Disability Management in the Workplace
Dept. of Social Protection
Barbara Geoghegan
Fidelma Cotter
November 2011
Organisation Commitments
Strategy Statement (High Level Goals)
HR Strategy
T&D Strategy
IS Strategy
Support Area’s Business Plans
Eg Personnel, Staff Development Unit, Facilities, IT
DSP Sectoral Plan under Disability Act 2005
Chapter 3.4 (Disability Workplace Management)
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Contains a range of commitments regarding the
employment and career progression of people
with disabilities
Mirrors objectives outlined in strategies
mentioned
What we have done
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Dedicated Staff in Support Areas – DLO, IT, Facilities, Training
Unit
Workplace Partnership Group – Staff with disabilities, key support
areas

Needs Assessment Structure implemented

Links with external Disability Organisations, service providers

Phased return to work for those who have acquired disability


Clearly defined role for line managers in supporting colleagues
with disabilities
Project to make our systems more accessible to Jaws users
What we have done
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Awareness raising – diversity courses, reasonable accommodation
training for HR, senior management training, mental health training
delivered to front line staff initially and now being offered to all staff
Provided dedicated pages on the supports for staff with a disability
in our HR Intranet Site
Awareness Guidelines developed – with input from our own
colleagues with disabilities and updated as required
Disability Awareness Guidelines distributed to staff on a structured
basis to staff annually and at induction training for new staff and
disability awareness training.
Key factors in achieving progress

Consultation with our own staff with disabilities
 Partnership Group – produced “Enabling Environment”
and “Report on Career Progression for Staff with
Disabilities”
 Workshops on developing awareness guidelines,
 User testing new Assistive Technology Products,
 Needs assessment procedure – involved on the day
 Seminars held for our staff with visual and hearing
impairments to identify outstanding issues and plan for
future

Effective co-operation between support areas
Needs Assessment Process
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On-site visit
Staff member, Line Manager, DLO, IT, Facilities
Evaluate physical access issues, workstation, IT
requirements, ergonomics etc
Comprehensive report at end of visit outlining
issues discussed and highlighting any issue which
needs to be rectified
Follow-up and feedback
Central Developments

Disability Advisory Officer in Dept of Finance

DLO Network – sharing information
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New Code of Practice

Monitoring Committee under Disability Act 2005
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Staff Survey, records based on self-disclosure
Future Plans

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Commitments in Sectoral Plan – covering Staff
Supports, Awareness Raising and Career Progression,
Recruitment
Specific plans from HR perspective
 Improve corporate information on the needs of staff with
disabilities and how they can be addressed. Develop a case
studies database
 Improve the information available on our internal website
containing information of supports available to staff with
disabilities
 Research best practice and enhance links with external
organisations
Assistive Technology
 Needs
Assessment Process
– Site Visit
– Professional Assessment
– Technology match
– Procurement
– Installation/Training
– Feedback
– Ongoing support
– Innovation
Assessment
 Forge
links with dedicated
organisations
– National Council for the Blind Ireland
– National Disability Authority
– Centre for Inclusive Technology
– National Association for Deaf People
– Irish Deaf Society
– Enable Ireland
 High-tech
Assistive Technology course
– Dyslexic Association
– Central Remedial Clinic
Technology Match
 Based
on assessment by professionals
– range of assistive technology available
 Screen
readers
 Magnification software and hardware
 Scanners + reading software
 Braille machines
 Loop systems
 Amplifying headsets
 Minicom
 Reading pens
 Ergonomic products
Procurement
 3-5
quotes
 UK based with Irish resellers
 Sole suppliers
 After sales support
 Require software to conform to at
least NDA guidelines in all Tenders
 Lots of items now mainstream
– Particularly ergonomics
Installation/Training
Most solutions are simple to install
Manufacturers support
Licensing
Some organisations offer training
One to one training most appropriate
Ideal to train helpdesk staff
Software Development
Accessibility built-in
Developer awareness
User involvement at design phase
User Acceptance Testing
Feedback
 Users
need support
 Feedback essential to ensure they
get the most out of the equipment
provided
 Feedback to manufacturer’s helpful
for future
 Users Forums
Ongoing Support
 Network
of users
 Ongoing training
 New uses
– Eg messenger for hard of hearing
 New
Technology
Innovation
 New
AT coming on-stream at all
times
 New uses from mainstream
technology
 Exhibitions/Roadshows
 Conferences
 User Experiences
 Websites
Useful Links

National Council for the Blind Ireland (www.ncbi.ie) - provides assessments in their
low –vision clinic and also undertakes a technology match.
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Centre for Inclusive Technology (www.cfit.ie) –provides user testing and developer
training to ensure that in-house applications are accessible
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National Association for Deaf People (www.nadi.ie) – provides assessments and
technology match in their centres.
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Irish Deaf Society (www.deaf.ie) – provides information and services for Deaf people
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Enable Ireland (www.enableireland.ie) – provides services for people with disabilities
and their families. They run a course each year in conjunction with Microsoft and DIT
entitled High-Tech Assistive Technology course. The course provides information on a
wide range of Assistive Technology and on workstation assessments.
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Dyslexic Association (www.dyslexia.ie) - provides support and information to people
with learning difficulties
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Central Remedial Clinic (www.crc.ie) - provides a range of specialised services for
children and adults with physical disabilities.
Questions