|
You have many resources available to assist in modifying,
adapting, and providing accessibility to your office or plant for both the
newly hired or newly disabled employee. Most of these changes could cost you
nothing.
An excellent resource is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN),
which offers free and confidential consultation. If you need to accommodate an
applicant with a disability, a new employee, or return to work an employee who
is newly disabled, and you do not know what to do, just call JAN.
In about 85 percent of cases handled, JAN has helped employers
find modifications that cost less than $1,000, and often accommodations cost
nothing at all. In addition to its database of more than 200,000 specific
accommodations, JAN can provide you with specific resources to assist in
solving difficult or unique accommodation or adaptation problems. JAN can also
answer basic questions and provide referral information on the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). Anyone may call JAN toll-free at 800-526-7234 (voice or
TTY) or 800-ADA-WORK, 800-232-9675 (voice/TTY). To learn more about JAN on the
Internet, visit <www.jan.wvu.edu>.
The JAN Web site includes a Searchable Online Accommodation
Resource (SOAR) which allows visitors to explore the vast database of
accommodations ideas and resources online. Using the SOAR system is as easy as
1-2-3: (1) Visitors to the site choose from a list of disability types-from
AIDS/HIV to back injury to muscular dystrophy to vision disorders. (2) A second
menu prompts selection of a more specific functional limitation. For example,
if the visitor requests information regarding hearing disabilities, the second
menu will ask whether the person has difficulty communicating with customers,
using a telephone, responding to emergency signals, etc. (3) The database
generates a range of suggestions for accommodating individuals with a given
type of functional limitation. Someone with a hearing-related disability might
be alerted to emergency signals with a visual, tactile, or other non-auditory
type of signal. The direct URL for this service is <www.jan.wvu.edu/soar>.
In addition to job modification, in some cases you will need to
make structural changes. In most instances, though, the changes required are
minimal and involve ramping, doorway widening, and providing accessible
restrooms. Persons using wheelchairs may need space for their chairs entering
and leaving as well as in work areas, bathrooms, cafeteria, and training sites.
Often, simply raising an ordinary desk or worktable on blocks will allow the
user to draw his or her chair up to the work area and work comfortably. In most
cases the cost of accessibility is relatively small. However, cost should not
be viewed as a barrier, and you may qualify for a tax credit for accommodations
you make (see Appendix E). Remember, today's successful business recognizes
that in a dwindling labor supply, success comes only to those willing to use
all the resources available. That means recruiting and employing the qualified
person with a disability and maintaining the employee who is newly disabled.
Consult the ADA Accessibility Guidelines published by the U.S.
Access Board for guidance on correct space requirements (800-872-2253 V/TTY;
800-993-2822 TTY; .) Other excellent resources are the 10 federally funded
Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs). The Center in
your area can be reached by calling 800-949-4232.
Accommodating individuals with hearing disabilities may be no more
complicated than turning a receptionist's desk to face the door. A variety of
devices are available for telephones to amplify hearing and speech. Devices
that flash lights instead of ring bells can be provided for emergency alarms as
well as for telephones. Some people with hearing disabilities cannot use
regular telephones even if they are adapted with amplifying devices. Instead,
people with significant hearing loss use TTYs. These devices make the telephone
accessible and productive to people who would otherwise not be able to use
them. Under Title IV of the ADA, all states must have relay services allowing
people without TTYs to talk to people using TTYs; check your phone book for the
relay number and learn how to use the system.
Individuals with limited or no vision can be accommodated in
various ways. Examples include raised lettering or Braille symbols on signs and
elevator buttons. A variety of magnification devices exist, but be sure to
allow the individual who will be using the device to try it before investing.
Devices which produce Braille symbols or synthesized speech can assist those
with severely limited or no vision to read printed material and access
computers. While such devices may be expensive initially, they often pay for
themselves in increased productivity.
You might not need any special equipment to accommodate
individuals with cognitive disabilities. Providing extra training and guidance
to an individual and breaking a complex task down into simpler components may
be all that is needed to ensure understanding and productivity. Avoid giving
too many instructions at once. Also, try to limit the number of people who give
instructions. Multiple instructors often can confuse a situation as much as
multiple instructions. Agencies that work with people with specific
disabilities and state and local rehabilitation facilities are good sources for
assistance in providing successful accommodations. In many instances, these
agencies also can help pay for some of the more expensive types of equipment.
|
A photographer lost the use of one hand and could no
longer hold and manipulate a camera at the same time. His company provided a
tripod, but that proved too cumbersome.
JAN Solution: The photographer received a waist
pod, the kind used to carry flags to support the camera on a rod, while he shot
pictures with his functional hand. Cost: $50 |
|
A police officer with dyslexia committed too much time at
the end of each day to filling out forms.
JAN Solution: The officer was provided a tape
recorder to dictate the reports. A secretary who typed the handwritten reports
of other officers typed this officer's reports from dictation. Cost: $69
|
|
An employee was assigned to sort checks into appropriate
stacks. However, because of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, the employee
could not manually pick up the checks.
JAN Solutions: The employee could use a vacuum
pick-up pen that suctions objects which could then be dropped in bins. Or, the
employee could be fitted with a cuff-type writing aid which holds a pen in
place along the index finger. The employee could then slide checks to
appropriate bins. Cost: $100 |
|
A radio broadcast announcer who is totally blind needed to
be able to read over the airwaves Associated Press wire news received through
phone lines into a standard printer.
JAN Solution: The station supplied the announcer
with a Braille printer which could be connected to the Associated Press wire. A
switch allowed any user to quickly move between the Braille and regular
printers. Cost: $1,700 |
|
A chef who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair needed to
access several different areas in the restaurant kitchen. His co-workers
preferred to continue standing as they cooked, and the restaurant did not want
to install adjustable height work stations.
JAN Solution: The chef could use a stand-up
wheelchair, allowing him to remain in his wheelchair but work at standing
height when necessary. Cost: $11,000 |
|
A person with multiple sclerosis was extremely sensitive
to heat. If the office thermostat were adjusted to meet her needs, her
co-workers would be too cold, and the company was not able to provide her a
private office.
JAN Solution: The individual was provided a cool
vest that kept her body temperature down without affecting her colleagues'
comfort. Cost: $350 to $2,000, depending on the system chosen |
|
A company used two-way radios to keep its fieldworkers in
touch with each other and the main office. One employee, however, could not use
the system because of a hearing loss.
JAN Solution: The field worker with hearing loss
was outfitted with a portable text telephone. This allowed the employee to
contact the main office, which was equipped with a TTY. Cost: $500 |
[ Previous Page
]
[ Back to Index Page
]
[ Next Page ]
|
