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Extend a Helping Hand
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April 1, 2002
By Sean Doherty
>> continued from previous page
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Executive Summary: IT Strategies for the Disabled
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You may be reading this and thinking to yourself, "As if I don't have enough to worry about." We hear you, but the fact remains that as the population ages, the need for assistive devices will grow. Keep in mind that something as simple as a glare shield or ergonomic mouse is just as much an assistive device as a Braille keyboard or a TTY telephone. We've been preaching the need for IT to move from being a cost center to playing an integral part in helping your organization meet business goals. And let's face facts: A business is only as good as its people. So you clearly want to enable your enterprise to hire and retain the very best people, period.
Our advice: Put a plan in place now that provides channels so department heads and HR can easily request help in accommodating a disabled employee. Let them know that you have the resources they need. Toward that end, our resident legal expert, Sean Doherty, maps out what you should know about the Americans With Disabilities Act and its requirements. We also explain how the act affects job interviews (see "How To Negotiate the Interview Minefield").
This is an area where it's natural for IT to take a lead role--after all, who's the gadget master in your world? And there are some mighty cool gadgets out there. We list a sampling in our charts on products for the disabled (see Products for the Hearing Impaired, Products for the Seeing Impaired, and Products for the Mobility-Impaired), and give you a stockpile of Web links for additional resources. Of course, while your budget may be loosening up a bit, we realize that many of these devices are expensive, so we also provide information about tax credits for which your company may qualify in "Gizmos, Gadgets and Tax Credits."
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How To Negotiate the Interview Minefield
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The ADA prohibits employers from asking job applicants questions about disability and health. It also prohibits pre-employment medical and physical examinations. Even if an applicant's disability is obvious, the law prohibits potential employers from discovering the severity of the disability. The following questions should be avoided at an interview:
- Are you disabled?
- Are you in good health?
- Do you have any past or present medical problems?
- Have you seen a doctor or received medical treatment in the last year?
- Have you ever made a claim for workers' compensation?
- When will you be able to walk without crutches?
Asking job applicants to volunteer information about their disabilities and possible accommodations is also not allowed. But if you conduct job-related tests to screen applicants, you can inquire about any necessary accommodations needed by the applicant to engage in the tests. This inquiry should be included in the job-application form.
Applicants can be asked about their ability to perform job-related functions. For example, you can explain the job functions and ask the applicant how he or she expects to perform them. And if the disability is obvious, you can ask about and discuss reasonable accommodations. But do so in a positive light. For example, "Is there anything we can do to accommodate or assist you on the job?" Or "What modifications are effective for you to perform the job functions?"
If the disability is not obvious or hidden, it is up to the individual to make the need for accommodation known to the employer. The individual making the request does not have to ask for a specific accommodation. He or she needs only to inform the employer that an accommodation is warranted under the ADA.
After making a tentative offer of employment, you can ask applicants questions related to health and require a medical examination, as long as all tentatively hired employees are subject to the same examination and the results of the medical exam are kept confidential. Note that this preliminary information cannot be used to disqualify an applicant unless the grounds are job-related and based on a business necessity. For more on surviving the interview process, see "How To Be a Legal Eagle"(August 6, 2001).
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Gizmos, Gadgets and Tax Credits
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The most difficult part in assembling our roundup of enabling devices (see our charts on products for the disabled) was limiting the number of items included. A wealth of information is available, and the range of products is wide; our charts merely present a sampling. The "Web Links" list a number of sites offering valuable links and resources.
Often the key to accommodating a disabled individual is communication. Ask what is needed to enable him or her to perform job-related tasks. You may be surprised to find a few simple alterations can make all the difference. Disability levels vary from carpal tunnel to paralysis, from slight sight or hearing impairments to complete blindness or deafness. One useful resource is the Department of Labor's Job Accommodation Network, which says 80 percent of accommodations suggested by the agency cost less than $500. Another source is JobAccess, which places people with disabilities via a resume-hosting and job-posting service.
In addition, most states have agencies that offer financial and technical assistance. Yes, financial: There are grants as well as tax credits available. To assist businesses in complying with the ADA, the IRS allows tax credits for small businesses and tax deductions for all businesses. The tax credit is available to businesses that have total revenues of $1 million or less in the previous tax year or 30 or fewer full-time employees. This credit can cover 50 percent of the eligible access expenditures in a year, up to a maximum credit of $5,000. The tax credit, for example, can be used to offset the cost of improving accessibility by making available a sign-language interpreter or a reader for customers or employees or used for purchasing certain adaptive equipment (see Hire THIS Ability and Tax Highlights for Persons with Disabilities [ftp.fedworld.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p907.pdf]). The Department of Labor also has a page chock-full of helpful links for small businesses.
--Lorna Garey
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Web Links
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• AbleData, (800) 227-0216, TTY: (301) 608-8912. www.abledata.com; abledata@macroint.com
• Center for Applied Special Technology, (978) 531-8555, TTY: (978) 538-3110. www.cast.org; cast@cast.org
• Center for Computer Assistance to the Disabled, (214) 800-2223. www.c-cad.org; ccad@onramp.net
• Equal Access to Software and Information, www.rit.edu/~easi; wmcqueen@oise.utoronto.ca
• IBM Accessibility Center, www-3.ibm.com/able/snslinks.html
• National Association of the Deaf, (301) 587-1788, TTY: (301) 587-1789. www.nad.org; NADinfo@nad.org
• National Rehabilitation Information Center, (800) 346-2742. www.naric.com; naricinfo@heitechservices.com
• Phonic Ear, (800) 227-0735. www.phonicear.com; customerservice@phonicear.com
• U.S. DOL Job Accommodation Network, (800) 526-7234, TTY: (800) 526-7234. www.jan.wvu.edu; jan@jan.icdi.wvu.edu
• Unisys Federal e-Government Solutions (800) ADA-WORK, TTY: (800) ADA-WORK. www.federal.unisys.com
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