Providing assistive technologies to employees with disabilities helps them feel comfortable in the workplace. This is known as integrative technology or adaptive technology, encompassing a wide range of devices and software designed to help people with disabilities perform various tasks. According to the University of Washington, assistive technologies include mobility devices like walkers and wheelchairs, as well as tools and accessories that help people with disabilities use computers and other information technologies.
The impact of integrative technology extends to all aspects of human life, from simple inventions like speech-to-text applications and predictive text systems to more complex solutions like mobile lifts or ceiling-mounted systems.
How Do Companies Benefit from Integrative Technology?
Despite most of these innovations being initially developed to aid people with disabilities, their use has expanded over time to include broader applications. Some features, like speech-to-text, are now standard in almost all computers and mobile devices because they provide value to all users.
A 2023 report revealed that most workplace modifications needed to assist employees with disabilities are not very expensive. According to this report, companies may only spend around $300 to make necessary adjustments to transform their offices into integrative spaces.
Moreover, some business owners who participated in surveys indicated that restructuring their workforce to include people with disabilities provided additional benefits. These include increased employee productivity, enhanced team spirit, and reduced insurance and training costs.
Here are some ways companies benefit from using integrative technology:
- Inclusive Work Environments: Creating inclusive work environments that support collaboration among employees and encourage them to give their best in completing assigned tasks can include basics such as slip-resistant flooring in entrances and accessible parking spaces for people with disabilities. This demonstrates the organization’s commitment to its employees.
- Enhanced Brand Image: Beyond the immediate and tangible improvements in income and productivity, adopting this approach helps improve the overall brand image in the minds of consumers, as they prefer to buy from companies that share their beliefs and values.
- Maximizing Employee Potential: Companies can maximize the potential of employees with disabilities by providing the necessary tools they need. The availability of tools that allow employees to perform their tasks easily and effectively boosts company productivity, resulting in greater benefits for its owners.
Examples of Modern Integrative Technologies
According to information from the World Health Organization, 2.5 billion people need one or more assistive devices to enjoy a normal life. With the increasing variety of modern integrative technologies, ranging from hearing aids to wheelchairs, communication devices, eyeglasses, prosthetics, and medication organizers, these technologies can be divided into four major categories:
Enhancing Physical Accessibility:
Improving physical accessibility involves providing features and modifications that facilitate the movement of people with disabilities in a given space. While our thoughts typically turn to wheelchairs and ramps, the scope of improving physical accessibility is much broader and can be divided into two sections: outside and inside the workplace.
Outside the Workplace:
Physical accessibility outside the workplace includes all modifications made to the external parts of the workplace to facilitate the entry of people with disabilities into company offices. Examples include:
- Parking spaces equipped with horizontal and vertical signs near the building entrance.
- Large doors at entry and exit points to allow easy movement, such as in emergencies.
- Ramps at entry and exit points.
Inside the Workplace:
Physical accessibility inside the workplace includes all modifications made to create a safe and comfortable working environment for people with disabilities, allowing them to work to their fullest potential. This includes slip-resistant flooring at entrances, wide corridors for wheelchair access, accessible toilets, elevators, escalators, and access ramps that meet the needs of employees with disabilities.
Remote Work Tools:
According to a report by GitLab, remote work has offered numerous benefits in the modern work environment, especially for employees with disabilities. By adopting a hybrid work model that provides flexibility and convenience, companies allow employees with disabilities to be objectively evaluated based solely on their skills and competencies.
- Remote Work Tools: Tools that have played a role in strengthening the modern work environment include file-sharing tools, instant messaging platforms, and video conferencing tools like Zoom, Slack, Dropbox, and Trello.
- Future Outlook: With recent advancements in artificial intelligence and the continuous development of the metaverse, more assistive technology tools are expected to be introduced, making working from home easier and more productive.
Screen Reading Software:
Screen reading software is a unique form of assistive technology that converts text and image content into audible speech or Braille text, benefiting individuals with visual disabilities. These programs serve as intermediaries between the computer's operating system, its applications, and the user.
- Availability: Screen reading software is available for both mobile and desktop computers, increasing its usefulness for visually impaired individuals by allowing them to easily browse websites and execute commands they previously couldn't perform. Examples of these programs for Mac devices include CakeTalking, BRLTTY, CDesk Compass, Dolphin Guide, and iMax.
Dictation Software:
The fourth category of assistive technology tools is dictation software, which allows writing by speaking. These programs were developed to benefit people with dyslexia, motor difficulties, or similar challenges, as they transcribe spoken words into text in real time.
- Options: From the voice typing feature in Google Docs to programs like Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Braina Dictation, there are several tools available for people with disabilities to choose from, depending on their needs and preferences.
Benefits of Assistive Technologies in the Workplace
Assistive and integrative technologies play a vital role in helping employers maximize the potential of employees with disabilities. Transitioning directly from university to the workforce can be overwhelming and confusing for most people, and individuals with disabilities face even greater challenges in adapting to new environments and need support.
By restructuring workflows to accommodate the needs of employees with disabilities, employers create integrative work environments that practically demonstrate their concern for these individuals. Assistive technology provides employees with disabilities access to learning and development opportunities, supporting them in a competitive work environment.
Why Is E-Learning More Inclusive Than Face-to-Face Training?
Organizations must train and retrain employees regularly to keep up with new developments and trends in their fields. While there are many other factors, speed is one of the most critical factors employers consider when trying to improve employee capabilities.
Organizations aim to hire employees who can acquire new skills quickly enough to adapt to an ever-changing market. While group learning practices might seem the fastest way to achieve this goal, the integrative approach helps employees learn in less time.
Adaptive learning refers to any educational methodology focusing on designing lessons, readings, and practical activities according to learners’ preferences and current skills.
Fixed learning programs are no longer appreciated in today's business world, as they fail to meet employees’ needs by not adapting the learning process to their existing experiences. It was expected that global investment in the adaptive learning market would reach $2.49 million in 2022, with the figure rising to $7.28 million by 2027, at an expected growth rate of 23.85%.
Like e-learning, adaptive learning processes allow employees to learn at their own pace, whether through microlearning or other learning paths designed according to each person’s preferences. This method enables knowledge acquisition without much effort. Additionally, e-learning media allows instructors to focus on the skills needed by each employee and help them acquire those skills.
Thanks to recent advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning that allow content to be adapted in real time based on learners’ feedback and assessments, employees now enjoy a personalized learning experience that provides them with a clear learning path. This enhances employees’ engagement and participation and encourages them to continue learning and developing their skills.
Business leaders must recognize the value of employees with disabilities and trust their potential. Discrimination against people with disabilities is not only a managerial error but also an unethical practice and often illegal.
Forward-thinking companies use integrative technologies to enable employees with disabilities to give their best at work, thereby distinguishing themselves from their competitors.
Supporting work environments with the latest integrative training tools that enhance learning and training experiences in a unique way that caters to all employee types, whether they have disabilities or not, is an approach adopted by Knowledge City. Knowledge City offers a library of training courses for employees in various training and learning sectors, such as business management courses, finance courses, technology courses, and more.
Knowledge City has always been keen to provide comfort, ease of use, and complete flexibility in all aspects of the training process, such as interacting with the learning management system, accessing course materials, and easily receiving training through its microlearning system and the ability to create learning paths designed according to each person’s preferences, the company’s overall training plan, or the employees’ training needs. It has also recognized the vital role of translation, dubbing, and localization services, making training very easy for trainees.
There are many other advantages you can discover by creating a trial account for companies, where you can browse the rich training library with over 30,000 educational videos prepared by a select group of training experts and professors from American universities.
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