Finding employment with a disability: challenges, tips and the NDIS

Transcript

12 April 2015

Roberta: Finding a job can be difficult for everybody. Dr Scott Hollier from Media Access Australia joins us today to discuss some of the challenges that people with blindness or vision impairment face while job hunting, as well as tips to prepare for an interview and how the National Disability Insurance Scheme fits into the employment process. Welcome, Scott.

Scott: Thanks, Roberta, it's great to be back.

Roberta: Now, are there any particular challenges to finding employment for people who are blind or vision impaired?

Scott: There are and statistically it's around 59 percent of blind or vision impaired people who are either job seeking or under employed, so it's really important to consider that there are issues and the issues range from access to information so, for example, are trying to actually find accessible documents that list job description forms, through to preparing for the interview process and also the perception of employers. I mean, there are still circumstances sometimes out there where an employer will ask a vision impaired person, "How do you actually use a computer?" So to try to push past some of those barriers I think can potentially make a big difference in addressing this employment issue.

Roberta: You spoke about the interview process. Do you have some tips that can help jobseekers prepare for that?

Scott: Yeah, I think there's been a few interesting things and feedback that we've received around that process and some of the feedback we've had from jobseekers who are blind or vision impaired is that it's good to be aware of what accessibility features are in popular mainstream devices because one of the concerns that employers sometimes have is whether or not employing someone who is blind or vision impaired is going to be expensive or they are going to have to set up lots of equipment. With lots of accessibility features built into mainstream products these days and the standard office environment, if it's running, say, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, there is a lot of good accessibility likely to already be in the office. So for a jobseeker in the interview to be able to help put the employer's mind at ease by saying, "Look, I’m familiar with a lot of accessibility features that are probably already on your computers and I can work with that," or even just being aware of things like NVDA, being a free screen reader. So even if you do need something that's not already installed on the computer in the office, to be able to say, "I can set up something that will work for the short term whilst we sort out a better option," that can go a long way too, just to put that employer at ease. Then you can then focus more on what the interview is actually about and that's selection criteria.

Roberta: Of course, specific equipment is much, much easier now. Whereas it used to be actually physical machines that needed to be installed, etcetera. So it's much easier with the technology we have, isn't it?

Scott: This is it. Also there was a cost factor. I mean, it used to cost thousands to get software. Some employers still are under the impression that by employing someone with a disability they are going to be significantly out of pocket or it's going to take a lot of time. So being able to explain that that's really not a problem or if you do still need some of those tools to be able to say, "At least I can get up and running initially and we can sort that out," makes a big difference to the conversation.

Roberta: Scott, how does the NDIS fit into all of this?

Scott: Well, the NDIS is interesting because a big focus of the NDIS is around finding employment or sustaining the employment that you have. So when people go into that initial conversation with the NDIA to establish your goals, what we've found is that it's really important that people are up front about the technology they need and it's important to feed into their processes around being really upfront in terms of the goals you want to set, the equipment you need and how that relates to employment.

Roberta: Are there things that can help for people participating in the NDIS?

Scott: Definitely and a big part of that is understanding that the NDIS is quite focused on providing specialist equipment. For example, if you want to use the JAWS screen reader, what will happen is that in your goals you will say for you employment needs you need that tool and then it will go to an occupational therapist or an assistive technology assessor to determine the effectiveness of that tool. What we have received in terms of feedback is that if you ask for a specialist software or tool, then that process is quite smooth. But let's say you want an iPad because it's got lots of accessibility built in. That's a very different conversation because often they will say things like, "Oh, well, if you can buy that at your local electronic shop or department store, why do you need our assistance?" So we have had feedback that even if the iPad, which costs half the price of the software program and is likely to be more beneficial to you, is something that you need, it can often be a more difficult conversation to then have that go through the process. So what we recommend is make sure that you are familiar with who will be doing that assessment, in terms of whether or not you need that device, and their awareness of the tool that you're seeking so that if you do, say, prefer a mainstream device, like a Surface tablet or iPad, that it is still likely that that will be given to you for support. So it's really about understanding that process and not being afraid to ask for what you need.

Roberta: Well, for more information on access to media through technology, you can call Media Access Australia on 02 92126242 or email info@mediaaccess.org.au. Once again, Scott, thank you so much for all that information.

Scott: My pleasure.

Roberta: I've been speaking with Dr Scott Hollier from Media Access Australia. Media Access Australia are supporters of this program.

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