Creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process is more than just meeting legal requirements—it’s about fostering a workplace that truly values diversity. By prioritizing accessibility from the start, you’re opening the door to a wider talent pool while building a culture that values equity, innovation, and respect for everyone.
In this post, we’ll explore how to build accessibility into your hiring process in a way that’s a win for both your company and your future employees. We’ll cover everything from dispelling disability myths and implementing inclusive recruiting practices to creating accessible application forms and optimizing for accessibility during interviews. We’ll draw on established best practices as well as our own experiences at Deque, where we’ve witnessed firsthand how bringing together different perspectives and experiences makes our team stronger.
In addressing this topic, we’re grateful to Jennifer Stark, Managing Attorney, Disability Rights California (DRC) for collaborating with us to help bring you these actionable strategies and pro tips for recruiting and hiring accessibly.
Replacing myths with facts
To build a truly inclusive workplace, employers must first confront and dismantle common myths about employees with disabilities. These misconceptions, often rooted in outdated stereotypes, create unnecessary barriers and prevent companies from benefiting from the full value of diverse talent.
Myth: We’d have to lower our standards
Fact: People with disabilities are often rated above average for performance and even outperform their peers without disabilities in productivity. Not only is it simply the right thing to do, but disability-inclusive hiring drives gains for your bottom line. Companies that hire and cultivate inclusive cultures for people with disabilities generate 28% higher annual revenue on average, driven by increased innovation enabling teams to capture new markets with inclusive products.
Myth: People with disabilities will miss work too much
Fact: Employees with disabilities often have equal, if not better, attendance rates than their peers without disabilities. In workplaces that offer accommodations, employees with disabilities are less likely to turn over.
Myth: We can’t afford accommodations
Fact: Over 50% of accommodations cost absolutely nothing. The median one-time cost for accommodations that incur a cost is $300. Those with ongoing accommodation costs had a median annual cost of $1,925. Factor in the increased revenue, productivity, and profitability of disability-inclusive hiring, and your organization can actually gain from building an organizational culture that champions individuals with disabilities.
Strategies for recruiting
Now that we’ve dispelled some myths about hiring individuals with disabilities, let’s explore practical strategies that create a more accessible and inclusive recruiting process.
Evaluate your current culture and systems
Equitable and inclusive hiring is not just about making more offers to people with disabilities. It’s about valuing the expertise and experience of employees with disabilities and supporting their professional growth through their entire journey at your organization.
To understand where your organization is currently, here are some questions you can ask of everyone from yourself and your colleagues to hiring managers and talent leadership:
- How would we describe our organization’s current culture for people with disabilities?
- How prepared are we to provide accommodations and support the retention and growth of employees with disabilities?
- How does building a more equitable hiring process for people with disabilities align with our organizational goals?
Use this dialogue to set clear, actionable goals for improving your hiring process. For example, at the Disability Rights Center (DRC), the goal is to have 50% of their staff be individuals with disabilities. This focus on inclusion is embedded in every step of their process, from hiring panels that always include a person with a disability to ensuring that final candidates for any role represent diverse abilities. This intentional approach creates a structure that aligns talent acquisition with the company’s commitment to diversity and accessibility.
Pro tip: Set clear targets and accountability measures for hiring individuals with disabilities, and embed those goals into your everyday hiring practices. It’s more than a numbers game—it’s about creating a sustainable, inclusive culture where everyone can succeed.
Offer comprehensive benefits packages and remote work options
Benefits and perks are always factors when deciding whether to accept a new job offer. For employees with disabilities, however, they are especially crucial. A comprehensive benefits package is likely to be essential for maintaining their physical and mental health care plans, and the flexibility to work remotely will enable greater control over their environment and increased access to the assistive technology and space modifications they are already using at home.
Pro tip: Offering flexible work options and comprehensive benefits isn’t just a perk—it’s a commitment to inclusivity. When employees feel supported both in and outside work, they’re more engaged, productive, and loyal.
