29-Jun-20 | News

“Workplace Adjustment Services”, the masterclass webinar “Making Remote Working Work”

The masterclass webinar “Making Remote Working Work” addressed issues relevant for those responsible in multinational organisations for ensuring remote working liberates every employee’s productivity, while enhancing their well-being and engagement.Moderated by Susan Scott-Parker (CEO and Founder, business disability international), Nasser Siabi (CEO, Microlink) and Christopher Lee (Managing Director, International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)) discussed how remote working can be made inclusive and accessible for all.

Many teams are struggling to work remotely because the basic access and communication needs of every team member have not been addressed – and because the usual ‘workarounds’ managed readily in the shared office environment are no longer easily available:

  • How do colleagues with visual or hearing or dexterity related disabilities, or those from neurominorities, participate in video meetings and access team documents via platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype or Cisco WebEx? Which are the most accessible – and how?
  • What access features are built into our existing technology that we may not be using? e.g. accessible PowerPoint presentations.
  • Can we access Sign Language interpreters remotely?
  • How do disabled colleagues working on their phones access our mandatory training programmes as well as our virtual meetings?
  • How simple communication protocols can make all the difference. E.g. sending PowerPoint presentations to a blind colleague BEFORE the digital meeting.
  • How do we minimise the pain and debilitating injuries triggered by working in noisy, cramped, uncomfortable ‘non-office’ environments, and whose job is this?