Accessibility Uncovered ♿: Remote work

As part of our advocacy, #OneAccessibility, we will share information about differently able and profile one location with accessible trails. Look out every week for this enlightening post.

An important thing to take into account when it comes to accessibility in the workplace is that accessibility goes beyond the physical space, and investing in the education and training of employees is important.

Besides making sure that each place is physically accessible for everyone with things such as wheelchair ramps, braille signage, and accessible restrooms, canteen or parking, social inclusivity and digital accessibility are also important. Especially in our current times, they can be considered even more important depending on the job.

Nowadays, because of the current situation, lots of people that used to work on-site, are working from home. Surprisingly for some, many people with disabilities have been working remotely for a long time as it can be considered good accommodation, and with remote jobs increasing, there are more opportunities for them.

With so many more people working from home, digital accessibility in the workplace is as relevant as ever.

Here are some things you should look out for when it comes to accessibility in work-from-home environments:

  • Basic digital accessibility: The device given to the employees should offer accessibility features. This could be an enlarged keyboard, screen enlargement, and voice recognition.
  • Accessibility on communications: People use chat, collaboration and videoconferencing apps every day. Check if the app you are using supports accessibility features, like screen readers and closed captioning / live captions. Don’t just trust the app’s website, try to search for what people that use the accessibility features say about it - sometimes they aren’t functional.

If the device or apps don’t offer certain accessibility features, there are external Desktop apps and websites that provide these features so, transcripts could be created where and when they are needed, for example. Many of these external tools offer enterprise versions.

  • Company rules: The way people do things can be changed to make a more accessible environment. A rule could be that all images sent or added in the company’s documents should have Alternative Text, so they can be read with screen readers. Presentation slides could be sent before presentations too, so people have time to read it and understand it (which could help if they have vision impairments, for example)
  • Different ways to communicate: Some neurodiverse people have trouble with having many meetings each day, or prefer to receive or give information in a written way.

You will usually find the web accessibility icon in applications with accessibility features, more likely close to where this features can be configured. This can help you know if websites are accessible, especially to screen readers.

These are just a few things I was able to find reading experiences by people with disabilities, I’m sure there are more things to be aware of as everyone has different needs. I learned all this from articles written by people with disabilities, most of them written in the last year and/or for GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day) which was not long ago.

I think it’s always better to ask how we can make the other person more comfortable. And when making these places more accessible, start with changing the most needed things, even if they are small, they make a difference.

If you aren’t in a position to choose what kind of apps your team uses and such, it would be good to talk to people who could make a difference about it. The company is the one who has to ensure people with disabilities have accessible accommodations and are comfortable, and usually the employees who take care of that in the Human Resources area. You can contact them with your worries about the accessibility of your workplace and be as specific as you’d like: Perhaps you could ask them to have more activities to raise awareness about accessibility and inclusivity, or let them know about changes that could be done to make processes or places more accessible.

Some companies have a Diversity and Inclusion board or community, which is a great place to share accessibility info and talk about related improvements in your work. If it doesn’t exist, you could let people in Human Resources know that you are interested in having one.

Inclusivity truly matters in the workplace, in at-home on in-person situations. Employees should be educated so misconceptions about people with disabilities can be fought. Many companies do this in form of meetings or webinars with organizations that help employ people with disabilities.

Here in Argentina, we have many organizations that help people with disabilities be included in society and they usually include employment. We have many laws here that aim to make sure companies employ people with disabilities, including social programs that train and help people get jobs, a quota law that says that at least 4% of the governments employees are people with disabilities, and more laws that also put quotas in companies of different sectors and give benefits to the companies who have hired them. You can read all about it on the governments website about employment of PwDs clicking here.

All this means that here in Argentina it is fortunately very common to see job offerings aimed people with disabilities from various companies and sectors!

The topics talked about in this post, digital accessibility and social inclusion, are both very important but, of course, adding accessibility information on Maps is important too! If you have ever gone to your office, and you remember its accessibility features, make sure to update the Accessibility info of it on Maps. (it might seem weird not to have visited your office, but it’s not as common now!)

And also, I want to emphasize that accessibility affects everyone’s lives for the better. I personally find many accessibility features very useful. Even if I don’t have an auditory disability, I love closed captions, and I think everyone has found useful a wheelchair ramp more than once.

Here are some questions I would love to know the answers of:

  • Are you working remotely at the moment? If you are, were changes done in the way you do things to make them accessible?
  • Do you know more ways to improve accessibility in the workplace - digitally or physically? Please share them with us!
  • Does your company employ people with disabilities regularly? If they do, how does your company make sure they are included?
  • Have you already edited the accessibility information of your workplace on Maps?

If you have a question, suggestion, or contribution, feel free to comment below. You can read last week’s roundup article here and check the list of our other articles under "Accessibility Uncovered".

59 Likes

موضوع رائع شكرا لكي @Jesi

1 Like

Excelente post @Jesi !

En el caso de la empresa para la que trabajo, la verdad es que lamentablemente no han hecho cambios en cuanto a la accesibilidad para el trabajo remoto.

