Accessibility in the World of Freelance

Accessibility in the World of Freelance

Chloe Johnson | Contributing Writer

Working from home allows for flexibility in productivity habits, such as working from the floor.

Cover Photo Credit Clark Van Der Beken, Unsplash; Above Credit: Monarch Collaborative

Disabled people are playing a huge part in this movement, especially in recent years, as the amount of disabled people increase due to issues such as Long Covid. Disability can happen to anybody at any time, and whilst making sure things are accessible is primarily to help disabled people, access can help everyone experiencing situational issues which may prevent them from accessing things like technology or buildings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. That’s one in five adults who are disabled in some way or another.

Disabled people are freelancing for a majority of reasons. Some people enjoy the ability to be their own boss, set their own schedule, and work on projects they enjoy. On the other hand, many disabled people also need to take more time off than normal jobs can offer, can’t access a workplace or interview, or have found themselves discriminated against in the workplace.

Jamie D’Amato of Maybe So Creative says that freelancing from home allows her to create a schedule and workspace catered to her individual needs.

Jamie D’Amato

Jamie D’Amato of Maybe So Creative - a creative studio that builds accessible brands, websites and experiences - is one such disabled person who benefits from freelancing.

“I love the ability to work from home, in my own space, monitoring my own schedule,” says D’Amato. “Since I’m autistic, being in an office environment can be really exhausting. When I was a kid and had to go to school for eight hours a day, I used to have terrible migraines multiple times per week from the overstimulation. It can be hard for me to all-the-way focus when I’m also preoccupied with masking and seeming ‘normal’ to the outside view. So just having my own space, having privacy, and working at my own pace is a game changer. I can stim and fidget and spin in my chair and sing out loud and hang out with my emotional support dog, Luna.”

D’Amato also appreciates that freelancing allows her to wear many hats. She puts this down to her ADHD, saying she loves to “try lots of things” and doesn’t want to get bored doing similar projects all the time.

“Freelancing lets me choose what projects I want to work on and manage my own time,” she says.

“It’s never ever boring, because there’s always something new and different on the horizon.”

One of the benefits of freelancing is being able to optimize your work area - a positive which can make all the difference when a disabled person needs a particular chair, to work in an “unusual” format without being judged (many people with ADHD, such as myself, like to work on the floor!), or to take medicine during work hours. D’Amato has designed her work setup in the perfect way for her, and describes a typical day of freelancing:

“I work from home and I have a nice desk setup, so I will start my day by checking messages and making a to-do list before going on a coffee run to a local coffee shop. I love that freelancing is all over the place; you get to work on all different projects, which helps me not get bored with my ADHD. But that also needs a little extra layer of organization, so that’s where my daily to-do list comes in to prioritize my tasks for the day. Once I’ve prioritized my tasks and am armed with coffee, I dive into work, whatever that may be. I generally do two to three work sessions throughout the day with breaks between for social media and personal projects, and end the day between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., depending on my workload.”

However, for disabled individuals, accessibility does not cease to be a problem just because you’re working for yourself, or in your own home. Many full-time disabled freelancers will struggle with the lack of sick pay and lack of other benefits that come with a full-time job. Getting a nice desk setup that works for you is all well and good, but having to finance it yourself can be an issue, as can taking time off for doctor’s appointments or sick days.

For those with chronic illness, this can be even trickier. When every day is some degree of a sick day, how do you know when to stop?

“There’s such a culture around hustling and grinding, or around being a brand, and it’s a really toxic mindset for people who are just trying to get through the day and pay bills,” says D’Amato.

Whilst giving up sick-pay and benefits may sound like choices freelancers have made, the truth is that many disabled people find themselves freelancing due to a lack of accessible options in full-time or part-time work. The lack of sick-pay and benefits is the trade-off to finding a modicum of comfort or accessibility with their work or working at all. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, disabled people are almost twice as likely to be self-employed than nondisabled people, and whether its due to lack of physically accessibility, discrimination in the hiring process or workplace, or an inability for their disability to work with the rigid routine of an office - freelancing is the only viable option for many disabled individuals.

So, how do we make it a more accessible option? Better communication and discussion of everything to do with freelancing - from pay grades, to job postings, to transparency about the work environment and disability itself - can all help disabled individuals, and their non-disabled freelance counterparts, put their energy to freelancing work which will pay them well, honor their access needs, and actually communicate. So much of freelancing is a mystery as it can change from job to job. This is its biggest draw to people who like to bounce around different creative projects, but without pulling back the curtain and helping new freelancers on their journey, we are stalling who is allowed in.

“I wish people in general knew better communication skills, both in communicating

with neurodivergent or disabled folks, and just communicating with freelancers,” says D’Amato. “Accessibility is so often an afterthought, if anything, so asking for accommodations becomes the disabled person’s problem which can really make you feel like a burden.

I would also add that I hate that a lot of freelancing is about networking. You get jobs from word of mouth, and you have to start with low-paid jobs and work your way up to things. I feel like networking is set up to make a lot of disabled folks fail and I wish there was a better way for people to find lucrative work and build up business, because I think that’s a huge obstacle for people who would maybe want to freelance but don’t know how to get started building a client list.”

There are collectives which are now beginning to focus on the talent that disabled people can bring to freelance roles. With Not For is an initiative designed to put disabled candidates in both freelance and full-time roles, dedicated to connecting employers and recruiters with disabled talent. It is initiatives like these, as well as open and honest communication between disabled and non-disabled freelancers, which will help open up the industry to fixing its issues and flaws. Whilst a lack of sick pay is inherent in freelancing, if we are to focus on getting disabled individuals wellpaying roles that respect the skills they bring to the table, this will become less of a problem as an impromptu sick day won’t risk a good proportion of income. Discussion of things such as expenses in freelance roles is another way to make it more accessible to disabled people; assuming everyone can drive, or can take public transport with little notice, is another way we are excluding disabled people. Similarly with rights and insurance - making sure all people, but especially vulnerable people, have access to information around this is vital.

It all boils down to talking. If disabled people aren’t part of the conversation, how can we be part of the outcome? Raising awareness, avoiding stigma, and communicating is the best way to allow disabled people to access freelancing in the healthiest and best way for them. This should be on every company’s agenda list, especially those who are hiring freelancers. Disabled freelancers deserve the chance to enjoy our role just as much as anyone.