Why It’s More Critical Than Ever to Support Mental Health and How Insurers Can Help
And, yes, that also means finding success and value in your career. Indeed, thanks to innovations in office tech and the increasing digitalization of the workplace, employees with disabilities are now able to be more effective than ever before. Let’s examine the role of technology and digitalization in making the workplace more accessible and inclusive for persons with disabilities.
The Accessibility Imperative
The marginalization of employees with disabilities has been profound, contributing to gross inequities in employment opportunities. According to estimates from the United Nations, working-age adults with disabilities are five times more likely to be unemployed than adults without disabilities.
These disproportionate rates of unemployment among persons with disabilities derive principally from the lack of accessibility in the workplace. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) recently celebrated its second decade of existence, the modern workplace has remained largely inaccessible to large segments of the workforce.
Technology, Digitalization, and Accessibility
As pervasive and persistent as the problem of accessibility may be, however, there is reason to hope. The promise of true inclusivity and accessibility appears increasingly to lie in the turn toward digitalization. From the digitalization of documents to the transition to remote work environments, tech innovations are opening the workplace to employees of all abilities.
For example, the advent of remote work platforms is enabling employees who are unable to commute to the office to cultivate a thriving career from the comforts of their home office.
Likewise, the digitalizing of workflows means that employees with sensory impairments, neurodivergence, or cognitive challenges can both produce and utilize work products. Digitizing work documents, for instance, not only enables workers to securely access needed materials from home, but also enables them to be formatted according to the workers’ needs.
Thus, hard copy records that were once inaccessible to employees with low vision now are viable because they are accessible with the help of screen readers.
What this means, ultimately, is that digitalization may well be the great equalizer, enabling a truly accessible and functional workplace for all employees, regardless of impairment.
Supporting Accessibility Through Technology
As immense as the potential of technology is to promote workplace accessibility, however, that potential will only be achieved if the technology is used appropriately. Leadership, decision-makers, and employees alike must be proactive and comprehensive in sourcing and effectively implementing accessibility tech.
For example, the digitalization of documents will only work if all necessary materials are digitized and archived in a timely and organized manner. After all, employees who need content in an alternative format will be hamstrung if only half the content they need has been digitized or if it is difficult to locate in the digital archive. This is why it’s imperative to have a timeline, an inventory, and an organizational strategy in place before digitalization begins. This will ensure that nothing is overlooked, the process is efficient and expeditious, and the archive is easily searchable and accessible.
The Takeaway
For far too long, workers with disabilities have been marginalized in the workplace due to pervasive inaccessibility. Innovations in office technology and the increasing digitalization of the workplace, however, are promising to make work more accessible and inclusive than ever before for employees with disabilities.
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