{"id":2308,"date":"2020-10-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bemyeyes.com\/business\/how-to-make-your-workplace-more-inclusive-for-visually-impaired-employees\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T12:26:24","slug":"how-to-make-your-workplace-more-inclusive-for-visually-impaired-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bemyeyes.com\/business\/blog\/how-to-make-your-workplace-more-inclusive-for-visually-impaired-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Workplace More Inclusive for Visually Impaired Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Companies are focusing on diversity and inclusion to create more just, equitable, and effective workplaces that perform better\u2014and it\u2019s working. Diverse teams are\u00a0 smarter and more innovative<\/a> than groups with similar backgrounds and experience. But while the workplace has become more diverse in terms of race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation, people with disabilities\u2014like blindness or visual impairments\u2014are continually underrepresented.<\/p>\n

Daily life for visually impaired individuals has changed considerably thanks to the last four decades of advancement in assistive technologies. And in the last fifteen years, with the dawn of \u201cdigital accessibility<\/a>,\u201d inclusion into mainstream tech has become the new normal. The smartphone was the \u201cbiggest assistive aid to come along since Braille was invented in the 1820s<\/a>\u201d and is enabling blind and low-vision individuals to lead more independent lives. But while time and technology have changed many aspects of life for visually impaired people, some things remain the same. For many, accessing the workforce remains a challenge.<\/p>\n

According to the National Federation for the Blind<\/a>, more than 70% of the country\u2019s four million visually impaired adults are without full-time jobs. While these numbers are more indicative of employer reticence than skill and ability, employers wonder \u201chow will a visually impaired person get the job done, and at what cost?\u201d In reality,\u00a0 58% of necessary accommodations cost nothing<\/a> and the rest fall under $500. At Accessibility Partners, a DC-based company which works with organizations to improve accessibility through technology, owner Dana Marlow prioritizes hiring people with disabilities. Marlow tells Workforce<\/a> it\u2019s not purely about doing the right thing but rather that it \u201cjust makes good business sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an early episode of the Be My Eyes Podcast<\/a>, \u201cWhat Blind People Need to Succeed at Work<\/a>,\u201d we explored this topic in depth with an HR inclusion specialist who specializes in training executives and business leaders in Manila. But hiring visually impaired employees has to be more than just a top-down approach\u2014it needs to be a core piece of workplace culture. What sort of cultural beliefs are you building at your company? Here are some ideas for you to bring to your colleagues:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hiring visually impaired people is a rich opportunity for company growth because:<\/p>\n