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How To Create An Appealing Work Environment For People With Disabilities

Written by Marjorie Jones

People with disabilities have a lot to offer various companies. Unfortunately, they are often overlooked by hiring managers because they need certain accommodations to maintain productivity. If you want to create an inclusive company that has a work environment that is appealing to people who have disabilities, use these five tips from P.E.R.K. Consulting to get started.

Focus On How You Interact With Your Staff
Offering numerous employee benefits is a good way to attract talent to your business, but the way you treat your staff members is even more important. If you have a bad reputation for treating your employees poorly, it will be difficult to find new candidates to hire. People with disabilities may be especially hesitant to work for you if they don’t feel you can offer a safe work environment. Focus on forming healthy relationships with each of your team members. Compassion, empathy and kindness are important traits to have, and you should practice open communication and set clear expectations.

Change Your Hiring Strategy
If you want to make your company appealing to people with disabilities, you must change your hiring tactics. Start by drafting a recruiting document to spark interest in applicants. The document should detail your commitment to building an inclusive business and highlight the strategies you are using to accomplish them. If you create the document as a PDF file, you can upload the document to an editor, make any necessary changes, download the final version and then share it with potential employees.

Budget for Accommodations
Many people with disabilities need accommodations to maintain productivity. Some of these accommodations are required by law, so ensure that you are attentive to those items. Other accommodations are small, such as allowing people to take one five-minute break during every working hour. Other types of accommodations are costly, but because they are important for your employees, they should be part of your budget. Consider creating a relaxation room to help your staff members destress.

Changing to a dimmer lighting system can accommodate people with light sensitivities while supplying workers with noise-canceling headphones as necessary can boost productivity and reduce distractions. You shouldn’t change every aspect of your work environment to make it more appealing for people with disabilities, but you should budget for reasonable accommodations to show that you care.

Improve Your Company Culture
Even if you are the best boss imaginable, the attitude of your employees can negatively impact your company culture. You should let go of toxic people who limit the productivity of your business and make other team members uncomfortable. Make sure all of your staff members are supportive of coworkers with disabilities and make reasonable accommodations for everyone to keep the work environment positive.

You can also provide additional benefits that show your support for your employees and a desire to help them grow. You can offer free training for employees who want to develop new work-related skills. P.E.R.K. Consulting offers helpful training on business registration, strategic planning, grant writing, and more that can be a great resource for your employees.

You can even offer tuition reimbursement for those who want to pursue a new degree. There are plenty of online degree programs that your employees can attend, which will have accessibility options and allow employees to attend on their own schedules. You can recommend several programs that you feel would be good fits. See your options for these programs here.

Design an Inclusive Website
DDIY reports that a study found that fewer than 3% of websites are fully inclusive, which means that 97% of websites are not accessible to people with disabilities. Having a website that denies access to various groups of people is unappealing to potential job candidates, especially those who have disabilities. Work with a web designer to make your site more accessible with:

1. High-contrast text
2. Limited background design
3. Closed-captioning on all video content

Initiate Inclusive Practices
People with disabilities can bring a wealth of knowledge to your business, so be strategic about making your hiring practices and work environment inclusive. Put practices in place that allow for all employees to succeed, and encourage training through provided resources and tuition reimbursement to help everyone develop their skills. Creating an inclusive business is important, so use these tips to make your company an appealing workplace for people who have disabilities.