Accommodations like remote work and captioning on video calls were a step in the right direction. But more can be done to support employees with disabilities going forward.
Before the pandemic, Tori Allen would take client calls over the phone. But as someone who’s hard of hearing, it was difficult to understand what people were saying. After the pandemic hit, those meetings became video calls over Zoom, making it easier for her to know what was going on.
“I rely on lip reading, and even just expressions, to fully understand what someone’s saying,” said Allen, a director of integrated marketing.
The sudden shift to virtual and remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic had significant implications for everyone, including — and perhaps especially — those with disabilities. For years, many in the disability community have asked for accommodations like working from home and greater digital accessibility. After all, a whopping 98% of US websites aren’t fully accessible, according to a report by web accessibility company AccessiBe.
Flexible Accommodations
As companies roll out return-to-office and remote policies, it’s important to understand individual needs vary, says Wally Tablit, director of state policy at RespectAbility, a nonprofit that promotes inclusion of people with disabilities.
“You can’t just say, ‘Everybody comes in. We’re keeping in mind what people with disabilities want, [and] they want to be together.’ And then a couple of people will be going, ‘Um, I’m over here saying it’s kind of a struggle for me. It’ll take me two and a half hours to get into the office. I’d be much more productive on a Zoom meeting or meeting virtually,'” Tablit said.
It’s not just about making sure virtual spaces are accessible. In-person spaces need to include accommodations, too. If an employee who’s hard of hearing comes into the office, for instance, a company needs to make sure there’s captioning in meetings.
While some progress has been made in recent years, there’s still plenty of room for growth when it comes to both digital and physical accessibility. Simoneaux says because people have mostly been home for two years, not everyone has been thinking about the continued inaccessibility of physical spaces.
“In the digital space, we see a lot of movement, whereas in our physical spaces, we’re starting to shift to people being out again,” Simoneaux said. “I think we’ve seen this stall. … Let’s all get back into the community, but let’s do so in a way that we’re continuing to have our eyes on the physical elements to make sure everyone can get around.”
Advocates hope the empathy and mindfulness around accessibility continues as society transitions to a post-pandemic world.
“Think about all the people with disabilities that have to adapt to situations all of our lives on a daily basis in a world that’s not accessible to all,” said Jeff Wissel, chief accessibility officer at Disability:IN, a nonprofit resource for disability inclusion in business. “What I’m really hopeful [about] is that through the things we’ve learned, that post-COVID there’ll be wider recognition that individuals with disabilities have been doing this for a long time.”
