"5.0 out of 5 stars What YOU must know about digital & physical accessibility for people with disabilities at work"

FREE #KINDLE EBOOK

Dark and Silent Office: A Digital Accessibility Guidebook for Inclusive Communication in the Workplace

by Stephanie Warlick https://amzn.to/4aHsPbS

Ask anyone and they would agree that technology is a necessary component of the workplace. But have you ever relied on technology and it failed — just before your deadline?

Think about having that experience all day, every day while attempting to meet your daily work objectives.

There are approximately 37.5 million adults in the US with trouble hearing and another 50.18 million adults with some degree of vision loss.

The fight for equity in the workplace has very much focused on gender and race, and while these steps are completely necessary, visually-disabled and hearing-disabled individuals are a minority group that is significantly overlooked.

Jenny sat in a meeting where the manager was detailing the quarterly financial review. As they discussed the colors of charts and diagrams, Jenny, being colorblind, couldn’t keep up. She left the meeting exhausted and deflated.

Mark was typing away on his computer when the team leader informed the office about an important update. If it hadn’t been for his colleague advising him, Mark, being deaf, would have missed out on this information.

Nobody intentionally excludes the visually and hearing impaired. But that’s not enough in the year 2024 where the benefits of inclusivity have been demonstrated time and time again.

But there is a huge gap between wanting an inclusive workplace and actually achieving it. It’s a gap that you find yourself standing in right now!

The workplace is buzzing in a digital era and overall, technology is closing so many gaps across the industries. At the same time, it’s sadly making the gap bigger for those with sight and hearing difficulties.

The first step to standing in this gap is to transform your organization into one that is digitally accessible, particularly in the realm of document accessibility that is utilized in daily communication with coworkers and customers!

That’s not going to be easy if you have no idea where to start!

In this guide to inclusivity through digital accessibility, you will discover:

Why inclusivity goes beyond skin color and legal obligations and how accessible digital content is the key to including EVERY employee

A walk in the shoes of the hearing-impaired and visually impaired so you understand exactly what challenges they face on a daily basis!

6 must-have assistive technologies for different levels of vision loss and best practices for making digital content

The best equipment and assistive listening devices to run successful meetings so that the hearing-impaired feel valued and included

Insider tips on respectfully communicating with visually and hearing impaired colleagues— on and offline

Your guide to navigating the legalities of digital accessibility and how to go above and beyond the law with ethical considerations

How to carry out an accessibility audit and commit to inclusivity with a digital accessibility policy

Bonus checklists to ensure your documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and websites are fully accessible

And much more.

Change is never easy, but in this case, it’s crucial. Everyone in your workplace is an asset with original ideas, different perspectives, and contributions to offer. Any person who doesn’t have equitable opportunities to contribute means a missed opportunity elsewhere.

Whether you are an employee, manager, HR/DEI leader, or company owner, this guide provides practical and achievable steps to ensure everybody can fulfill their role to the best of their abilities while feeling respected!