I’m interested in learning about human experiences, and I recently started a tutorial delving into the accessibility standards of UI design. This got me thinking: what is it like to have a disability and work in the field of software engineering, and what can I do to be more inclusive?
Disclaimer: I’m not physically disabled, and I don’t speak for disabled people. I do have a mild developmental disability, but even the concept of ‘disability’ is contentious. I recognize that the language we use to talk about these issues is always changing, and can vary from person to person; because we are talking about people; human beings. When I studied to be a special education teacher, I was taught to use people-first language, but I recognize that some people prefer identity-first language. My goal with this post is to share what I’ve learned in a respectful way, and I don’t mean to offend. If you notice something I could say better, please leave a comment and I will do my best to respond.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities defines disability as: “long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder [a person’s] full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.” So according to the UN, a disability is defined, in part, by how isolated someone is from society.
After reading and watching talks by people with disabilities, isolation seemed to be an important theme. David Peter’s essay Being Deaf hammers that home: “In the past few months, I’ve felt like I’m the last person to know about things. I’m constantly surprised when something happened or changed. Once, an engineer left to work from Seattle the same week the two other engineers on the team left to present at RailsConf 2012. When I discovered that I would be the only engineer in the office the entire week, it was after everyone else had all gone.”
Watch this video:
I came across this video while looking for people in the deaf community talking about what it’s like to work in tech. After I realized that there were no subtitles or dubbing, I got pretty frustrated. I don’t speak sign language, so I couldn’t understand what the speaker was saying. I encourage you to watch the video and sit in those emotions for a minute.
So what does inclusion and participation look like? Adam Munder works at Intel, and in this video, shows us what his workday looks like with three ASL interpreters. He also has a number of other accommodations that I didn’t necessarily think of: shorter cubicle walls to enable live communication with co-workers, an interpreter to do voice calls with him, and two simultaneous interpreters to help him participate in group discussions without breaking the flow of conversation.
I was also interested to learn what it’s like to use a screen reader. Thankfully, there are developers like Saqib Sheikh, who are willing to demonstrate their screen reader skills! A screen reader does exactly what it’s name implies, but they are known for being finicky. In his demonstration, Sheikh has the screen reader talking so fast I couldn’t understand what it was saying, but it is impressive when he writes code in front of the audience. Even cooler is that in combination with other assistive technology, such as a refreshable Braille display, a screen reader can convert what’s on a screen into a tactile display, allowing people with sight and hearing impairments to access the information on the screen.
Matt King works at Facebook, and is working on accessibility software for the app. Facebook also has an ‘empathy lab’ which develops assistive technology. Similarly, Michael Forzano works for Amazon, and both were able to draw on their experiences and barriers to accessing the applications. In the case of Forzano, a friend of his with a sight impairment discovered that the AmazonFresh app couldn’t communicate with a certain screen reader about delivery schedules, so people using a screen reader couldn’t know when their delivery would arrive. Forzano was able to take that information to the team responsible for that product, and they were able to fix the bug.
After researching for this post, my first thought was “what can I do to be more inclusive of people with disabilities?” I feel bad that I haven’t tried to learn sign language before! Even talking about disabilities can be a very taboo subject, especially at work. According to Forbes, only 3.2% of employees identify themselves as having a disability, and only 18.7% of people with a disability were employed in 2017. So how do we broach the subject of disability and accessibility in the workplace, and what can you do to be more inclusive to folks with disabilities?
In The Workplace
- Know your rights
- If you or someone you know has a disability, it’s important to know yours and their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law protects the rights of those with disabilities, and guarantees equal opportunity to work, transportation, accommodations, services, and telecommunications. Find out more at the ADA Disability Rights Homepage.
- Create a welcoming environment
- Physical and procedural accommodations are vital. If the person can’t do a traditional phone interview, minor adjustments to provide interpreters or augmented communication devices will go a long way to making a person feel welcome. Make sure your building has ramps, and that there are bathrooms available. These adjustments will pay for themselves with dividends to spare.
- Peer Support Specialists
- These are people who have first-hand experience with a disability, and act as role models for people with similar disabilities or disorders. Employing a peer support specialist can go a log way to help build a cohesive work community that accepts people with disabilities.
- Listen to the person
- This feels obvious. Don’t be an asshole. Listen to the person in question, listen to what language they prefer. If they don’t want to talk about their disability, then don’t ask questions about it. If they prefer Identity-first language, then use that. It’s easier said than done for a lot of people. Just make the effort.
In Your Personal Life
- Accommodate friends
- Subtitles, ramps, etc: I’ve seen some hate online, directed at people who watch shows and movies with subtitles on, even though they theoretically understand the language being spoken. Don’t be a jerk; if you know your friend has trouble parsing auditory media, offer to put on subtitles. If you don’t know, just ask if they’d like them on. If you’re going somewhere with a person who has trouble walking, be mindful of ramps and accessibility. If they’re in a wheelchair, ask before touching. The big thing here is not to assume. Here’s a video showing you what not to do.
- Make your social media more accessible
- Add subtitles to all media: If you’re on Instagram or TikTok, or Youtube, make sure that you caption your videos. It turns out 85% of Facebook users watch videos with the sound off anyway!
- Don’t use fancy font generators. They’re not just hard to read; they’re also tacky as hell!
- Always use alt text in your posts. I’m still hammering that out on my projects, but it’s part of my goal to make my projects accessible! The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is a solid start to learning about accessibility on the internet.
Hopefully this piques your interest, about what you can do to make your work and personal life more inclusive of those people with disabilities in your life! As a great example of the importance of accessibility, I’ll leave you with The Quest For The Rainbow Bagel
Corbett Winningham 