Creating a Culture of Inclusivity for Employees with Sensory Disabilities:
Jamie Forman, MA Nicholas P. Salter, PhD
Best Practices for Organizations
Background: •
• •
Nearly 1 in 10 working adults with a disability reports experiencing workplace discrimination (Kennedy & Olney, 2001). People who are Deaf or blind comprise approximately 4% of the working age population (Yang & Tan, 2018). This research outlines best practices for working with employees with sensory disabilities.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing: • • • • • • •
Order Specialized Equipment and Software
Shared Accountability
Provide Training
Best Practices
Blind and Visually Impaired: Include Visual Descriptions
Captions & Interpreters
• • • • • •
Add tactile cues around the office Consider alternative work arrangements for transportation difficulties Consider accessibility when making organization-wide decisions Convert documents to plain text Share accessible versions of slide decks before presentations Read slides aloud during presentations and provide descriptions of any images and videos Avoid arbitrary directional words such as “As you can see here” Choose a well-lit venue with tables instead of standing room for social events Make accommodations for guide dogs
Consider Provide a videophone or captioned Apply • accessibility Principles of telephone when choosing Universal Caption training materials and videos social events • Design Ask before Arrange seating in a Deaf friendly manner assisting Speak one at a time and raise hands Include coworkers in watercooler • conversations Benefits of Providing Accommodations: Extend invitations to coworkers when • Improved happiness and morale and reduces reports of limitations (Hartnett et al., Shartz et al., 2006). planning social events – do not assume • Improved productivity, attendance, and communication with coworkers). they heard others talking about it • 78.3% of companies reported a cost less than $500. The median monetary benefit reported was $5500, with Choose a well-lit venue for social and 66.4% of companies reporting a monetary benefit of greater than $1000 (Schartz et al., 2006 & Solovieva et al., team building events 2011).