Build partnerships
There are thousands of organizations dedicated to helping employers and employees with disabilities find great talent matches. They include everything from the Workforce Recruitment Program and state vocational rehabilitation agencies to disability services offices at universities and colleges. “There is a Disability Rights Bar Association where we frequently post our jobs. This has been a great way to get in touch with advocates with lived experience from across the entire country,” says Jennifer Stark. By partnering with community organizations that serve individuals with disabilities, you can tap into a diverse, highly skilled talent pool that might not come through traditional recruiting methods.
Pro tip: Establish ongoing relationships with disability organizations to keep your talent pipeline full and diverse. Engage with them regularly to stay connected to a network of strong candidates who are ready to contribute to your company’s mission.
Revise your job descriptions and application questions
When drafting job descriptions, consider what’s absolutely necessary for the job and describe what needs to be accomplished, rather than how it should be done. Do your employees need to be strong oral communicators, or do they just need to communicate effectively with others? Reframing can open the door for new talent. Make it explicit that you value the lived experience of people with disabilities. In your application questions, provide an opportunity for individuals to voluntarily disclose a disability and make it clear that you welcome accommodations.
The Employee Assistance and Resource Network’s guide “Encouraging Applicants with Disabilities” provides many more great tips for drafting inclusive job descriptions and application questions.
Pro tip: Use inclusive language in your job descriptions and ask for feedback from individuals with disabilities to ensure your listings reflect your commitment to creating an accessible and equitable workplace.
Ensure your applications are accessible
One of the biggest challenges for people with disabilities is equal access to job listings and online applications. If job search engines aren’t accessible, how does someone with a disability even get to the job posting? You could be missing out on the ideal employee just because your application isn’t accessible!
There are also legal risks to consider. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers can be held accountable even if they are inadvertently discriminating due to their application materials being digitally inaccessible. Make sure any documents and job posting platforms you use are accessible.
Pro tip: Try scanning the website where you’re posting using Deque’s free axe DevTools browser extension and learning more about document accessibility through Deque University’s Document Accessibility courses.
Strategies for interviewing
You’ve recruited a diverse pool of applicants. How do you ensure your interviews enable you to secure top talent with disabilities?
Design your interviews with accessibility in mind
Rather than simply reacting to requests for accommodation, design your process proactively to be as accessible as possible. Interviewing in person? Consider if your location is accessible to a candidate using a wheelchair. Interviewing online? Consider if you’ve chosen a platform that’s digitally accessible. At Deque, we use the Zoom platform with human-generated captions or ASL as needed.
In designing your process, plan questions and activities aligned to the skills required for the job and think through areas where accommodations may be needed. Can you provide questions in advance? Can you vary the structure of interviews? Can you provide flexible timing or format for an assignment? Providing clear and flexible options allows candidates to feel respected and gives them the opportunity to fully showcase their skills.
Pro tip: Design flexible interviews that allow candidates to demonstrate their strengths in different ways.
Be proactive about accommodations for interviews
Think through areas where accommodations may be needed and create clear protocols for asking for and responding to requests for accommodation. Explain your interview process in advance and ensure all candidates are asked if they need anything to fully participate in the hiring process. This makes clear that you welcome accommodations and allows both you and the candidate time to meaningfully plan for accommodations. And remember, under the ADA, employers are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations for job interviews. Again, be proactive.
Pro tip: Make requesting accommodations easy and stress-free. Include a line in your interview invitation email offering the option for accommodations, and be specific about how to make that request. Make sure your interviewers are trained on how to respond to and meet reasonable accommodation requests.
Train your hiring managers
Ensure your hiring managers receive training to build awareness of their potential biases and implement structures to mitigate them, like including people with disabilities on your hiring panels. This is essential because hiring manager bias is a core driver of lower rates of employment for people with disabilities. Have clear policies regarding ethical and ADA-compliant questioning in interviews and ensure this guidance is clear to anyone conducting interviews. Ensure everyone is versed in basic disability etiquette to create a welcoming environment for candidates with disabilities.
