Working Without Limits: Accessible Technology for Disabled Workers

Just under 20% of our labor force is made up of disabled workers. These employees often face much larger barriers in their career, not because of their talents and skills, but due to the lack of resources they are provided while working as well as society stigmas.

Arizona, in particular has a high rate of disabled workers in the workforce; a Tucson discrimination lawyer will be the first to tell you that although there are laws in place to protect a working from disability discrimination, employers have been guilty of finding another reason to hire someone over a disabled worker. Furthermore, employers who do higher a disabled worker may not provide the necessary resources for the employee to maintain a high level of job performance. When accommodation isn’t provided, in some cases, a disabled worker will be at a clear disadvantage. Productivity levels may not match with the rest of employees, which can be an indication of a lay off.

A New Age of Innovation

However, a new wave of ideas has hit the workforce, in hopes to further even out the employment playing field. The term “accessible technology” has been buzzing around for quite some time now, and brings hope to disabled workers who have dealt with tough times and discrimination in the workforce. Accessible technologies are methods that provide assistance to disabled workers to help basic productivity in the workplace. With these, disabled workers are able to fully contribute their talents.

Examples of Accessible Technologies

There are many areas within the workforce that we can tweak to better accommodate disable workers. Below is a list of areas that are being explored to improve a disabled worker’s productivity and efficiency:

- Email and other electronic correspondence

- Software applications

- Telecommunication products

- Desktop and portable computers

- Self-contained, closed products (i.e. printers, copy machines)

Implementation Coming to Life

The annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, which just took place in March, allows for experts, speakers and participants to share knowledge as well as learn about new advancements in accessible technology. This year, there was an array of innovative advancements that captured all attendees.

For example, a company created an interactive robot, capable of asking a user specific questions tailored to them. A human who was able to watch the user at a different location was actually controlling this robot. This exemplified remote assistance and could definitely open up opportunities for disabled workers in the customer service and support industry.

“My own voice” is another service that was displayed at the conference, which gained a lot of attention from attendees. This application allows users diagnosed with speech disorders to continue speaking with their own voice, rather than using a standard anonymous synthetic voice. This is another example of improving engagement for disabled workers in the workforce.

These ideas, as well as many other applications showcased in the conference, will pave the way for disabled workers in the future.