What Makes a Workplace Accessible?
By Donna Jodhan
What makes a workplace accessible?
This is a question that I, as an accessibility consultant,
get asked almost every day. When does a
workplace become accessible? Is it when
a person is able to function independently?
Or is it when a person feels that they can perform all of the duties of
their job without having to ask for help?
Or is when management feels that they have done everything within their
power to make it so?
As I write this, I am reminded of not too long ago when
blind people simply dreamed of being able to use mobile devices independently
and efficiently. I too dreamed of it and
thanks to the vision and hard work of the late Steve Jobs, devices such as the
iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch have all been made accessible to us.
I don’t think that anyone could have imagined that some day
sooner rather than later this could have been accomplished but it has and so
now I apply the same thought process to the questions above. In fairness to all concerned, the answers to
these questions may be different; depending on which view you take. However, and for what it is worth, I am going
to confuse things a tad and say that my response would be a combination of the
first two responses that I have listed above.
I believe that an accessible workplace depends on how it is
viewed by the employee being asked. As a blind person I would state the
following:
-
My workplace is only accessible to me when I am able to
do the following:
-
Enter the building independently without having to ask
for help.
-
Find the elevators and be able to locate my desk
without help.
-
Be able to log on to my system independently without
having to seek help.
-
Be able to locate and read all electronic documents
only asking for guidance to know where to find said documents.
-
Be able to access my company’s intranet without having
to seek sighted assistance.
-
Be able to locate washrooms, elevators, meeting rooms,
and cafeterias with minimal assistance.
-
Be able to navigate around the cafeteria with minimal
assistance.
Of course, someone may think of other things to add to this
list, but this is my idea of a completely accessible workplace.
I'm Donna J. Jodhan your freelance writer and reporter
wishing you a terrific day.
If you'd like to learn more about me, then you can visit
some of my blog spots at:
(Weekly Saturday postings on issues of accessibility) http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing this great article, I really enjoyed the insign you bring to the topic, awesome stuff!
shce
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