Software for disability accommodation helps employees who have a disability function normally in the workplace. Employees with disabilities have a right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). When an employer becomes aware of an employee's disability, they must follow the letter of the law to accommodate the employee and disability software can help.

If you've hired a person with a disability, you may at first not know the best ways you can help provide for their needs while taking care of the rest of your employees. Computer software for disabilities can help the employee complete their work tasks more easily, increasing job satisfaction and morale in the workplace. Here are some tips when looking at software for disability accommodation.

1. Make sure the disability programs are compatible with your company equipment. You may want to involve your IT department in your purchasing decision to ensure disability software compatibility.

2. Research the latest versions of the disability accommodation products.

3. Involve the disabled employee in the decision to purchase disabilities software.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find disability accommodation software to help with visual impairment

You may have an employee with has a hard time reading or writing. Or you may have employees who are visually impaired, and you want to give the them the tools they need to be successful in their position. You can find disability accommodation software to meet their needs.

I recommend: Braille Sense from GW Micro is a helper for the visually impaired, with word processing and organization function. Zoom Text 9.1 can magnify text for visually impaired employees.

Provide for cognitively disadvantaged staff with disability accommodation software

Learning disability software is a great tool to give job opportunities to challenged individuals. By providing these accommodations to employees who otherwise my have trouble being employed, you are helping to bridge the gap between the disabled and non disabled communities.

I recommend: The Wynn Literacy Software Tool from Freedom Scientific Learning accommodates employees who have trouble reading and writing. The Kurzweil 3000 software for disabilities provides visual and auditory help for learning impaired employees.

Disability software products can include voice recognition components

Software for disability accommodation can offer help to individuals for whom typing is difficult or impossible, such as those affected by cerebral palsy or quadriplegia, as well as those with cognitive disabilities. This type of disability software allows a person to speak and the computer learns to recognize the person's voice, translating speech into written text on the screen.

I recommend: The Computer Electronics Accommodations Program (CAP) helps provide adaptive disabilities software services, such as ViaVoice voice recognition software, for the Department of Defense and 38 other government agencies. IMG's Virtual Onscreen Touchscreens can help accommodate disabled individuals.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take advantage of free downloads of software for disabilities before you commit to a purchase, and allow the disabled employee to help make the decision.