Assistive technology Contents

3The role of employers

20.Employer attitudes remain one of the biggest barriers for disabled people seeking employment.57 Research commissioned by Leonard Cheshire Disability found that, of line managers who are less likely to employ a disabled person, almost three in four (73%) would be concerned they would struggle to do the job.58 Employers may also be concerned about incurring extra costs, either through lost productivity or through funding adaptations.59 For many, it is simply a step into the unknown. These concerns disadvantage both disabled people looking for work, and employees with health conditions seeking to stay in work. We heard that employers could be relieved of concerns about productivity if they understood more about how cheap or free AT can support disabled employees (see Case Study 4, below).60

Case study 4: Anil

    Anil has cerebral palsy. He is looking for a job as a web designer. His condition reduces his ability to type, so he uses the Google speech-to-text app. Anil thinks that speech recognition software could help him manage his workload when he finds a job, but that he would need funding for software that transcribes his speech more accurately. His awareness of what this technology might be, how it works, and how it fits with IT systems is very limited. He does not know what software he could use that would be compatible with the specialist coding software he would be using at work.

    If Anil knew what technology he needs he reassure his employers about his capabilities. He could even demonstrate how it works to potential employers at interview. This would help dispel concerns they might have had about his ability to do the job.

Source: Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022)

Changing employer attitudes

21.We heard that employer awareness and understanding of AT is low.61 This means employers often do not realise disabled employees’ potential. Ultimately, this damages productivity. AbilityNet’s Robin Christopherson told us that, with the right AT and adjustments, “disabled employees are as productive as their able-bodied colleagues, take less sick leave and stay longer in their jobs”.62 However, disabled people told Shaw Trust that lack of understanding by employers made it “difficult” for them to explain how AT would assist them at work, and to put forward a business case for any investment needed.63 The Department told us that many employers are not aware of the features within devices they (or disabled employees) already own or which could be purchased at a reasonable cost.64 The Department offers few resources to raise awareness and educate employers, however. Its employer service, Fit for Work, provides advice to employers on how to support employees with health conditions. It makes limited reference to AT.65 Disability Confident, DWP’s scheme for encouraging employers to hire and retain disabled people, similarly makes no specific provision for encouraging employers to build their awareness and understanding of AT.66

22.The Department suggested, however, that it might use its planned Disability Confident information portal to offer employers AT support.67 The portal aims to enhance access to support on disability for employers of all sizes.68 The Department said it is currently exploring what information would be of the greatest benefit to employers.69 Witnesses told us the Department should prioritise improving employer understanding of AT and how to access it.70 This could include:

a)Information about the different types of AT available and how these can support people with different health conditions at work.71 This could include reminders of Equality Act obligations and case studies of how AT can help meet these.72

b)Promotion of mainstream, cost-effective AT and AT support. The portal could, for example, signpost mainstream provider helplines such as Microsoft’s accessibility helpdesk, AbilityNet’s My Computer My Way website or the Disabled Living Foundation’s Living Made Easy website .73

c)Guidance on making existing IT systems compatible with AT, ways of ensuring continuing compatibility after updates, and procuring accessible systems.74

d)Advice on discussing the different kinds of AT available with a disabled employee and what funding assistance is available.75

e)Guidance on making recruitment processes accessible to users of AT, for example by providing application forms in Microsoft Word format.76

23.Shaw Trust told us that the launch of the portal should be accompanied by an awareness campaign.77 The Business Disability Forum (BDF) stressed the campaign should focus on the wider business benefits, rather than presenting AT as “adjustments for disabled people”. BDF’s disabled members felt that seeing AT as “mainstreamed” and “normalised” in everyday working life would be invaluable in changing employer attitudes.78 This approach could also benefit the wider workforce. Adjustments that can be used as AT can help non-disabled employees be more productive, too. Screen-reading software can help anyone to proof read documents, for example.79 BDF explained that at the University of Kent, all IT users are pointed towards a suite of “Productivity Tools” that help them find what works for them and their way of working.80

24.Assistive technology is not just good for individual disabled people: it is good for business. It can play a huge role in dispelling employer concerns about hiring or retaining disabled workers, opening a much wider pool of talent. It could also enhance productivity for disabled and non-disabled employees alike. Realising this potential depends on employers knowing about assistive technology, and disabled people using it to its full potential. The Department must not miss the chance to make AT a central component of its work with employers through Disability Confident. We recommend the Department dedicate a section of its Disability Confident portal to assistive technology. This should include information on types of assistive technology; case studies of how they can help; promotion of mainstream, low-cost assistive technology; and signposting towards resources for helping individuals and building compatible systems. The Department should run a publicity campaign alongside the launch of the portal, highlighting the business benefits of assistive technology at work.

The civil service as a Disability Confident leader

25.Employers registered with Disability Confident can progress through three accreditation levels: “Committed”, “Employer” and “Leader”.81 The government aims to lead by example on disability employment through the civil service. In the Improving Lives response, it announced that all main government departments are now Disability Confident leaders.82 We heard, however, that IT systems in the civil service can be particularly inaccessible to many disabled employees. Notably, IT was not standardised across Departments, which is a particular problem because many civil servants move roles every two or three years. They may find their AT works in one Department, but not in another.83 As well as causing immediate practical difficulties, this can hinder disabled peoples’ career progression. Jo-Ann Moran, a civil servant in the Home Office, told us:84

I am a top performer in my grade and I keep getting told, “Come on, go for it,” but I cannot because without [consistent IT/AT] I am just not going to be reliable. If, say, I go for a job working for a Minister, a Minister is not going to accommodate me when I say, “Sorry, my computer is not working today”. That is where my barrier is at.

