BHR Unit IV

Work 27 (2006) 397–405 397 IOS Press

Information technology (IT) accessibility: Implications for employment of people with disabilities

Susanne M. Bruyère∗, William Erickson and Sara VanLooy Cornell University, Employment and Disability Institute, Ithaca, NY, USA

Abstract. Online technology has made significant inroads into human resource (HR) processes such as recruitment, benefits, and training, yet many web sites are inaccessible to people with disabilities. Cornell University surveyed 433 HR representatives regarding their organizations’ use of information and Web technology in HR processes. Survey results report that nine of the ten organizations use Web processes for job postings, eight of ten for online benefits information dissemination, and about six out of ten for online benefits self service and online employee training. Employee use of computers was extensive, with the majority using computers more than half the workday. Knowledge of assistive technologies for computer users with disabilities and of Web accessibility considerations was low, but nearly half the respondents reported having made some type of adaptation to make a computer accessible to an employee with a disability. Very few organizations had trained any of their staff in Web accessibility topics or in making computers accessible, and the majority desired more information on those topics. These findings have implications not only for people with disabilities, but for the general workforce, which is aging.

Keywords: Information technology, web accessibility, human resource practices, HR, IT accommodations, disability

1. Introduction

Over the last decade, the Internet has grown into a major source of information and method of commu- nication. However, individuals with disabilities have not fully shared in this rapid growth in computer and Internet use. A report by the US Department of Com- merce [15] found that 63.1% of people aged 25–60 without disabilities had used the Internet, while people with disabilities in that age range were much less likely to have accessed the Internet (ranging from 30.3% of those with multiple disabilities to 54.8% of those who were deaf or had a severe hearing impairment).

As the Internet has grown, businesses have integrated it in their employment practices, including e-recruiting,

∗Address for correspondence: Susanne M. Bruyère, Ph.D., CRC, NCC, Director, Employment and Disability Institute, Cornell Univer- sity, 201k School of Industrial & Labor Relations-Extension Build- ing, Garden Avenue, Ithaca, NY 14853-3901, USA. Tel.: +1 607 255 7727; Fax: +1 607 255 2763; E-mail: [email protected].

e-benefits, e-training, telecommuting and virtual teams. Several studies have shown the importance of the In- ternet for recruitment. For example, Singh and Finn [10] documented large increases in e-recruiting. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) [2] found that 88% of the human resource (HR) managers surveyed reported using Internet job postings. Lee [7] found that all 100 of the Fortune 100 companies were using at least one e-recruiting method, with 94 having a corporate career site and the remaining 6 subscribing to third-party job boards.

A number of studies have reported that online ac- cess to human resources and benefits is becoming com- monplace. Towers Perrin [13] found that 91% of the firms they surveyed offered employees access to their HR Web site at work. The 2003 Workforce Manage- ment/Findley Davies HR Technology survey found on- line tools to be gaining ground among their respon- dents, with nearly half relying on online timecards, benefits enrollment, and life events processing. Less than half were still using paper processes for job post-

1051-9815/06/$17.00 © 2006 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved

398 S.M. Bruyère et al. / Information technology (IT) accessibility

ings [5]. Online benefits administration has also be- come a necessity. For example, 58% of employers sur- veyed for John Hancock Life Insurance said that bene- fits self-service technology is a must, and 37% admitted that they had trimmed benefits staff so far that remain- ing employees could not handle the workload without the help of technology [8].

e-Training is also a growing practice. A survey by Training Magazine found that 90% of the firms they queried made some use of Internet-/intranet-based training. Over half (54%) of the companies surveyed always or often used it. Even one-third of the manu- facturing respondents, the least frequent industry user of e-training, reported using it often [4].

An IT-intensive organizational infrastructure has not only supported use of the Internet at the worksite, it has allowed companies to make working and collaborating at a distance a feasible option [9]. Many Americans now have become telecommuters – spending at least part of their work-day or work-week either in home offices, satellite offices, or neighborhood work cen- ters close to their homes, at customer sites, or on the road [12]. According to the US Census Bureau [14], 4.5 million employees usually worked at home in 2003, up over 7% from 4.2 million in 2000. Virtual teams afford companies an opportunity to tap global talent, but also create new challenges in building teams [11].

