05 Nov Make Your Workspace Disability-Friendly
Audit Your building
Get an accessibility expert to audit your building’s accessibility every 3 years, or more regularly if necessary. That will give you prioritized advice about accessibility problems in your building and practical advice on how to solve those problems. A good accessibility expert will often be able to suggest affordable solutions.
Develop an Access Handbook
The National Disability Authority’s Access Handbook Template defines an Access Handbook as an internal document for the use of management, maintenance personnel and new staff; and which all staff should be aware of. The purpose of an Access Handbook is to provide a simple way of listing and explaining the features and facilities of a building, which must be maintained and/or improved in order to ensure access for everyone.
Build Awareness and Invest in Training
“An aware workforce is also an empowered workforce.” For disabled employees to be fully integrated into a workplace, it is essential that all employees are familiar with the commitment of their organization to being disabled-friendly.
Educating your managers and staff about disabilities in the workplace is pivotal to creating an all-inclusive culture. Sensitization will help the employees overcome any biases they might have against people with disabilities. Also, training is crucial to provide the employees with the know-how of aiding PWDs when required.
It’s also a good idea to consult with your disabled employees about what they would want to see put in place to help those with disabilities.
Assistive Technology
Some common assistive technology aids include color-coded keyboards, refreshable Braille displays, specialized screen reader software, assistive listening devices, speech recognition, and sign language apps
Appropriate Equipment
Adapting the workplace doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking – it can start with ensuring the right equipment and storage solutions are available. Some basic necessities required to make a workplace disabled-friendly.
- Disabled-friendly parking
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- That parking spaces and drop-off points are kept clear for people who need them
- The surface and lighting around the building and on the paths that customers use to get to the building.
- That the main entrance door is correctly designed, and that at least one entry is accessible if the main entrance is not accessible
- wheelchair accessible doorways
- ramps at entries and exits of buildings and cafeterias
- wide corridors and easy access to workstations
- Elevators in all new buildings that have more than one floor
- accessible operating buttons and/or Braille in Elevators
- accessible washrooms
- height adjustable desks
- accessible plug sockets
- adjustable monitor arms
Need more help making your office more disabled-friendly? Contact us today
Sources:
https://blog.hrps.org/blogpost/6-Ways-to-Make-Your-Workspace-Disabled-Friendly
https://www.ciphr.com/advice/make-office-disability-friendly/
https://themighty.com/2017/05/tips-to-make-your-workplace-disability-friendly/
https://employabilities.ab.ca/how-to-create-a-disability-friendly-workplace/
http://nda.ie/Resources/Accessibility-toolkit/Make-your-buildings-more-accessible/
