Technology now plays an increasingly important part in many HR processes, from recruitment through to onboarding and training. However, the rise in the use of digital platforms could be locking out a significant number of potential employees who struggle with online environments.
How? Because many people who have a disability, as well as those who are neurodivergent or ageing, may have additional accessibility requirements. So, if HR teams don’t prioritise requiring accessibility in their investments in technology, then they could be missing out on a wealth of talent.
As accessibility issues often occur in the recruitment process, many employers are effectively falling at the first hurdle. Beyond that, there are at least 10 points in the employee journey where digital accessibility needs could come into play.
Keeping digital processes accessible
We know that when budgets are tight, building the case for accessibility can be a challenge. That’s why it’s important to know the multiple benefits for employers who get accessibility right. From greater employee loyalty, improved inclusivity and a positive reputational impact, through to increased revenue (research from Accenture showed that companies that hire those with access needs outperformed their peers, seeing, on average, 28% higher revenue over a four-year period) the positives of a proactive approach to accessibility are numerous.
And oftentimes, if you’re transforming manual HR processes via procuring digital tools, it won’t be your organisation that needs to do the accessibility work – you just need to ask your tool suppliers about accessibility, and hold them accountable for delivering it.
So, where should HR teams prioritise their efforts to make sure their digital processes are accessible to all? As a starting point, there are five key areas to focus on meeting the needs of this diverse workforce:
- Attract new recruits with inclusive design: Usually the first thing a potential recruit does when they are applying for a job is look at a company’s website. However, for many people, particularly those who are neurodivergent, too much detail can be overwhelming. So, keep your website simple. Don’t have careers pages that require lots of scrolling and only include information your potential recruits will need. It is also useful to provide important information in multiple ways – not everyone likes reading text, so including your company background and values in a video can help you get what makes your organisation a great place to work.
- Adapt the recruitment process: Simple adjustments to how you recruit potential employees can transform a candidate’s experience. For example, on application forms, ensure there are no unnecessary timeouts so people have time to apply for the job, and they can save their application half-way through to take a break and come back to it. When it comes to interviews, online or in the office, consider the environment – bright background colours (especially red) can cause distraction and anxiety. In addition, many neurodivergent employees don’t necessarily like face-to-face communication, so requiring them to make eye contact in interviews may stop them from giving their best answers.
- Establish reasonable adjustment requirements prior to start date: HR teams should engage with any new employee to find out if they have any needs for reasonable adjustments (for example the provision of a screen reader or speech-recognition software, or other assistive technology) for working in the office or remotely, ahead of their start date. They should also review the suite of digital workplace tools the employee will be expected to use in their job, to check they will provide an accessible user experience with those assistive technologies. This is also the time to talk with the starter about their communication preferences and whether any additional support or training is required, for them or people in the teams in which they will work.
- Ensure eLearning is accessible: eLearning is often a key part of the onboarding and ongoing training process. HR teams should ensure that this is accessible – for example, including captions on videos, alt-text on images, that all documentation is in an accessible format, and that mandatory tests are able to be completed by people using assistive technologies.
- Consider the design of all communication: It is also important to consider your choice of colours, fonts and imagery across all communication. For example, people with vision impairments may struggle with low contrast text, and those on the autistic spectrum may be put off with the overuse of bright images or certain colours. Similarly, be careful in your choice of fonts – more creative fonts may look great but can be difficult for some people to read.
Closing the gap for disabled workers
For too long, the workplace – both physical and virtual – has not been set up to meet the needs of workers with disabilities and those who are neurodivergent. This is a significant proportion of the potential talent pool, who, despite their abilities, are currently marginalised.
The benefits of hiring from a more diverse workforce are numerous. So HR teams should work with their colleagues in IT and procurement to focus on creating a working environment that is accessible to all.
Jonathan is one of the world's top digital usability & accessibility thought leaders. He has over 20 years’ experience in identifying new directions and challenges in digital accessibility, finding best practice process and technology solutions, authoring international standards and presenting best practices to conference audiences across the world. He delivered the International Accessibility Standard ISO 30071-1 in 2019, which is based on the British Accessibility Standards BS 8878 that he led in 2010.
He leads Hassell Inclusion’s team of accessibility experts providing strategic accessibility transformation services to organisations worldwide. He specialises in advancing organisational accessibility maturity based on ISO 30071-1. This includes training and consultancy to embed accessibility strategically within the software development lifecycle process, leadership of innovative digital projects to make inclusion easier and cheaper to implement, and creation of best-practice international web standards.
