News Diversity & Inclusion
Online tool offers evaluation of workplace accessibility, steps to improve

By Sammy Hudes

A new online tool is available to help businesses assess the level of accessibility in their workplace, and make improvements to support employees with a broad range of disabilities.

The free tool known as AccessPath was created by the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, which launched it this October to coincide with National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

It aims to make businesses aware of barriers facing their current or prospective employees with disabilities and offers solutions to close those gaps.

While there’s been progress over the past decade, advocates are still working to overcome pushback to implementing certain supports, said Jeffrey Normore, director of digital operations for the council, who helped lead the development of AccessPath.

Recent data from Statistics Canada shows that 49 per cent of employed Canadians with disabilities encounter barriers in their physical workplace.

“There’s enthusiasm initially, like people want to be that inclusive employer,” Normore said.

“But then when it comes to making changes to how things are done in the day to day, or being flexible in some areas — because it often involves not doing things the way it’s always been done — that’s when there’s resistance. People start to feel, ‘Well, maybe this is not possible for us’ because they believe things have to be done in a certain specific way.”

However, many fixes are often easier, and less costly, to provide than business owners initially estimate, said Normore.

“What we have seen is that a lot of employers believe that providing accessibility supports costs a lot of money and we know from our research that that’s not true,” he said.

“It’s most often a one-time fee around the $400 mark.”

Through AccessPath, companies can evaluate their accessibility practices through five assessments covering themes such as leadership, culture and education, hiring and onboarding, retention, and development.

The tool provides a post-evaluation accessibility score and a personalized action plan to strengthen inclusion across the organization. As companies implement changes, they can update their answers and track progress over time.

Normore said potential supports often go beyond the built environment of a workplace. They may be as simple as providing printed materials to assist those living with blindness or low vision, or providing assistive technologies such as a screen reader.

Normore said many employers also hold misconceptions around the scope of disability among their workforce. He said there’s a broad spectrum encompassing things that may not be obvious, such as learning impairments, mental health struggles, living with pain, or limits to flexibility.

“That’s why I think it’s important and that it comes through when utilizing AccessPath to have the plan and structure in place so that when these requests come in, you’re prepared to evaluate, agree on a plan and implement it,” he said.