Building an Accessible and Inclusive Hiring Process From the Start

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Inclusive hiring means people with disabilities have equal access at every stage of the hiring process. This benefits both employees and employers by fostering a welcoming work environment. Employees with disabilities feel supported from the start, while employers gain access to a wider range of talent, improved employee morale, and increased productivity.

To start, employers should review job descriptions, applications, and interviews and onboarding procedures to ensure they are accessible and inclusive. Accessible and inclusive hiring practices not only promote fairness and demonstrate a commitment to inclusion, but also advance talent and expand customer bases.

Corporate leaders, human resource professionals, small business owners, and other employer representatives can turn to the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) for tools and resources to help ensure all aspects of the hiring process are inclusive.

Additionally, EARN recently released a self-paced online training course focused on creating accessible and effective interview processes for people with disabilities. This course enhances the information shared in EARN’s Inclusion@Work Framework for Building a Disability-Inclusive Organization, which outlines strategies for fostering disability-inclusive workplace cultures.

Inclusive hiring goes beyond recruitment, however. It requires a commitment to accessibility at every stage of the hiring journey. Accessible and inclusive practices benefit everyone, and by embedding accessibility into every step, organizations can unlock opportunities for all and achieve long-term success.

EARN is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy under a cooperative agreement with Cornell University’s Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability. For more information, visit AskEARN.org.