Despite the widespread use of the Internet, many sites are not accessible to people with vision impair- ments, hearing problems, or limited dexterity for mous- ing/navigating. A study performed in 2001 found that two-thirds of the sites evaluated contained major ac- cessibility issues that could prevent access by a person with one or more of these disabilities [6]. A recent review of e-recruiting sites found that only one-third of the job boards and one-quarter of the corporate e- recruiting sites were accessible throughout the entire application process [3].

A vast number of HR transactions currently occur online, and this number will almost certainly increase. Given that so many human resource functions are be- ing delivered by online methods, knowledge of how to access and navigate the Internet is absolutely essential for all job seekers and incumbents. Employers who use computer technology and the Internet should con- cern themselves with accessibility issues, not only be- cause employment nondiscrimination laws require rea- sonable accommodations in all areas of the employ- ment process, but also because it is the right thing to do.

This paper reports the results of a survey of HR professionals to examine emerging issues presented by

the use of information technology in the workplace. The survey focused on how Internet-based technologies present potential barriers to equal employment access for persons with disabilities, and what might be done to assist organizations and individuals with disabilities to deal with these emerging issues.

2. Methodology

2.1. The survey instrument

The 10–15 minute telephone survey gathered respon- dent and organizational demographics. Additionally, it included questions on the extent of computer use in the organization, scope of online technologies applied to human resource processes, awareness of potential barriers that computers might present to people with specific disabilities, knowledge of assistive technol- ogy and accessibility resources, as well as familiarity with computer-related adaptations made for employ- ees with disabilities, availability of employees trained in computer accessibility, helpfulness of organizational resources to address accessibility issues and other types of resources/solutions.

2.2. Sample

The sample consisted of the 813 members of SHRM who had participated in a previous 1998 survey re- garding HR response to the Americans with Disabili- ties Act (ADA). Our partnership with SHRM allowed ready access to this existing sample, stratified by em- ployer size, so we chose to return to this sample for the follow-up survey. SHRM was sampled with the assumption that as the largest HR organization in the US, they would provide respondents who clearly iden- tify themselves by interest and function with the HR profession. The 1998 SHRM survey sample consisted of 1,402 randomly selected SHRM members, chosen based on the size of their work organization to provide a sample representing small, medium, and large orga- nizations in the US [1]. Choosing to survey the respon- dents from the 1998 survey meant that our respondents were, for the most part, seasoned professionals. It may also mean that results presented here are not reflective of the knowledge of newer SHRM members.

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2.3. Data collection and analysis

Letters requesting participation were sent to the po- tential respondents in May 2002. Data collection began five days later, and was completed in July 2002. All sur- veys were conducted by telephone using a CATI (com- puter assisted telephone interviewing) system. Hard copies of the survey were available to respondents via email or fax if requested. If the original respondent from the 1998 survey was not available, attempts were made to locate an appropriate and/or equivalent infor- mant within the company.

Basic descriptive statistics were generated for this report. In addition, selected questions were further ex- amined using specific factors such as organization type, and size, to explore the impact of these factors on re- sponses. These comparisons were made using a Chi- square test of association with statistical significance assessed at the p < 0.05 level. Across all survey ques- tions, fewer than 4% of respondents answered “don’t know/refused” on average. Given this small number, these responses have been excluded from the analysis presented in this report.

3. Results

3.1. Sample characteristics

A total of 493 individuals were successfully con- tacted, of whom 433 completed the survey (60 refused to participate), resulting in an 88% response rate. Over- all, 59% of the respondents had also participated in the 1998 survey. Most of the 320 original respondents who were not resurveyed in 2002 had invalid phone numbers, were no longer with the company, or were unavailable for some other reason.

