Technology and Accommodations in the Workplace: Insights & Recommendations for Human Resources and Hiring Managers
Introduction
Research has demonstrated that many hiring managers and Human Resources (HR) professionals are not well-prepared to recruit, hire, and retain employees who are blind or have low vision. The recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of blind persons may appear as a daunting undertaking to human resources and other hiring managers. Many hiring managers simply do not know how blind and low-vision employees use computers or office equipment, for example [1]. Workplace technology can also present barriers to inclusion during the recruitment, application, interviewing, onboarding, accommodation, and retention stages of employment.
AFB conducted the Workplace Technology Study (WTS) to better understand and document the technology-related experiences of American workers who are blind or have low vision. In 2021, AFB conducted a survey of 323 blind and low-vision individuals who were employed in a variety of sectors. This report combines the original research findings with policy guidance and recommendations from technical assistance resources on inclusive employment practices. For each stage of the employment cycle, we present a summary of requirements and best practices, findings from the report, and recommendations specifically geared for HR staff and hiring managers to ensure full inclusion of blind and low-vision employees.
Key Definitions
Reasonable Accommodations: Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), reasonable accommodations are changes to the place where work is performed or the way in which the work is performed that allow people with disabilities equal opportunities in employment while also not causing “undue hardship” on the employer [2]. Three categories of reasonable accommodations are outlined in the ADA: modifications or adjustments to the job application process, modifications or adjustments to the environment, manner, or circumstances that enable the employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job, and modifications or adjustments that allow for equal benefits and privileges of employment 3.
Undue Hardship: Undue hardship as outlined in the ADA is an accommodation that would be overly financially burdensome or difficult for an organization to execute. Undue hardship can be determined by a number of factors including cost, financial resources of the organization, and size, number of employees, and type of operation of the organization [3]. This is rarely awarded to employers, as the threshold is set quite high. [4] In US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, 535 U.S., 122 S. Ct. 1516 (2002), the Supreme Court found that an employee only needs to show that an accommodation seems reasonable, after which the burden of proof shifts to the employer to be specific about why the accommodation would create undue hardship [3]. With the burden of proof weighing so heavily on the employer, undue hardship is rarely granted.
Disability: The ADA defines disability in legal terms rather than medical. Someone is considered to have a disability if they are a “person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” [5]
Artificial Intelligence: Congress defines artificial intelligence as “machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments” [6]. In HR, this can take the form of systems that leverage big data to predict the applicants’ success during the recruitment and screening phases of employment.
