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Home Blog How to Improve Inclusion in the Workplace and Why Accessibility is Essential
Research from Accenture found that companies leading in disability inclusion achieve 1.6 times higher revenue and 2.6 times higher net income compared to their peers.
February 16, 2026
That should be a clear enough signal to businesses that a genuinely inclusive culture is much more than meeting the basics for legal requirements, it drives business impact too.
Real workplace inclusion lives in the day-to-day experience of employees – whether they can access the tools they need, grow their careers, and perhaps more importantly that they can participate equally, and feel like they belong.
This is why accessibility should be viewed as one of the most influential business drivers. When workplaces are accessible by design, more people can contribute fully, teams strengthen, and ultimately businesses grow more.
So what does improving inclusion in the workplace actually look like when accessibility is treated as a key driver?
A great deal of inequality at work comes from unconscious bias – the assumptions and beliefs people hold without realising it.
Unconscious biases are often shaped by upbringing, personal experiences, and wider societal stereotypes. And, they can influence everything from who gets hired to who gets promoted, who gets listened to, and who gets left out.
Unfortunately, these biases also lead to people being treated less favourably, or even discriminated against.
One practical starting point is to acknowledge that these biases are normal and then do the work to identify exactly which beliefs arise in your workplace and what actions reinforce them.
For example, there are still common misconceptions (according to research from RNIB) about employing someone who is blind or has low vision, including:
These assumptions inevitably impact hiring processes (often not deliberately), as well as hiring opportunities, and the willingness to invest in someone’s growth and much more.
A business can recruit from a wide range of backgrounds and still fail at inclusion if people can’t fully access the tools, information, and systems they need to do their jobs. That’s why ‘accessibility’ isn’t a separate disability topic – but instead one of the most practical ways to remove barriers, widen participation, and make inclusion real in day-to-day work.
It also matters because workplace culture isn’t always as inclusive as companies think, and research backs this up…
Nearly 40% of employees with disabilities, chronic conditions, or neurodivergence experienced workplace microaggressions, harassment or bullying in the past 12 months, according to a Deloitte study.
True accessibility means designing workplaces, tools, and systems so more people can participate from day one (including people who are blind or have low vision).
Enhancing accessibility in the information workplace helps because it removes the barriers that stop people from contributing equally, even after they’ve been hired. It improves independence, reduces reliance on others for basic tasks, and creates a more level playing field for performance, progression, and participation.
For blind and low vision employees in particular, an inaccessible information workplace can turn everyday tasks into constant headaches and unwanted stress.
Including but not limited to:
Over time, that creates a workplace where talent is present, but opportunity isn’t equal.
This is one of the gaps Be My Eyes Workplace is built to help close.
Be My Eyes Workplace is a set of software tools and services designed to break down barriers across the modern information workplace. It includes:
The goal is simple… To give blind and low-vision employees equitable access at work.
And when that baseline exists, employees can work with greater confidence, be more productive and feel a deeper part of the culture.
Workplace accessibility isn’t only about whether someone can open a document or navigate an application. It’s also about whether people can participate in the parts of work that build belonging, confidence, and momentum.
In fact, Deloitte’s Disability Inclusion @ Work 2024 survey found that 60% of disabled employees were unable to attend a work event because of inaccessibility.
That statistic matters because work events aren’t just “social.” They’re where people build relationships, gain visibility, hear what’s really happening in the organisation, and get pulled into opportunities that never appear in a job description.
They’re where trust is built. Where future projects are discussed casually. Where people meet leaders and peers outside their usual bubble.
When someone can’t attend because the venue, format, or experience isn’t accessible, the impact reaches beyond one missed day – it sends a message, even if unintentional – this wasn’t designed with you in mind.
And when that happens repeatedly, it can change how someone experiences work. They may stop putting themselves forward. They may feel like an inconvenience for asking. And they may be overlooked for development opportunities because they weren’t present in the moments where those decisions quietly begin.
True accessibility at work is the everyday reality of whether employees can show up fully both in their tasks and in the culture around them.
Improving workplace accessibility is a major driver of improving inclusion at work, but it isn’t the only one. To build a diverse and inclusive workforce that lasts, organisations also need to focus on how people are hired, supported, and treated day to day.
Some of these include:
Still, far too many talented people are working around barriers that shouldn’t exist in a modern workplace. Accessibility isn’t a special case – it’s the foundation that makes inclusion real.
If you want a more inclusive workforce, start by making sure people can fully participate from day one: in the tools they use, the information they rely on, and the culture they’re part of.
Want to see what that can look like for blind and low-vision employees?
Request a demo of Be My Eyes Workplace.