26.Shaw Trust told us that ensuring technological accessibility should be clearly built into Disability Confident at all levels.85 Microsoft’s Hector Minto argued that “you cannot claim to be Disability Confident both in terms of accessing your customers with disabilities or employing people with disabilities if you do not have some basic technological experience”.86 Witnesses recommended that several Disability Confident qualifying criteria should be updated to include specific requirements on and reference to AT. For example:

i)Committed: RNIB and Inclusion London recommended employers should be required to ensure recruitment process are inclusive and accessible to AT users.87

ii)Employer: Shaw Trust said employers should demonstrate flexibility when assessing people, for example through offering a video relay service for interviews, or considering offering AT to disabled applicants to help them complete tests and exercises.88 Employers could also be asked to provide examples of good practice in the use of AT as evidence of “supporting employees to manage their disability or health conditions”.89

iii)Leader: Shaw Trust advocated a requirement for IT procurement policies that ensure AT users are able to operate systems at the same level of functionality as non-users.90

27.Microsoft and Shaw Trust argued that civil service leadership of AT should encompass ensuring that new systems provided full accessibility for AT users, without specialist “add-ons”.91 This would begin to address the problems of AT compatibility between civil service departments. Microsoft explained of this approach also had much wider benefits:

When government purchases technology that is inclusive, it lowers the demands on specialist solutions and is more usable for all.92

28.The Government wants the civil service to be a model Disability Confident workplace. But a lack of attention to assistive technology in procurement and poor coordination between departments risks undermining this goal. Government should show leadership in demonstrating how assistive technology can help disabled employees work, and progress their careers, in much the same way as their non-disabled colleagues. We recommend the Department introduce specific criteria on assistive technology to Disability Confident. As part of this, employers at Leader level should procure accessible systems. The Government should commit to doing this for all new IT procurement from April 2019. To drive improvement, the Department should create a central standard for accessible systems in government departments. It should then produce and publish an annual report on compliance via Disability Confident, ranking departments from most to least accessible.


57 Work and Pensions Committee, Disability employment gap, p.31

58 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022). See also: How Do I? (AST0014), Milton Keynes Council (AST0011), Action for ME (AST0006)

59 Sense (DEG0065), Breakthrough UK (DEG0053), Papworth Trust (DEG0043), Blind in Business (DEG0017), Sight for Surrey (DEG0080), How Do I? (AST0014)

60 RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), Shaw Trust (AST0039)

61 Action for ME (AST0006), Shaw Trust (AST0039), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Action on Hearing Loss (AST0025), AbilityNet (AST0024), Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), How Do I? (AST0014)

62 Q62 (Robin Christopherson)

63 Shaw Trust (AST0027)

65 DWP, Fit for Work, March 2018

66 DWP, Disability Confident employment scheme and guidance, November 2016

70 Shaw Trust (AST0039), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), Scope (AST0009)

71 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), See also: Shaw Trust (AST0027), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020)

72 Shaw Trust (AST0027). See also: AbilityNet (AST0024), Aspire (AST0017), All Parliamentary Group for Assistive Technology (AST0035), British Assistive Technology (AST0034), National Association of Deafened People (AST0033)

73 Scope (AST0009). See also: AbilityNet (AST0024), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019), Jisc (AST0010)

74 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022). See also: Shaw Trust (AST0039), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Microsoft (AST0021), Inclusion London (AST0016), Scope (AST0009), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019)

75 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022)

76 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022). See also: Inclusion London (AST0016), Shaw Trust (AST0039), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Abilitynet (AST0024), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019), How Do I? (AST0014)

77 Shaw Trust (AST0027). See also: RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), Business Disability Forum (AST0023)

78 Business Disability Forum (AST0023)

79 Q58 (Hector Minto)

80 Business Disability Forum (AST0023). See also: Jisc (AST0010), Q58 (Robin Christopherson), Q58 (Hector Minto)

83 Business Disability Forum (AST0023), Cabinet Office (AST0036), Q53 (Jo-Ann Moran), Q37 Tracey Johnson

84 Q53 (Jo-Ann Moran)

85 Shaw Trust (AST0027), Shaw Trust (AST0039). See also: Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), Microsoft (AST0021), Inclusion London (AST0016), Scope (AST0009), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019)

86 Q62 (Hector Minto)

87 Inclusion London (AST0016), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020)

88 Sense (AST0026), Shaw Trust (AST0027)

89 Shaw Trust (AST0027)

90 Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), Shaw Trust (AST0039), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Microsoft (AST0021), Inclusion London (AST0016), Scope (AST0009), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019)

91 Microsoft (AST0021), Shaw Trust (AST0027), Shaw Trust (AST0039). See also: Leonard Cheshire Disability (AST0022), Inclusion London (AST0016), Scope (AST0009), RNIB and Thomas Pocklington Trust (AST0020), WAIS Accessibility Team University of Southampton (AST0019)

92 Microsoft (AST0021)




Published: 19 April 2018