- Education: Find out about the disability and how it impacts the employee's abilities.
- Accommodation: Respond by doing as much as possible to accommodate the employee. This could mean changing lighting, adjusting furniture, reworking schedules, investing in voice- or vision-assist technology, etc.
- Legal matters: Understand your obligations under laws that protect the rights of people with disabilities, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Get helpful equipment
Lots of devices on the market assist people with hearing, vision and other skills.I recommend: Samsung makes a Braille mobile phone for people with vision impairment; Clarity sells a variety of devices (some under $50) that assist with volume amplification for phones; and IBM division AlphaWorks makes a mouse tracking device that users control with head movement. Find more products at the Assistive Technology News Portal.
Look for free and cheap
Some adjustments and assistance are free or low-cost.I recommend: Firefox browser, a free, open-source browser, is evolving to allow for adjustments to accommodate disabilities, such as minimizing the number of keystrokes needed to navigate the Web. Another cheap solution: tape recorders. People with visual impairments often prefer to communicate and work with these instead of written materials. RadioShack sells a microcassette recorder for $29.99.
Make way for wheelchairs
You may need to install an automatic door opener, an elevator, or hand-control devices on company cars, as well as rearranging furniture.I recommend: A stand-up wheelchair allows someone to stand while working at a counter, desk or table. These are available from custom builders such as 21st Century Scientific. see a fact sheet on adapting for wheelchairs and detailed information on adjusting to other disabilities at the Job Accomodation Network.
Know the law
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers businesses with more than 15 employees. The states that employers must make "reasonable accommodations" for disabled workers, giving them the same rights and privileges as other employees unless it can prove that doing so would create an "undue hardship" on the business. If the employee's disability requires regular medical care, any absences may be protected under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).I recommend: Here are the regulations for the ADA and the FMLA.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- When interviewing a job applicant with a disability, don't be shy about gathering as much information as you need within the context of job performance. Your job is to help the person do his or her job. You can't do this without asking questions.
the Disabilities in the Workplace page at Business.com
Free B2B search marketing whitepaper, B2B Search Marketing Strategy Guide: Advice From the Pros.
