27 February 2024
By Adam Nazar-Bhandari
Developing positive strategies to attract and encourage people with a hashtag #visualimpairment to apply for roles in your company is not just the right thing to do, it makes good business sense.
Studies have shown that persons with disabilities have high performance ratings and hashtag#retention rates, as well as better attendance records than their colleagues without hashtag#disabilities.
Despite these obvious benefits, people with a visual impairment are still significantly under-represented in the various industries, such as; broadcasting, IT, fashion, manufacturing, theatre to give some examples. So what can we do to address this imbalance, and make organisations more attractive workplaces to all potential hashtag#employees with a visual impairment?
According to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (@RNIB) in the UK, there are currently over two million people in the UK living with a visual impairment—ranging from total blindness to partial sight. But despite their potential, only one in five visually impaired people of working age is in employment. This statistic has not gone unnoticed by the UK government, who continue to strive for better employment opportunities across all disabilities and are actively encouraging employers to make reasonable adjustments to their workplaces and processes to ensure that people with disabilities can thrive alongside their able-bodied peers.
Misconceptions about costs
A common hashtag#misconception is that hiring employees with a visual impairment leads to increased costs to your business. But evidence suggests that’s simply not the case.
Under the hashtag#equalityact 2010, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities are not substantially disadvantaged. This applies to all workers. Examples of reasonable adjustments could include obtaining software to help an employee who is visually impaired to read documents. Many of the costs of adjustments in the workplace are covered by the government-backed grant scheme, hashtag#accesstowork, once an employee begins employment. This grant must be applied for by the employee, but should then mean that the company has few to no added costs when hiring someone with a disability. Access to Work, or agencies working with them, can also conduct or pay for hashtag#workplace assessments and help advise on reasonable adjustments for your employee.
In terms of attracting and employing talent with a visual impairment, @RNIB recommend considering the technical ability of a potential employee as the primary factor within the recruitment process, with the visual impairment being secondary. Research conducted by the organisation has further shown that there are only a small number of job roles and duties which may be significantly affected by a visual impairment, such as electricians or traffic light operatives. Instead, it is often only small adjustments, such as enlarged fonts, which are required to minimise any potential difficulties. Employers can also make use of specialist software, such as screen-reading or voice-recognition technologies, or even simple tools such as magnifying glasses, to ensure that their staff with visual impairments can work safely and as effectively as their non-visually impaired colleagues.
Making the recruitment process more inclusive
Have you reviewed your hiring processes from application to interview? By making a few small changes you could increase the number of people with visual impairments applying for roles within your company.
Some good practices to introduce to your recruitment processes to make them more inclusive include:
• Advertise widely to reach as many applicants as possible – make sure you are using free to access platforms and state clearly that you welcome applications from people with a visual impairment.
• Make sure your application packs and forms are accessible. Avoid PDF documents, use simple language, and give people the option to apply in their preferred format. Offer alternative versions on request, such as large text format or hashtag#braille .
• Be understanding of their visual impairment
• Use appropriate language: visually impaired rather than blind; avoid “suffers from”.
• Remember that education isn’t always fully accessible and that people with a disability may take alternative routes into employment. Make sure to consider experience gained from both work and non-work scenarios when looking at skills and abilities for each applicant.
• Best practice is to ask everyone you interview if they have access needs – not just people with visible impairments. Is the room you plan to hold interviews in accessible? If not, perhaps there is a more suitable room within your building, or you can find an accessible alternative. This applies beyond the recruitment stage – is your office as accessible as it could be? Are there simple ways you can adapt your office space? And will you make sure you take accessibility into account when looking for new office space? A simple thing like blinds on a window can help a person with visual impairment to sit comfortably without suffering from glare.
The UK government has also released guidance for employers to help them think about the responsibilities of accommodating disability within the recruitment process, such as considering reasonable adjustments and the provision of advice and support with job applications. There is also the Access to Work scheme, which enables those with disabilities to finance any necessary adjustments to enable them to work successfully. The government and RNIB also actively promote their good practice guidelines which contain advice on recruitment, assessment, health and safety, as well as providing information on adaptations that can be made to ensure a level playing field in the recruitment process.
Attracting and employing talent with a visual impairment should no longer be viewed as an unnecessary challenge. With the right guidance, employers can create environments where people of all abilities can thrive and get the most out of their employment. By following the guidelines set out by the RNIB and UK government and implementing necessary assessments, employers can confidently welcome and accommodate the wealth of talent on offer from all people of working age.
Be open and inclusive about disability in the workplace
It is important to be open and supportive in the workplace, and to encourage people to declare their access needs so that you can properly support them. It is up to the individual if they want to disclose their disability or access needs, but by being inclusive it is more likely that someone will make the choice to do so. This also applies to anyone who becomes ill or impaired during their employment with you.
There are positive actions you can take to create a culture where all employees feel valued and included:
• Advertise that you are a disabled-friendly employer —, taken part in any targeted schemes or already employ people with visual impairments – put that information front and centre.
• Remember that it is your employee’s choice to disclose their disability but by encouraging all of your members of staff to be open about things that may be affecting them, you will encourage a happier and more inclusive workforce.
• Don’t make assumptions – don’t assume that because someone has a visual impairment that they automatically can or can’t do certain things.
An article in 2021 stated “It doesn’t have to be like this,” explained Vision Foundation’s then chief executive Olivia Curno. “Blind and partially sighted people do the vast majority of the jobs that sighted people do. They might do them a little differently; using specialist technology or admin support – but they do them successfully. The technology and the processes exist – including the Access to Work programme operated under the Department for Work and Pensions; it’s attitudes that need to change.”
• Communicate effectively - having good, two-way communication in your organisation helps to ensure that employees feel they are listened to and there is a clear channel for any issues or concerns to be raised. It’s also a great opportunity for the business to learn from existing employees about changes you can make to be more inclusive going forward.
In general, if the employees feel able to be themselves and know that they are supported, they are more likely to do their best work and fulfil their potential. So it’s in the best interest of the individual as well as the business to ensure the workplace is inclusive and accessible to all.
Source: LinkedIn
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