Approximately one-quarter (24%) of the respondents were from very large companies (those with more than 5,000 employees), 33% were from medium to large- sized companies (more than 500, but less than 5,000) and the remainder (43%) were from smaller companies with fewer than 500 employees.

The majority of respondents were from the upper levels of the company, with one in ten a president/owner or vice-president, one-third director/assistant director, and another third manager/assistant manager. The re- mainder did not fall neatly into the job title categories presented, but the majority of those were also at upper levels of the companies. In terms of the respondent’s function within the organization, the majority fell into

the category of HR generalists (68%), with 7% ad- ministrative, 6% employment/recruitment and 3% em- ployee relations. Most participants were quite experi- enced with their companies. More than a third (37%) reported having been with the company more than ten years, 22% six to ten years, and 33% reported between two and five years of experience with their current com- pany. Only 9% had been with the company a year or less.

3.2. Computer use

The majority of informants in all industries reported that most employees used computers at least occasion- ally. Even in the industries with the lowest computer use, over 40% of employees spent at least half the workday on computers (40% of transportation/utilities, 42% of manufacturing, and 47% of retail/wholesale trade). Three out of five positions in public administra- tion (60%) and service industries (60%) use comput- ers more than half the day, and 80% in the insurance, high tech and finance sectors do so. Surprisingly, the smallest firms (less than 100 employees), reported the largest percentage of employees using computers more than half the workday (67%).

3.3. Use of online technology in HR processes

The survey included a question asking about the use of four prominent online HR technologies: online em- ployee training, self-service benefits, benefits informa- tion dissemination, and job postings. The majority of the respondents reported their companies were using online technologies to some extent in each of the four HR processes (see Fig. 1). Overall, more than two- thirds of respondents reported using at least three of the online technologies, with only 3% reporting not using any.

3.4. Familiarity with assistive technologies

The respondents were asked about the familiarity of organizational staff with six of the most common as- sistive technologies used to adapt computers or infor- mation technology applications (see Fig. 2). Only 32% were not familiar with screen magnifiers – software or equipment that allows enlargement of an area of the screen for people with low vision. Speech recognition software, which enables a user who cannot use a key- board to use a computer with verbal commands, was unfamiliar to 45% of respondents. Video captioning,

400 S.M. Bruyère et al. / Information technology (IT) accessibility

Fig. 1. Organizations’ Use of Online Technology.

often used to make training videos accessible to in- dividuals with hearing disabilities, was unfamiliar to 55% of respondents. Assistive technologies designed for blind individuals were unfamiliar to the majority of respondents. Sixty percent of respondents were unfa- miliar with Braille readers, which use computer soft- ware to render text from the screen as Braille dots on a special display, and 70% of respondents were unfamil- iar with screen readers (software that reads computer text aloud).

3.5. Staff training in web and computer accessibility

Only one respondent in ten knew whether any of their organization’s HR Web sites had been evaluated for accessibility for people with disabilities. Among all respondents, 30% said their sites had not been eval- uated; the remainder were unaware of whether their sites had been evaluated or not. The number of orga- nizations not testing their Web sites for accessibility is unsurprising, given that two-thirds reported that their organization had not trained any staff in either Inter- net accessibility or in making computers accessible to persons with disabilities.

Only 15% of the respondents reported that any of their employees had received training in Internet acces- sibility for persons with disabilities. When this train-

ing had occurred, the organization’s IT staff (58% of those organizations) was the most common recipient. However, HR staff (52%), occupational safety/medical staff (47%) and managerial staff (44%) were reported to have received some degree of training as well (see Fig. 3).

A larger proportion of respondents, 31%, reported organizational staff had received training in mak- ing computers accessible for people with disabilities. Over three-quarters of those reporting some train- ing had noted the IT staff as the main recipients; with about a quarter saying someone on their occu- pational/safety/medical, HR, or managerial staff had received training in this area.

A significant difference was found regarding staff training and accessibility and the size of the organi- zation (see Table 1). Large organizations were much more likely to report training in either area, although only a quarter of the respondents from the largest com- panies (5,000+) reported any staff training in Internet accessibility, and only slightly more than half reported training in making computers accessible.