Pro tip: Build accessibility awareness into ongoing training programs, not just as a one-off. Make it part of your hiring team’s ongoing education to stay aligned with best practices.
Know the risks of using AI for screening resumes
Many organizations have turned to AI-based tools to help streamline the hiring process by automatically screening resumes. While these tools can be useful, they come with a risk: AI can inherit the biases that exist in the data it’s trained on. If not carefully monitored, these biases can result in unintentional discrimination against candidates with disabilities.
At Deque, we know the potential of AI to revolutionize processes, but we also know the importance of embedding accessibility and equity into these systems. Ensure that any AI tools used in your hiring process are regularly evaluated for bias and are transparent in how they score and filter candidates.
Pro tip: Human oversight is essential. Use AI to assist in the screening process, but always ensure that trained recruiters review results to mitigate any potential bias and ensure that all candidates are evaluated fairly, particularly those with diverse experiences and backgrounds.
Strategies for making meaningful job offers
Once you’ve selected a great candidate, it’s time to make an offer. That means thinking about not just salary and benefits but retention and mentorship. For employees with disabilities, you also need to factor in providing reasonable accommodation. These are all part of creating an equitable and supportive work community.
Ensure your offer is competitive
Pay equity is a crucial factor in creating an inclusive workplace, and people with disabilities must be compensated fairly. Historically, people with disabilities have faced wage gaps and, in some cases, have been paid less than minimum wage. Ensure pay equity by evaluating if the offer is competitive within the job market and on par with offers made to employees without disabilities entering similar roles.
Pro tip: Conduct a pay equity audit across your organization, ensuring that all employees—including people with disabilities—are compensated equitably for similar roles. This sends a clear message that your company values fairness and equal opportunity for all employees.
Provide reasonable accommodations
Accommodations are not just a legal requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); they are critical to ensuring employees can perform their jobs effectively and feel supported in their work. Providing reasonable accommodations is an ongoing, flexible process that requires open dialogue and a proactive approach.
Pro tip: The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a great free and confidential resource for guidance on effective accommodations. JAN provides valuable insight into low-cost solutions that can greatly impact employee satisfaction and productivity.
Focus on retention
Retaining employees with disabilities goes beyond the hiring process. It involves creating a long-term culture of inclusion, growth, and support that ensures employees feel empowered and valued and have access to resources that support their professional development and personal needs, including support from mentors who can help them thrive in their roles.
Consider establishing Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or affinity groups specifically for employees with disabilities. These ERGs can offer a safe space for employees to share experiences, provide mutual support, and advocate for broader organizational changes. Disability:IN highlights companies doing just that, providing specialized mentoring, education, and networking opportunities to support the growth and leadership of employees with disabilities.
Giving employees an opportunity to self-identify their disability is another vital step your organization can take. At the Disability:IN 2024 global conference, there was a wonderful session on this topic titled Count Me In: Strategies to Support Global Self Identification. The focus of the session was on how “a disability-focused self ID campaign can help shape the narrative surrounding global self-identification and inspire employee participation.”
Pro tip: Provide employees with disabilities opportunities to take on leadership roles within mentoring and resource programs. When employees with disabilities are visible in leadership, it reinforces your company’s commitment to inclusivity and provides role models for others within your organization.
Inclusive hiring: A catalyst for innovation and growth
Accessible and inclusive hiring isn’t just a checkbox for compliance; it’s a transformative strategy that strengthens your workforce and drives innovation. It’s not just about expanding your talent pool—it’s about embedding accessibility into the DNA of your organization, where equity is a core value and diverse perspectives fuel creativity and problem-solving.
As we observe National Disability Employment Awareness Month, consider whether you’re seizing the full potential of inclusive hiring. The steps you take today to eliminate barriers and empower people with disabilities are an investment in the future of your workforce. This commitment sends a clear message that your organization values innovation, growth, and equality, and recognizes that accessibility isn’t an afterthought—it’s the foundation for success in a diverse, ever-evolving world.