Question & problem
Assistive technologies encompass a wide spectrum of devices and services that act as an interface between the person and environment. The use of assistive technologies in the workplace has been identified as a beneficial strategy to enable people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment. However, the current information has been defined in general terms and how to choose one accommodation over another is not very well understood in the literature. The specific technologies and accessible solutions that have successfully been used in the workplace by people with disabilities are also not well documented. It is important to know what assistive technologies are being used in the workplace, what benefits and challenges it poses and for whom to understand what can be done to assist people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment.
Quote
Recommendations
Key recommendation
Action
When a person is struggling to access information or interact with the computer, alternative interfaces can be used which can often be simple in nature and inexpensive such as gripping tools, magnifiers or head controlled mouses.
Key recommendation
Action
Obtaining employment has been identified as a direct outcome of assistive training programs. It is therefore recommended to start early by providing courses in college or high school to assist students in gaining employment upon graduation.
Key recommendation
Action
Associated services such as individual assessments, selection, fitting, training and follow-ups are required to ensure efficient use. If this is not done, the person often abandons the product as it does not help them to accomplish the tasks they wish to use it for.
Key recommendation
Action
This recommendation can be achieved by appropriate eligibility requirements that do not exclude anyone from applying to funding programmes as well as increasing funding and subsidies to enable employers to provide and employees to buy the assistive technologies they need
Key recommendation
Action
To ensure that assistive technology users get the support they need as well as are in a supportive and comfortable environment where they feel free to openly use assistive technology, it is important to provide awareness training for all staff at the workplace.
Challenges
Challenge #1: Computer technologies are the most prevalent assistive technologies used by people with disabilities. However, accessing information from computers were identified to be a significant barrier to employment.
- As a result, alternative forms of computer interfaces makes up a large number of assistive technologies used by people with disabilities in the workplace.
- Persons with disabilities often struggle to communicate with the computer for example persons with visual impairments may not always be able to read on the screen, or persons with decreased mobility may not be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
- Often times it is thought that the assistive technology required is high-tech and expensive, however basic and inexpensive computer interfaces can be used to access information on the computer, such as magnifiers or a head controlled mouse.
Challenge #2: There remains a great need for sufficient and specific training programs in the use of assistive technologies as a great deal of people with disabilities do not have the necessary skills and knowledge of how to make use of assistive technologies in the workplace.
- Knowing how to operate assistive technologies as well as having appropriate technologies are identified as key outcomes of employment. Many studies have shown that assistive technology training programs resulted in its participants gaining employment as a direct outcome of sufficient training.
- Other studies have also shown that people with disabilities who were enrolled in computer access classes during college/university, found computers to be beneficial for gaining employment after graduation as well as completing tasks during their studies.
Challenge #3: Even though assistive technologies can have a profound positive impact for people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment, many studies have shown that there are high rates of abandonment of assistive technologies.
- Initially adopted devices and programs that were made available are often abandoned by users. Reasons for this vary widely, however the two most commonly cited reasons are the improper fit of a device or programme to the person and the tasks they wish to do and the provision of assistive technologies without providing and considering the need for its associated services (individual assessment, selection, fitting, training and follow-up to ensure efficient use).
Challenge #4: The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the majority of people working from home which have brought with it a variety of benefits as well as barriers to people with disabilities.
- Remote work often means that people with disabilities do not have access to the assistive technology or specific devices that are at their physical workplace and not in their homes.
- Barriers to accessing the needed assistive technology in the home for remote work include the high costs of assistive technology as well as not meeting restrictive eligibility requirement of funding programmes.
Challenge #5: Assistive technology can cause much frustration and isolation in the workplace when there is a lack of awareness in the workplace among colleagues as well as a barrier to gain employment.
- Studies have reported that many people with disabilities feel frustrated with the lack of awareness and knowledge of their colleagues as they do not consider or understand their accessibility needs e.g. sighted colleagues providing documents that are not accessible through screen readers.
- Moreover, colleagues with disabilities feel uncomfortable to use assistive technology in the workplace as their colleagues’ unawareness cause unwanted negative attention.
Finding the answers
We conducted a review of reviews, examining systematic, scoping, and other types of review evidence on the topic of how assistive technology can benefit people with disabilities to obtain and maintain employment. All recommendations are based on reviews of literature from both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as from high-income countries where the recommendations made were transferable to low-resource settings (e.g common availability of specific workplace AT). Additionally, three supporting studies (e.g. identified in the references of included reviews) were used, two from LMICs and one from a high-income country.
Recommendations & actions
Key recommendation
Action
When a person is struggling to access information or interact with the computer, alternative interfaces can be used which can often be simple in nature and inexpensive such as gripping tools, magnifiers or head controlled mouses.
Key recommendation
Action
Obtaining employment has been identified as a direct outcome of assistive training programs. It is therefore recommended to start early by providing courses in college or high school to assist students in gaining employment upon graduation.
Key recommendation
Action
Associated services such as individual assessments, selection, fitting, training and follow-ups are required to ensure efficient use. If this is not done, the person often abandons the product as it does not help them to accomplish the tasks they wish to use it for.
Key recommendation
Action
This recommendation can be achieved by appropriate eligibility requirements that do not exclude anyone from applying to funding programmes as well as increasing funding and subsidies to enable employers to provide and employees to buy the assistive technologies they need
Key recommendation
Action
To ensure that assistive technology users get the support they need as well as are in a supportive and comfortable environment where they feel free to openly use assistive technology, it is important to provide awareness training for all staff at the workplace.
Policy priorities
Inadequate policies are a result of the lack of research within low- and middle-income countries. This hinders the development of evidence-informed policies and practices. A national policy framework to promote research, access, funding, training and awareness of assistive technology is needed in most low- and middle-income countries. Additionally, one of the greatest barriers to accessing assistive technology is the lack of funding programmes and high costs, and it is recommended that policymakers promote more funding programs (with adequate eligibility criteria) and subsidise the cost of assistive technology to make it more affordable for individuals to buy for use at home or for employers to buy for employees with disabilities.
Conclusion
This evidence brief has summarised and explained the most common barriers and actions pertaining to how assistive technology can help people with disabilities obtain and maintain employment. It outlines the barriers to access and use of assistive technology, the importance of preventing abandonment, the changes that came about the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impact that unawareness and an unsupportive work environment and colleagues can play.
Gaps & research needs
A great deal of more research is needed in low resource settings to enable evidence informed policies.
Most of the current literature available pertaining to assistive technology have only been defined in general terms without the understanding or guidelines as to which assistive technologies and accommodations to choose over another.
COVID-19 has created a major shift in the way people work, we don't yet know the breadth of the impact it has on people with disabilities. This is very important in future research as what worked previously might not be the best method and practice during and post-COVID times.
Acknowledgements
Peer Review: This brief has been peer reviewed by Jaime Danemayer, PhD candidate at University College London and Onaiza Qureshi, Knowledge Exchange Officer at ICED, LSHTM.
Publication details: © London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, April 2022.
Suggested citation: Liändrie Steffens. How does assistive technology benefit people with disabilities on their path to and in employment? Disability Evidence Portal, 2022.