Workplace accessibility ensures that equal opportunities are provided for all in the workplace, increases productivity and maximizes employee talent while minimizing legal risk and exposure.

Accessible workplaces help businesses:

• Increase productivity among workers with disabilities
• Utilize the talent pool of job candidates with disabilities
• Cultivate an inclusive workplace culture
• Improve/expand customer base to include people with disabilities by eliminating barriers that may prevent or deter them from accessing services/ products

Understanding Accessibility

A broad range of disabilities are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its amendments. As an outgrowth of this, workplace accessibility also includes a wide range of contexts, including physical, technological, electronic, information, and attitudinal access.

Physical Accessibility

Under the ADA, it is an employer's obligation to provide access to the:

• Building
• Work Site
• Needed Equipment
• All facilities used by employees

Areas in which accessibility must be provided may include, but are not limited to:

• Parking lots (handicapped parking spaces)
• Entrances/exits
• Fire alarms/emergency exits
• Conference rooms and shared work space
• Desks and personal work space
• Hallways and stairwells
• Elevators
• Restrooms
• Cafeterias

Resources:

• The ADA Accessibility Guidelines Homepage offers comprehensive information regarding the requirements for physical accessibility set forth by the ADA.
• The ADA Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities provides building guidelines covered in the American with Disabilities Act.
• Section 508 Guidelines require federal agencies to adhere to accessibility standards to provide individuals with disabilities the same access and use of information as individuals without disabilities.

Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility

Inaccessible electronic and information technology (IT) often present significant barriers to people with disabilities in the workplace. The costs associated with making electronic and information technology accessible do not have to be high. Areas in which to address accessibility include:

• Web-based intranet and internet information and applications
• Email and other electronic correspondence
• Software applications and operating systems
• Telecommunications products
• Video and multimedia products
• Desktop and portable computers
• Self-contained, closed products such as calculators, copy machines, and printers
• Online job applications

Resources:

• The Web Accessibility Initiative promotes the design and creation of websites that are accessible to people with disabilities.
• WebAIM provides resources to help readers understand how people with disabilities use the web, the frustrations they feel when they cannot access the web, and what organizations can do to make their sites more accessible.
• The Access Board provides an extensive list of resources for accessible communication and information technology.
• Digital Accessibility in the Workplace provides a collection of resources on how the workplace can be set up to be accessible for people with disabilities.

Attitudes and Accessibility

Misconceptions that employees may have about disabilities can be the most significant employment barrier that people with disabilities face. Possible attitudinal barriers for employees with disabilities can include:

• Inferiority: The employee is seen as a "second-class citizen"
• Pity: People feel sorry for the employee and are patronizing as a result
• Hero Worship: People consider a person with a disability living independently to be "special"
• Ignorance: The employee is dismissed as incapable because of his or her disability
• Multi-sensory affect: People assume that the employee's disability affects his or her other senses
• Stereotypes: People make both positive and negative generalizations about disabilities
• Backlash: People believe the employee is being given an unfair advantage because of his or her disability
• Denial: People may not believe that hidden disabilities are legitimate and therefore do not require accommodations
• Fear: People are afraid they will offend an employee with a disability by doing or saying the wrong thing and, as a result, will avoid the employee

There are tools and resources available to all employers to help break down attitudinal barriers in the workplace. Some effective strategies to correct misconceptions and foster changes in attitudes about disabilities include:

• Engaging employees in discussions regarding disability issues
• Providing training to increase employees' perspective and understanding of disabilities
• Facilitating engagement with people with disabilities through internship programs, mentoring days, and volunteer opportunities with organizations serving people with disabilities in the community