How to Make Working From Home Digitally Accessible

4 December 2024

How to Make Working From Home Digitally Accessible

With the rise of hybrid and remote work, companies are now expected to improve accessibility for everyone regardless of their type of disability. Still, this obligation is not consistently met.

Providing equitable working conditions for individuals with disabilities is very achievable. Studies show that the expenses associated with accommodating accessibility needs are relatively minimal, and do not pose a significant financial burden on companies.

But how to make working from home digitally accessible and why it is important for businesses?

What is Digital Accessibility and Why It Matters

Digital accessibility guarantees that websites, apps, and files allow individuals with disabilities such as visual impairments, hearing impairments, physical restrictions, and learning difficulties to access and use them effectively.

To ensure digital content is accessible you should provide image descriptions, video captions, and easy-to-navigate links for screen readers. The process also involves ensuring easy keyboard navigation and compatibility with assistive tools like screen readers.

Accessible digital content promotes fairness and ensures that no one is left out of important information. It is also a legal obligation in many countries.

The Issues Associated With Working from Home and
Accessibility

Working from home has always been an important way for individuals with disabilities, particularly those with limited mobility, to stay engaged in the workforce. Moreover, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased use of remote work, there has been a notable
increase in the number of employed individuals with disabilities. Data shows that the employment rate for people with disabilities reached 22.5 percent, the highest level since data collection started in 2008.

There are still many concerns and uncertainties surrounding the procedures for remote work accessibility to ensure that individuals with disabilities can perform their tasks without any obstacles.

A lot of websites are not designed with accessibility in mind, which makes it difficult for people with disabilities to access information. It includes problems like lack of alternative text for non-text content, the need for closed captioning, untagged PDF files, etc.

Individuals who have disabilities may face communication difficulties, which can make it challenging for them to understand information, especially when working remotely. It can create obstacles when trying to read work materials or engage in conversations with colleagues.

To address these issues and similar challenges, it is important to implement specific strategies in website design and content, offer effective communication options, and, overall, increase accessibility to make working from home digitally accessible to more people.

How to Make Working From Home Digitally Accessible

Here are the key tips that can help ensure a high level of digital accessibility for working from home.

Provide Assistive Devices

You must offer your employees with disabilities suitable assistive technologies such as screen readers, text enlargement tools, text-to-speech software, and more. These tools accommodate different needs and can help you improve productivity.

Create Accessible Documents

Remediation of inaccessible documents is another important step to ensure digital accessibility for working from home. It is important to make sure that documents are easily accessible and editable for individuals with disabilities, particularly those who are blind, have
low vision, or have dyslexia, as they may depend on screen readers for support.

Write Accessible Emails

For better digital accessibility, it’s best to send text-only email messages instead of ones with images. Using a simple email layout without tables is ideal. If images are included, remember to add ALT text. Save emojis for the end of the email and avoid using them within
words.

Provide Accessible Hyperlinks

It’s important to include descriptive hyperlinks instead of generic ones. For example, it’s more effective to use phrases like “Get your free course” instead of just saying “Click here”. Also, avoid capitalizing every word in the link as it can be challenging for those with reading
impairments. Additionally, it’s best to avoid using hypertext URLs. 

Provide Accessible Video Content 

Your video content must also be easily accessible, which includes having transcripts, captions/subtitles, and accessible audio, as well as using the correct colors.

Be Open for Communication of Accessibility Needs

It is very important to be open to communication of any accessibility needs. This is especially essential for large companies where it is more difficult to keep in mind the needs of every employee. Therefore, you should promote a culture where employees feel comfortable expressing their needs.

Increase Staff Accessibility Awareness

Don’t forget to raise awareness about accessibility within your company by hosting webinars, and other events. During these events, your employees should learn about all the disability types, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, as well as the problems people with disabilities encounter. This will ensure that your team is knowledgeable about accessibility concerns and ready to support colleagues with disabilities.

Focus on Inclusion 

Improving digital accessibility in the workplace is a positive step to promote fairer employment opportunities.

Overall, focusing on inclusion is important for businesses looking to succeed. Still, it’s not just about achieving success or meeting legal requirements but also about promoting a supportive environment where everyone can excel, regardless of their abilities.

Investing in human resources with PERFORM

The article is part of our series on How to Motivate Employees to PERFORM. Knowing how to motivate employees is one of the most important aspects of a manager’s job.

But as important is the need to manage the factors that contribute to that motivation, and to create the conditions for people to perform and realise their potential.

Our tool to help you achieve these management skills is the Apex PERFORM model. It stands for:

P – Potential
E – Expertise
R – Results
F – Focus
O – Opportunities
R – Resources
M – Motivation

>> Return to the Managing Performance Knowledge Hub