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October marks the beginning of Nationwide Incapacity Employment Consciousness Month. With this yr’s theme of “Entry and Fairness,” let’s take a second to have fun disabled expertise, and evaluation the truth of the Incapacity Divide and the way it impacts alternative in society.
The information is necessary to evaluation. In the US, the unemployment price is double for folks with disabilities versus these with out a incapacity (7.9% vs 3.8%) regardless of the very best labor pressure participation price for folks with disabilities aged 16-65 (41.2%) since information started. Components akin to subminimum wage practices and insurance policies such because the Supplemental Safety Earnings, which restricts how a lot folks could make with out shedding advantages, creates increased unemployment for disabled folks.
The hole is altering. Some excellent news is that folks with disabilities are becoming a member of the workforce at a a lot higher price. Nevertheless, employment charges for these with a incapacity stay double that of their friends with out a incapacity. Moreover, new information from our mates at LinkedIn sourced from incapacity self-identification reveals that, in August 2023, 53.9% of job purposes from LinkedIn members who self-ID with a incapacity had been distant, in comparison with 45.6% of members with out disabilities.
Altering the lens. Incapacity is a expertise pool that drives innovation. Product inclusion begins by listening to concepts from various voices, particularly disabled expertise. We see this daily. Solomon Romney from Home windows Units just lately demonstrated Microsoft’s speaking concerning the superb issues we will do once we embrace the incapacity group. He introduced the brand new Floor Haptic Trackpad (50:47), on the Floor Laptop computer Studio 2 together with Microsoft Copilot, Bing Copilot, Floor Pen Grips, voice entry, adaptive equipment, Seeing AI, Forza Horizon Blind Driver Help. As Solomon mentioned, “We’re empowering folks to make use of their units in methods we by no means might earlier than.”
Discoverability issues. We’re seeing elevated utilization on the again of constructing options simpler to search out. Accessibility Checker, out there throughout Workplace, is getting used extra, with an 852% enhance since 2022. And Home windows 11 shifting accessibility to the taskbar, together with its shortcut Win+U on any Home windows gadget, is making it simpler for extra folks to be productive at work. The Incapacity Reply Desk has supported 1.5M contacts from clients and workers and continues to innovate to raised serve clients. They’ve partnered with Be My Eyes so as to add “Be My AI,” an AI-powered digital visible assistant into the assist course of, offering prompt visible help with any Microsoft’s product.
Empower your tradition. Studying about incapacity and accessibility is a key a part of rising a incapacity inclusive tradition. In 2020, we took the step to make coaching on accessibility and incapacity obligatory. We’re proud that 97% of our workers have accomplished our coaching and lots of go on to select from 100 programs starting from accessibility etiquette to developer coaching, all of which can be found now at: Accessibility Sources & Coaching | Microsoft Accessibility. Whilst you’re there, make sure you try our Accessibility Fundamentals coaching sequence, created to indicate how organizations can create experiences which are accessible for folks with disabilities.
We additionally imagine in honest wages for all. The Microsoft Supported Employment Program has over 300 folks with mental developmental disabilities employed in over 40 job sorts in 27 international locations. In 2019, we requested all our suppliers to do the identical and can proceed to advocate for aggressive wages for folks with disabilities.
There’s far more to do. In accordance with the World Well being Group, there’s been a rise in folks with disabilities to 1.3+ billion folks around the globe. As we proceed our work with nonprofits, policymakers, universities, and accessibility builders to assist slender the Incapacity Divide, we all know that making workplaces extra accessible, investing in accessibility, listening to workers, and selling inclusive practices, collectively, can cut back the incapacity unemployment hole and create extra alternatives for these with disabilities.
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