As an employer, you will want to identify and attract the best candidates available for your organization but if your company is unable to accommodate them, you can miss out on a wealth of talent, skills, and diverse perspectives that the Deaf and hard of hearing employees bring to the workplace.
Employees who are Deaf or hard of hearing have to navigate through unique challenges in the workplace but fortunately, there are things that employers can do to reasonably accommodate Deaf and hard of hearing employees as required by Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Let’s take a look at some of the things that businesses can do to create a better and more accommodating workplace for the Deaf community.
Understanding Challenges Faced by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Workers
The challenges faced by the Deaf and hard of hearing in the workplace can start during the hiring process. One example of the challenges faced during the hiring process is that many employers fail to use inclusive language when writing job listings for open positions. Job listings that say a work requirement is to have excellent verbal communication skills can discourage the Deaf community from applying.
When a candidate who is Deaf or hard of hearing arrives at the interview for the position, they often face communication barriers such as not having an interpreter available or a lack of understanding about the Deaf Culture. Not having a sign language interpreter available will make it difficult for the Deaf or hard of hearing candidate to properly express their skills and qualifications. A lack of understanding of the Deaf Culture can give employers misconceptions about the Deaf community and cause them to miss out on the perfect candidate for the role.
Even after they are hired for the position, the Deaf and hard of hearing can still face accessibility issues in the workplace. A lack of Deaf awareness or accommodation can lead to decreased work productivity since there will be delays and inevitable misunderstandings when communicating and it can also lead to the Deaf employee feeling isolated and excluded during team meetings, workplace training, and during work social events.
Related: Is Deafness a Disability? Understanding Deaf Culture and Identity
Workplace Accommodation Solutions
Here are some solutions successfully used by organizations that understand the value of providing an inclusive and accessible workplace.
Video Conferencing
Choosing a video conferencing platform that offers closed captioning and sign language support will make sure that your Deaf and hard of hearing employees can fully participate in any discussions, meetings, or training that is held online. This will allow Deaf employees to communicate using the language that is most comfortable for them, sign language. Making communication more accessible for your employees will encourage teamwork and build camaraderie, which will boost productivity.
Related: Closed Caption vs. Open Caption: Knowing the Difference
Sign Language Interpretation
Another great way to encourage teamwork by enhancing accessibility to communication is by making sure that your employees have access to sign language interpretation during important company events such as job interviews or training. This will give your company a chance to hire the best talent and will make sure that any training will benefit every employee.
Alert and Notification Systems
Many emergency alerts rely heavily on audio cues, such as sirens and emergency announcements given over a PA system, which may not be enough to alert the Deaf and hard of hearing. Make sure that these employees are familiar with any emergency evacuation routes and use visual indicators such as flashing lights that blink when an emergency occurs.
If you are looking to facilitate effective communication, encourage teamwork, and improve work productivity, check out what the Bridg’d mobile app can do for your organization.
Provide Transcripts and Summaries
Although you may already provide outlines for your employees for meetings, taking the time to hand out transcripts and summaries after it ends will make sure that there are no frustrations or delays due to misunderstandings. Having this information will give them the opportunity to look back and reference any portions of the meeting that they may have missed or may need to clarify at their own pace.
Related: Embracing Deaf Culture: A Journey into Sign Language
Training and Awareness Initiatives
Providing your employees with awareness training and training on Deaf Culture is a great step to start building an inclusive work culture. This will reduce any misunderstandings and remove any bias that your employees may have toward the Deaf community.
Providing a workplace that is inclusive and values the Deaf community will not only help to encourage communication among all of your employees, it is also a smart business move since a team that can communicate well can reach their full workplace potential and that means improved productivity.
Technological Advancements for Accessibility
Technology has also played a hand in improving accessibility to work for the Deaf and hard of hearing. Video relay systems empower members of the Deaf community to communicate with friends who are hearing through a video call linked with a skilled interpreter. The ability to communicate over the phone in real-time expanded job opportunities for the Deaf community since they could more easily handle customer service positions.
Smartphones also made a significant impact on work accessibility for the Deaf community. Mobile apps like Bridg’d can act as a two-way translator that fits inside your pocket or handbag, making communication on the go much more convenient and easy. This not only enhances communication accessibility for your employees who are Deaf or hard of hearing, it also gives your employees who are hearing the ability to interact with your Deaf customers and provide the highest level of customer service.
Another innovation that has greatly improved inclusivity for the Deaf community in the workplace is speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology. This technology allows Bridg’d to feel much more intuitive since sign language is turned into text, which is turned into speech. Any verbal communication can be turned into text for the user to read, making conversations much more natural and streamlined which will encourage more interaction between your team.
Are you ready to see how the Bridg’d mobile app can help create a welcoming and inclusive work environment for your employees? Try it out for 7 days, risk-free.