Respondents indicated considerable interest in get- ting more information regarding these topics, with 71% expressing a desire for more information on Internet accessibility and 68% wanting more information on computer accessibility.

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Fig. 2. Familiarity with Assistive Technologies.

3.6. Computer adaptations made for employees with disabilities

Despite being unfamiliar with accessibility issues, nearly half the respondents reported that they had made alterations to make a computer accessible to an em- ployee with a disability. Of the largest employers (5,000+ employees), 73% had made adaptations, com- pared with 61% of medium-large companies (500 to 4,999) and 29% of small companies (less than 500).

Forty-one percent of the companies that had made accommodations had made alterations to a worksta- tion. Many adaptations (65%) were for individuals with visual impairments and included screen magni- fiers (41%), large screens (16%), screen readers (8%) and Braille readers (6%). Special computer input ap- paratus such as mice, keyboards and pointing devices were mentioned by 31% of those who had made adap- tations, and voice recognition software was mentioned by 20%.

3.7. Helpfulness of web accessibility organizational resources

Organizations may also have internal resources that can be consulted to help address computer/Web accessi-

bility issues for employees with disabilities. The high- est rated resource, rated as helpful by 84%, was the em- ployee with a disability himself. Nearly three-quarters (72%) recognized their health and safety/ergonomics staff as a valuable resource as well. Two-thirds (66%) of the respondents viewed both their organization’s computer network services staff and disability case management staff as helpful. The central HR staff was rated as helpful by 60%. Only 35% rated their procure- ment office staff as helpful with respect to these issues, while 41% considered them not helpful.

4. Discussion: Implications for practice

These research results confirm existing data on the increasing prevalence of online/Web applications in hu- man resource processes and highlight many implica- tions for applicants and employees with disabilities. Online HR processes are used extensively by organiza- tions, with only 3% reporting not making use of them. Employee use of computers on the job was intensive, with the majority of employees using computers more than half the workday. This was even true in the small- est firms. In order to access job opportunities and em-

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Table 1 Staff Trained in Internet Accessibility, by organization size

Company size <500 500–4999 5000+ Chi-Squared

Internet Accessible training 8.5% 15.2% 26.8% χ2 = 13.40 (p = 0.0012, df = 2, n = 360) Computer training 17.3% 33.6% 53.9% χ2 = 33.50 (p < 0.0001, df = 2, n = 358)

52

44 47

59

25

49

25 22

32

77

11

26

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

HR staff Managerial staff Occ.Safety/medical staff

IT staff Procurement Other

Internet accessibility

Computer accessibility

Note: Percent of respondents who trained any staff (N=53 for Internet access, N=112 for computer access) Source: Survey of SHRM Membership on IT Access in the Employment Process. Cornell University, 2003

%

Fig. 3. Type of staff who received training on Internet or computer accessibility (of those who trained any staff).

ployee information, as well as to perform their job func- tions, people with disabilities need to be able to access online processes.

These findings have implications not only for peo- ple with disabilities, but also for the general work- force. The portion of the US population between the ages of 45 and 64 is increasing, and is projected to account for nearly half of the working-age population by the year 2010. As the workforce ages, increasing numbers of workers with visual, hearing, and dexterity limitations will result in a greater need for workplace accommodations, particularly in the computer and in- formation technology areas. Accessible information technology will not only help the aging workforce to maintain employment, but will benefit employees with- out disabilities who connect to the Internet via low- bandwidth technologies such as cell phones and PDAs. This concept of Universal Design provides “electronic curb cuts” to any user, regardless of disability.

In addition, the ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for applicants and em- ployees with disabilities, and this includes providing accessible computer technology. Employers need fur- ther information to increase their awareness of barriers that computers can create. Information is also needed to help them become more familiar with types of assis- tive technologies, as well as resources available to pro- vide training and technical assistance. Such proactive efforts toward removing technology barriers will go far to reduce the likelihood that claims of IT accessibility discrimination will occur.

