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Historically — whether due to institutionalized discrimination,eroticism of the 70s inaccessible working environments, or pandemic-propelled layoffs — people with disabilities have struggled to retain stable employment. Even in periods of higher nationwide employment, these groups record much lower job rates. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment rate of Americans with disabilities was 21.3 percent by the end of 2022. The employment rate for people without disabilities was 65.4 percent.

And well before entering the workplace, people with disabilities face barriers in the job hiring process, from inaccessible or discriminatory job descriptions to poorly designed interviews.

As the country honors National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), it's a perfect time to review the accessibility of company hiring practices — and what technological innovations, like AI, mean for the state of employment and disability.

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In 2021, Disability Rights California, a national disability rights nonprofit, partnered with Deque Systems, a digital accessibility consultation group, to write a guidefor employers on fostering a more disability-inclusive hiring and recruiting process. It debunks common myths about accommodating people with physical and intellectual disabilities and offers tips for recruiting, facilitating applications from, and interviewing prospective employees.

The guide, a corollary to other inclusive hiring recommendations and calls from advocates and accessibility experts alike, comes to a fairly simple conclusion: Employers have an opportunity to make their hiring processes more accessible with just a little forethought.

At the time of publication, Meagan Taylor, former project manager at Deque and the guide's author, told Mashable that she and the other advocates involved hoped it convinces employers that inclusive recruiting is beneficial for everyone. "Why is it worth your time to do this? Because there is a large pool of smart and hard-working applicants with disabilities who would be an excellent addition to your organization," she told Mashable. Two years later, the advice is still as salient as ever.

1. Write flexible, detailed job descriptions

Job descriptions can be an early roadblock in the hiring process and should go beyond a simple Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement, according to experts. EEO statements are a federal requirement for employers, and they state a commitment to upholding nondiscrimination laws under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But the exact wording of EEO statements are up to the employers themselves, and they may leave out the nuances of an inclusive hiring process.

The Employee Assistance and Resource Network (EARN)is an advisory and education group for employers seeking to diversify their hiring processes, and has written extensivelyabout creating job announcements that are both inclusive of and encouraging for prospective applicants with disabilities. It suggests emphasizing the end goals, or specific needs, of job positions, rather than howthe job should be accomplished.

To that end, check your assumptions, advises Taylor. Unchecked assumptions about both a job's requirements and the qualifications of people with disabilities can often inhibit job descriptions, she explains.

"Do you have a job posting that you think cannot be done by a person with X disability? Double-check that assumption! Go to your human resources representative and brainstorm with them about the essential functions of the job," Taylor suggests.

To accomplish this, she advises employers to "think about the real core tasks of the job. Have you inadvertently included a job 'requirement' that is not really required to do the job well?"

For example, according to EARN, instead of saying "must have strong written and oral communications skills," use a phrase like "must be able to communicate with others effectively." Rather than "must be able to standfor long periods of time," consider "ability to remain at work station for long periods of time." Simple language changes like these open a position to a much wider range of applicants. 

Effective and inclusive job descriptions should include five things, says EARN:

• A specific description of the job's tasks

• Information about the physical work environment (is it in a collaborative, loud office setting, or is there a remote work option?)

• A description of workplace culture and social interaction

• The option for flexible accommodations

• A clear list of a job's physical demands

The Job Accommodation Network, a free guidance network for job accommodations and disability employment, also provides consultation and resources for employers looking to design more inclusive hiring practices.

2. Make sure online applications are accessible to all users

Many of the suggestions proposed by Deque and Disability Rights California's guide are related to the idea of universal design, which prioritizes objects, environments, and experiences that automatically include as many people as possible, regardless of ability. Universally designed processes generally don't need to be reworked to accommodate specific needs, but do make it easier to add in accessible design features if and when they're needed.

Web-based hiring benefits from these principles, too. Online application portals are convenient and often intended to make the job process as open as possible, but they can also be difficult to use for people with physical or cognitive disabilities, according to Disability Rights California.

