PEAT, the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology, “provides a blueprint for anyone seeking to launch a successful initiative to drive the development of emerging technologies that are accessible to and inclusive of people with disabilities.” Its website is wide and deep, including sections on Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles, Extended Reality and Digital Accessibility. PEAT, which is funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy at the federal Department of Labor, has vast resources for all business sectors. Look at good practices to make your online application accessible to Make your recruiting tools accessible. Wondering “How does accessibility work and who should be overseeing decisions, recommendations and managing requests at your company?” Go to the podcast section of the site and listen to or read What Department Should Oversee Accessibility? Need a good approach to staff training? There is general information plus a detailed guide on training for the specific roles of Leaders, HR, CIO and Procurement, IT, Marketing and Legal departments. And there’s a link to the “Introduction to Inclusive Talent Acquisition” course developed by Perkins School with Harvard EdX.
In Australia, the Centre for Inclusive Design includes its own list of digital resources and tools on its Digital Accessibility and Recruitment Guide. They note “Online recruitment sites have replaced print media as the most up-to-date and popular method for job searching. Imagine the experience for a person with disability. The process is made just that more difficult.” Their list of resources (most free) includes a guide to accessibility for people with a cognitive disability, automated tools for web accessibility, a color contrast analyzer, and document accessibility checkers.