Workplace Resources

Interviews

Data for this part of Dis-IT’s research were collected using a case study research design. We set out to identify “good practice” employers, which we defined as employers with a positive reputation for hiring and accommodating people with disabilities. From interviews with 93 key informants knowledgeable about the employment of people with disabilities, we identified 26 potential “good practice” employers of people with disabilities from the following sectors:

• financial (5)
• information technologies (4)
• government (4)
• communications (3)
• transportation (3)
• energy (2)
• small business umbrella organizations (2)
• education (2)
• work injury insurance (1)

From those 26 companies/organizations, we interviewed a total of 38 company representatives, employees with disabilities, and others who had an “outside perspective” including representatives from disability advocacy organizations, applied research settings, personnel in government pursuing employment of people with disabilities, and union representative.

A detailed report will be available here in early 2008.

Summary Findings

• Technological and other supports are vital to the success of employees with disabilities who require such supports.
• “Soft” supports need to accompany “hard” technological supports.
  • The specific needs varied, from a relatively minor adaptation of the same technologies available to other employees doing similar work, to situations where considerable additional support was provided.
  • Most people with disabilities do not require a large number of employment supports, technological or otherwise.
  • A diversity of technological and other supports are being used in workplaces with employees with disabilities.
    • Some of the technologies reported being used are very simple, while others are quite sophisticated, involving computers with a variety of adaptive hardware and software.
    • People with disabilities need to know their own technological support requirements.
      • Individuals with disabilities who know about their technological support requirements during the job interview process are better positioned to getting a job than those who do not.
      • Good practice employers use proactive measures to accommodate employees with disabilities.
        • Some workplaces with 'ad hoc', informal approaches to addressing accommodation issues have been successful in employing people with disabilities. However, most employers successful at including employees with disabilities typically follow clear, intentional and explicit measures to identify and implement technological and other job accommodations.
        • Good practice employers bear the costs of technological and other workplace supports.
        • Accessible technologies are becoming ‘mainstream’ and ‘mainstream’ technologies are being adapted for accessibility.
          • Specialized and mainstream technologies are both making workplaces more accessible.
          • These technologies have been converging on several fronts in recent years.
          • Older, custom designed 'legacy' computer-based systems are an accessibility problem in some workplaces.
            • 'Open source' applications present similar challenges that need to be addressed for people with disabilities to have equal access to the technology and job functions that use these applications.
            • Mixing, matching and adapting technologies is the new innovation.
              • The focus has changed from using individual technologies to mixing and matching a number of different technological and other supports to address the individual needs of employees of all kinds, including those with disabilities.
              • Good practice employers regard providing technological and other supports for employees with disabilities as beneficial for their corporate environment.