For example, text might not be compatible for screen readers needed by applicants who are blind, search functions might not be optimized for people with disabilities, and low contrast screens can be illegible for people with low vision.

Taylor explains that applications should be tailored for independence, able to be completed by anyone interested in the position, and "usable by people with visual, auditory, motor, speech, and some cognitive disabilities."

Employers should know the law, but pay just as much attention to online web accessibility guidelines.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that employers provide equal opportunitystarting with access to the application process, and there are robust international standards for coding webpages with accessibility in mind. The global Web Accessibility Initiativeis a digital accessibility standards program by the World Wide Web Consortium, a global network of organizations and specialists focused on web development standards. The initiative has published in-depth checklistsfor evaluating a website's general accessibility, including providing alt-text descriptionsfor all images on a page, summarizing complicated passages of text, or allowing pages to have customizable settings for properties like text size and color contrast.

Other examples to take into consideration, according to Taylor, include the ability to only use a keyboard to fill out the application, which can be helpful for people with fine motor difficulties who can't use a standard mouse, and creating applications that are still functional when zoomed in to at least 400 percent, to meet the needs of people with low vision.

WCAG 2.2, the latest iteration of web accessibility guidelines, was released on Oct. 5. Deque's chief information accessibility officer Glenda Sims advises all employers to become familiar with new best practices and success criteria that apply to recruiting services, public organizations, and private businesses.

In recent years, tech companies and accessibility compliance organizations have launched automated web accessibility tools, known as overlays, to help navigate these standards. Microsoft has its own Accessibility Checkerbuilt into its programs, to check documents and files before they're uploaded, for example. But many accessibility advocates advise against relying solely on these tech-based tools, urging companies and designers to incorporate human expertise and the disability community itself in designing truly accessible sites.

Making these changes doesn't just help those with disabilities, Taylor explains. It also helps those with limited computer knowledge or temporary physical disabilities like broken arms or vision loss. "An accessible job application will be a better user experience for all applicants (with or without disabilities), because the core concepts of accessibility are to make sure that allcontent and functionality can be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust."

3. Design interviews with accessibility in mind

Deque and Disability Rights California's guide urges employers to create interview processes that don't need to be changed based on an applicant's needs. Instead of reacting to accommodation requests at the time of the interview, design a process that already considers accessibility and allows for accommodations well in advance.

For in-person interviews, use spaces that are easily accessed by wheelchairs and offer to have onsite interpreters, Taylor suggests. And make sure to give applicants relevant information ahead of the interview, including the format of any required exams, a clear time frame, and directions for any specialized transportation, like large vans or other mobility devices.

For online interviews, the guide adds, use video services that are accessible for deaf or hard-of-hearing applicants, like the live captions offered on services like Google Meet and Zoom.

You should also create space in an interview for flexibility: Offer extended answer times for responses, Taylor recommends, or consider providing interview questions ahead of time, which could be helpful for many neurodivergent job candidates, not just those in need of accommodations.

Whenever possible, include people with disabilities on the hiring panels. At the bare minimum, train staff, recruiters, or interviewers in disability etiquette for accommodations and ensure interview questions are asked in ways that are appropriate and ADA-compliant as a baseline standard for all interviews — employers shouldn't be asking a candidate to disclose a disability before making any kind of job offer.

• Apple adds new accessibility features to its devices
• Google announces new accessibility and teaching resource updates for K-12 classrooms
• An exploration of cinematic accessibility: Open captions set the standard
• Be My Eyes meets GPT-4: Is AI the next frontier in accessibility?
• Why the pedestrian dignity movement should be your next accessibility cause

But that's just a simple first step. "Companies can and should go beyond disability etiquette training and take things to the next level to train hiring managers to consider their own bias during hiring," advises Matthew Luken, vice president and principal strategy consultant for Deque.