Rehabilitation service providers and health care providers supporting job placement and workplace re- tention of individuals with disabilities can assist work- places in addressing these information needs by using many of the key findings of this research. As further described below, interventions such as organizational top management commitment, involvement of the in- dividual with a disability as a resource in identifying

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an appropriate accommodation, staff training on IT ac- cessibility issues, and preparation of people with dis- abilities for an IT-intensive workplace, are all interven- tions that can significantly contribute to the lessening and ultimate elimination of these barriers. It is crucial that rehabilitation and other health care providers work- ing with individuals with disabilities assist in raising employer and human resource professional awareness about the importance of these interventions in lessening information technology access barriers.

4.1. Organizational commitment to IT accessibility is imperative

The use of the Web for business purposes has ex- panded rapidly. Companies increasingly are using the Web as their primary outlet for new employee recruit- ment, benefits management, and training. Organiza- tions are also moving toward dispersed work teams con- nected by information and communication technolo- gies. However, prior Cornell research [3] shows that many easily addressed, yet critical features that would make online processes accessible, have not been built into the sites’ overall design. In the current study, few respondents who reported using Web technology were aware of accessibility evaluations, and the majority said their sites had not been evaluated.

It is imperative that top management be explicit about organizational commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities, including Web/IT accessibility. Such leadership is needed if all technical and HR staff in- volved in the acquisition, design, and implementation of applications used in HR processes, as well as super- visors and technical staff implementing new applica- tions in work processes, are to take accessibility consid- erations seriously. Such policies and practices might in- clude the development and promotion of specific acces- sibility guidelines which can be used across the organi- zation’s computer and Web-based application designs and equipment procurement. In this study, the majority of respondents felt uniform guidelines to make Web- based employer processes accessible would be helpful. Such guidelines are readily available, including those promoted by Section 508 for the federal government and the World Wide Web Consortium.

4.2. View applicant/employee with a disability as key resource

It is encouraging that the resource most often iden- tified as helpful in addressing computer/Web accessi-

bility issues was the employee with a disability him or herself. It is important that HR professionals or other organizational personnel involved in the accommoda- tion process work directly with the individual with a disability, who is often the most knowledgeable about accommodation needs. This approach is also consis- tent with the intent of the ADA, which calls for the accommodation process to be an informal interactive process between the employer and the individual with a disability. Even in situations where the technology may be new or unfamiliar to the person with the dis- ability, the best results will be achieved if he or she is involved in the process.

Despite the large number of respondents who were unfamiliar with accessibility issues, nearly half re- ported having made alterations to make a computer ac- cessible to an employee with a disability. Our results suggest that organizational experience with accommo- dation may lead to the perception that barriers for em- ployees with disabilities are more manageable and/or less significant, compared with the perceptions of those who have never made such changes. Exposure to avail- able assistive technologies could well lead to a more realistic assessment of potential accommodations.

Some ways to facilitate similar awareness in more organizations in a positive and proactive way might be to promote internal knowledge of successful adapta- tions, so that solutions become more widely known. A good example of an awareness-raising approach is the mentoring and internship programs for youth with dis- abilities used by the federal sector. Such programs af- ford supervisors and other employees a first-hand view of the capabilities of these young workers, as well as to help them gain valuable experience in how accommo- dations can make a work environment accessible.

4.3. Staff training on IT accessibility

Although there is a general awareness that Web and computer technology can create barriers for people with certain disabilities, most organizations have not addressed those concerns within their online HR pro- cesses. Despite the fact that respondents felt that hav- ing specific expertise on accessibility issues and trained technical staff within their organization would be the most helpful ways to remove technological barriers, most respondents did not have any staff trained in either Internet accessibility or in making computers accessi- ble. Notably, nearly seven out of ten expressed a desire for more information on this topic.

