International Day of People with Disability and the Workplace

The 3rd of December marks International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD), a day to celebrate the contributions and achievements of people with disability and promote awareness, understanding and acceptance in the community.

The workplace has a key role to play in addressing challenges, increasing opportunity and overcoming barriers for people who live with disabilities. Simply by joining the conversation about disability, you can challenge misconceptions and help make your workplace more accessible and inclusive for people with disability.

How workplaces can join the conversation for International Day of People with Disability

The workplace, and individuals within it, can help raise awareness of the day in numerous ways:

1. Post messages of support on your social media pages, including details of how you celebrated IDPwD or what your workplace is doing to recognise people with disability and promote inclusion.
2. Publish an article in a staff newsletter or on the intranet.
3. Send emails to staff members encouraging them to get involved.
4. Begin a conversation at your next team meeting.
5. Support other IDPwD events in your local community or online.

How workplaces can hold an event

Events are a great way to bring the workplace together to celebrate the contributions and achievements of people with disability in your workplace or community. While there may not be much time to plan one, whether your event is big, small, in-person or online, you’ll be helping us to break down barriers and ensure everyone feels valued and included.

If you want to do something, register your event on the IDPwD website www.idpwd.com.au. You can make the event private or public.

If you’re wondering what event to hold, there are a variety of options available, including:

1. Sponsoring community awards to recognise the contributions of people with disability in your local community.
2. Putting up posters within the office or creating an email banner to mark or celebrate the day.
3. Taking a group photo to post on social media or on your staff intranet that celebrates inclusion.
4. Helping a charity organisation that supports disabled people in the community. Ask employees if they would like to donate to the cause and perhaps then match the overall individual contributions to add to the total raised.
5. Organising a guest speaker with a disability to speak at your workplace and share their story.
6. Organising a webinar that explores inclusion and disabilities.
7. Holding a short film screening with short films or videos featuring people with disability or disability themes. Head to Focus on Ability for a great range of short films.

If you are holding an event, perhaps think of a catchy name, ensure you have trusted personnel in charge of organising it and set goals of what you want to achieve.

Making the workplace more accessible

IDPwD is an important day to raise awareness, but the workplace should be mindful of accessibility issues for those with disabilities all year round.

This is especially important in Australia, where, according to research conducted by Database Consultants Australia, people with a disability in our country are 30% less likely to find work in a regional area than in any other nation. There are numerous reasons for this that include stereotypes and myths that hurt their chance of finding meaningful employment. Ultimately, Australia and Australian workplaces need to do more.

Ensuring accessibility in the workplace isn’t just implementing practical measures, like installing wheelchair ramps and having wheelchair-accessible bathrooms. There are a variety of other important actions and policies that should be in effect.

1) Creating an Accessibility Action Plan (AAP)
An Accessibility Action Plan (AAP) (also known as a Disability Action Plan) is a set of processes and procedures designed to inform staff about how to implement accessible practices. Doing so often makes for a more inclusive workplace and makes the company more attractive to employees. The AAP should include policies such as:

• Ensuring all locations and facilities are wheelchair accessible.
• Providing disability awareness seminars for your employees.
• Providing different information or promotional resources to cater to those with vision or hearing impairments.

2) Actively employing people with disabilities 
Employing people with disability is not only a great way to find valuable new staff, but it also enhances corporate reputation, economic growth and prevents financial discrimination. It is helpful to include certain elements in job descriptions that relate to this policy, including:

• Advertising roles through Disability Employment Services like https://breakthru.org.au/disability-employment-services/
• Adding statements such as: “We are an equal opportunities employer who will. provide reasonable adjustments for people with neurodiversity and people with disability”.
• Ensuring the job advertisement includes specific measures the organisation can put in place if the successful applicant is disabled.

3) Increasing the number of accessible spaces 
There are some arrangements you can organise immediately to make your organisation more accessible and at little cost, such as:

• Ensuring you keep walkways clear and clean, free from hazards.
• Providing accessible print materials (consider braille, text-to-speech, easy-to-read fonts, and photos).
• Having an overview of office supplies and furniture to see if they are accessible to those with mobility challenges.

4) Holding events
Creating events on landmark days like International Day of People with Disability increases awareness and promotes inclusivity.

5) Make websites more accessible  
Some people with disability may require assistive technologies to properly access information online. Ensuring your company website provides customers who are disabled the ability to navigate through the platform and access to your services promotes inclusivity. For example, WordPress (WP) Accessibility is a multi-function plugin that solves common accessibility issues, using Alt Text and Tags can help those who use screen readers to access websites, and subtitles and transcripts can enable more people to watch your videos.

There’s a lot to consider in providing an ideal workplace that is equipped for a diverse, thriving and productive workforce. Celebrating International Day of People with Disability in a meaningful way in your workplace is a great start.