Sí, las oficinas son totalmente accesibles, pero nada en cuanto al trabajo remoto. :disappointed:

3 Likes

Siempre aprendo algo leyendo uno de tus post, gracias por eso @Jesi

Con respecto a la empresa donde trabajo, son cuatro sucursales así que puedo hablar de la mía, accesible? Casi, en el interior si, en el exterior (ascensor pequeño , pasillo con un escalón en medio) no tanto. Nunca supe que hayan contratado a una persona con discapacidad.
Saludos.

Silvy.

1 Like

Gran post @Jesi ! La accesibilidad en el trabajo es un tema muy importante, la mayoría de las herramientas que yo uso sí tienen opciones de accesibilidad, pero he notado que para activarlas debes entrar en varios menús.

Cuando yo estaba en oficinas, la mayoría no eran accesibles, se tenía que subir escalones, además de las puertas, tenían control de acceso y con freno (las que tienen un brazo en la parte superior), es algo que se debe mejorar, afortunadamente las nuevas oficinas ya cuentan con todos los elementos para ser totalmente accesibles.

Recuerdo que en la inducción la empresa mostraba imágenes de ser incluyente, pero en mi experiencia, nunca vi a ninguna persona con discapacidad trabajando por las aréas donde yo caminaba.

1 Like

@Jesi This was an excellent read into an area many of us who are working from home may not have thought about - the elements of digital accessibility and social inclusion have been areas of emphasis I’ve noticed in my own workplace as we’ve been WFH still. In terms of social inclusion, my workplace has established new internal digital hubs in this area that have allowed us to push this idea and build our brand around this. Additionally, WFH has meant that the affinity groups (such as our Black and Asian employee networks) to still work together despite not being in physical offices.

In terms of digital accessibility, I am noticing that now every email includes an accessible text file of the email’s contents, which has been helpful for those who may be visually impaired or rely on screen readers.

It is interesting to bridge the correlations between what we experience in our workplaces and how we contribute to Google Maps.

2 Likes

Wonderful story @Jesi . It has many capabilities to accommodate the disability in an inclusive workplace. It is nice to write a story about it lets make it public the more info we share out there the better this world will be.

3 Likes

I’m glad you liked the topic, @Omarfahd ! It would be great if you could tell us about accessibility in your workplace or how it’s handled in your country :blush: if you know

Gracias @Cecilita ! Me alegra que las oficinas sean completamente accesibles!

Por el otro lado, que mal que no hayan hecho cambios… aunque viendolo de una forma optimista, por ahi no eran necesarios… sabés si las aplicaciones que usan tienen opciones que ayuden a la accesibilidad?

Me alegró mucho leer que aprendes algo de estos posts @SilvyC !! :blush:

Bueno, al menos la mayoría de tu lugar de trabajo es accesible y las personas con sillas de ruedas se podrían mover sin ayuda en casi todo el lugar. Aunque espero que puedan poner rampas o lograr que sea completamente accesible algún día. Editaste el lugar en Maps con esa información de su accesibilidad? Seguro les sirve a muchos!

1 Like

Muchas gracias @LaloPadilla ! Me pongan muy contenta que las herramientas que uses tengan esas opciones, aunque considerando todo lo que tienen que buscar para encontrarlas me hace pensar que eso es común en aplicaciones lamentablemente. Espero que los desarrolladores lo empiecen a poner más a la vista-yo seguramente lo tenga en cuenta ahora que lo mencionaste (si alguna vez participe en el desarrollo de aplicaciones con tantos menúes :sweat_smile: )

En cuanto a las oficinas, si, por suerte la mayoría que pude ver nuevas ya tenían en cuenta la accesibilidad en la mayoría.

Por lo de ser incluyente, hay que ver si la empresa si tiene puestos para personas con discapacidad - o si no los contratan. Igual hay que recordar que existen las discapacidades “invisibles”, como las llaman, y que puede que a simple vista o hasta también habiendo pasado tiempo con la persona no sepas que tengan alguna discapacidad o que no sea tan notable. Asi que puede que te hayas cruzado a alguno de ellos en los pasillos, por ahi!

1 Like

Thank you so much for the comment @SP31 , I’m so happy to read about how your workplace handled both social inclusion and digital accessibility during these times. It seems like a great place that cares about its employees :blush:

The accessible text file on emails is great!

1 Like

Thank you @Erna_LaBeau , and what a nice comment! I loved your phrase “the more info we share out there the better this world will be.” I don’t think this is the first time I have loved a phrase you wrote, though! I feel like you would be a great writer for inspirational quotes, especially involving accessibility of course :grin:

2 Likes

My motto for accessibility is “let’s change the world to a better place for everyone one day at a time”. Thanks, for liking my phrase @Jesi

2 Likes

This is an amazing and a lot informative post @Jesi ! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us ! In today’s scenario, digital accessibility is of utmost importance as most of us are working/ attending college from home. This article is really useful. Thanks once again for sharing !

1 Like

Jesi thanks for your work you really inspired me just wanna connect with you more please may you check me my watsaap number is +255766910243

Hard working. Someone people guess you are only show off only educat drama but you are really truthfull