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IT accessibility training needs to be extended to a wider variety of potentially affected groups within the organization. Most respondents felt that staff other than IT staff, such as the employee with a disability, health and safety or ergonomics staff, or disability case management staff could be helpful in addressing com- puter and accessibility issues. Yet, over three-quarters of those reporting any accessibility training listed the IT staff as the main recipients, while only about a quar- ter said their occupational/safety/medical, HR, or man- agerial staff had received such training. Since accom- modation requests often come to HR professionals and supervisors, it is essential that these groups have in- formation on appropriate responses and resources. It would also be beneficial to train procurement office staff that play an important role in the acquisition of accessibility solutions, to make them more helpful in the accommodation process. Some of the topics which might be covered include:

– The general employment disability nondiscrimi- nation requirements of the ADA;

– The reasonable accommodation process; – Web accessibility guidelines; – Computer workstation accommodations; – Common computer and software accommodations

for individuals with specific disabilities, such as visual or fine motor disabilities; and

– Available resources to find further information to respond to accommodation requests.

4.4. Need for employment training on information technology

Results from this survey also confirm the importance of computer skills training for all Americans as a part of general workforce preparation planning. Few work- places do not use computers at all. Even in the “low computer use” industries surveyed, representatives re- ported a majority of workers use a computer, many for more than half of the working day. This is true of companies of all sizes, and is even more pronounced in small companies. This has significant implications for employees with disabilities.

In the prior Cornell University survey mentioned above, SHRM members identified lack of requisite skills, experience and training in people with disabil- ities as major barriers to employment and advance- ment [1]. This perception of disparity in requisite skills, training, and related experience of persons with dis- abilities has implications for any attempt to advance the

interests of people with disabilities in the employment and training arena via social policy changes. These bar- riers will become even more pronounced in an increas- ingly computerized work environment, unless people with disabilities get the necessary training to become and stay competitive.

It is essential that initiatives such as those in exis- tence under the Workforce Investment Act include peo- ple with disabilities in their mandate and implementa- tion. For example, training and technology initiatives should be targeted to people with disabilities, and One- Stop Career Centers must be equipped to accommodate job seekers with disabilities. Technology training is an important part of the current administration’s New Freedom Initiative for persons with disabilities. This means not only having the direction for such inclu- sion written into legislation and resulting regulations, but also making certain that at the local level, imple- mentation takes into account the unique training needs of industries and the populations of persons with dis- abilities in a specific community. Local incentive pro- grams for collaboration between employers, organiza- tions promoting employment for persons with disabil- ities, and technology training programs will assist in promoting useful partnerships to address these issues in a meaningful and effective way.

5. Conclusions

The purpose of this research was to discover how a workplace that is increasingly IT-intensive may pose barriers for individuals with disabilities, and to explore possible ways to address these barriers. These results clearly demonstrate the extent of computer use and the range of computer skills required throughout the la- bor force, and highlight the importance of computer training for potential employees with disabilities. The majority of respondents reported that their companies were using online technologies a great deal or at least to some extent for online job postings, online benefits information dissemination, online benefits self-service, and online employee training. Despite this increasing use of online technologies for HR processes, the ma- jority of respondents were not familiar with four of six common assistive technologies used to adapt comput- ers or information technology applications. In addition, only one in six respondents reported that any of their employees had received training in Internet accessibil- ity for persons with disabilities, and only one in ten re- ported awareness of whether any of their organization’s

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HR Web sites had been evaluated for accessibility for people with disabilities.

Education of employers, and their HR, IT, manage- rial, and occupational safety or medical staff about IT access issues and possible accommodation issues is an obvious first step to increasing awareness and moving toward long-term removal of the barriers posed to peo- ple with disabilities by inaccessible online processes. Rehabilitation and other health professionals can play an important role both in this workplace educational function, as well as apprising individuals with disabili- ties about their rights to accessible online technologies.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by two four-year grants from the US Department of Education, National Insti- tute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research to Cor- nell University (NIDRR): Grant No. H133A70005 (Improving Employer Practices Covered by Title I of the ADA) and Grant No. H133B980038 (Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Economic Research on Employment Policy for People with Disabilities).

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