Future Work Accessibility

According to statistics, one in four people in their twenties will develop a disability before they
retire. With this knowledge, we want to accommodate the customer with disabilities who uses
our services or visits our store, as well as the employees that we hire who may need
accommodations in getting to their job each day. This includes making our office and store
space physically accessible, creating web pages that are easy to read or use audial cues for
visual disabilities, and finding ways to accentuate communication with those with hearing
issues.

But the business owner themselves should now be realizing that they, the owner (and their
successors), could at some point be struck with a disability that requires alterations to their
home, store, or office to allow for continuing operations. So why don’t we prepare ahead of
time while we are able for that eventuality?

The predominant reason is: we don’t want to think about it. We don’t want to imagine that
scenario, so we put it off. This is one future that able-bodied people should be planning for
proactively rather than reactively. You don’t need to be all doom-and-gloom, but you can walk
through your business, your home, and consider now the options that will make accessibility
available to everyone.

Examples include reworking doorways to make them wheelchair-width, adding banisters for
support, and looking through the best options for ramps (temporary metal inserts or
professional-grade permanent wood constructions?). Update yourself on disability policies and
print out forms to keep at hand for both you and your employees. Have plans drawn up to
show other people changes you’ll need to continue running your business, from the office
space to which you will transfer should something happen to a handbook of all your daily
routines in case someone needs to assist you for a while.

Preparation is key to smooth business operations over the long term.

Written by the GBS Web Services Team.