In addition to reviewing accommodations for interviewing, Luken advises employers evaluate the full accommodation request process at their companies. "For example, does the process only allow for accommodations to be made via physical post? That process could take 10 plus days to work through the corporate system while recruiters are looking to have things scheduled and conducted within 1-3 business days."

"Remember candidates with disabilities are simply candidates," says Taylor. "Though there may be some differences in how you conduct the interview, the goals of your interview are the same: to get to know the candidate, learn about their skills and qualifications, and assess their fit for your team."

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4. Encourage safe self-identification for future employees

Companies use optional self-identification questions to evaluate diversity and inclusion both during the hiring process and after. These questions allow potential candidates to disclose a protected category status or other identity marker, but they aren't required under federal EEO acts (like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disability Act). Some companies are still required to report diversity data regardless, but having the data goes beyond legal obligations. It also helps employers to see where they are falling short and align their hiring practices to their diversity commitments. Employers seeking this information for the purposes of broadening hiring and fostering inclusion should include additional information alongside self-identification questions.

"Companies need to create a culture that encourages self-identification and does so by clearly communicating how the data will be used," explained Luken. "Some companies collect the data but do not use it to create better working environments for their employees. In some companies, there is an annual drive for self-identification and then it's put back on the shelf for another 11 months."

5. Be aware of AI bias and create clear AI policies

As AI continues to make its way into all facets of tech and digital life, including assisting many people with disabilities, employers must be aware of how they are incorporating AI into the hiring process and the implications of an AI's data models on inclusive hiring.

"I love AI when it's used properly and thoughtfully to include everyone. AI can be a great equalizer for the disabled, because the computer can do so much that I can't do," says Deque vice president and principal strategy consultant Patrick Sturdivant, who has the lived experience of inaccessible hiring practices as someone who is blind. "I do get scared though that too much AI is used to filter through resumes and a lot of good people are excluded, but what scares me even more is the use of AI to screen video interviews to see who's going to make the next cut. There is too much potential there for an organizations to forget to include people of all backgrounds, all abilities, all races, all colors, all genders. I think it's been well documented that if AI isn't used carefully, it can amplify bias and hurt people — especially people in protected classes."

According to a 2018 survey by the HR Research Institute, 64 percent of HR professionals wanted AI-powered HR applications that could predict "the highest quality of hire." That same year, EARN reported the use of AI to screen applicants, streamline the application process, provide on-the-job training, disseminate information to employees, and enable workers to become more productive was already commonplace and expected to rise. The organization warned that the expanded use of AI programs could lead to screening out or discriminating against "non-traditional" applications, including from individuals with disabilities, and may exacerbate systemic bias and lack of representation.

Both the EEOC and the ADA have published guidance on using algorithms and AI in hiring, including how many hiring technologies may already discriminate against candidates with disabilities.

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6. Have protocols already in place for accommodations before they're requested

It's important to already have a process for providing assistance to hired employees, before it's needed. Deque and Disability Rights California's guide suggests reaching out the Job Accommodation Network, a consultation and advocacy group for job accommodations and ADA compliance. The organization has a long list of disabilities and suggested accommodations for employers (this, of course, isn't an exhaustive list), as well as resources about ADA regulations, job support, and employer discrimination for both employed and unemployed individuals.

Employers should collaborate with outside organizations to ensure employees with disabilities are treated fairly and have long-lasting support systems that foster retention, the guide explains. Look for employers that offer comprehensive Employee Assistance Programs — which provide counseling and workplace support for emotional and mental wellbeing.

And it never hurts to facilitate employee-to-employee communication — the guide recommends mentoring programs for newly-hired employees, with either current employees or outside organizations.

All of these recommendations center on one thing: being proactive. Employers must think ahead to create comfortable environments for applicants of all backgrounds and abilities, in order to expand how industries view hiring and get more people with disabilities into the workforce.

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