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| Technology That Can Save Your Workforce |
March 16, 2005 |
By Trevor Marshall
ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES HAVE BEEN USED WIDELY TO ASSIST DISABLED EMPLOYEES, BUT THESE INNOVATIONS CAN HELP ALMOST ANYONE SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THE INFORMATION ECONOMY
POP QUIZ TIME: HOW DID I WRITE THIS ARTICLE?
Chances are good I pounded it out on a standard computer keyboard, but thanks to a number of software and hardware solutions collectively known as adaptive technologies (AT) that’s not my only option. For example, I might have used a special keyboard designed for people with limited physical motion, dictated the article to my computer using a speechto-text program, or composed it by using a joystick or a sip-and-puff mechanism, which uses breath to select letters from an onscreen keyboard.
Regardless of the interface between person and PC, the end result is the same: another article created by translating knowledge I’ve acquired into words on the page.
And that basic process is the same for all knowledge workers: producing a valuable product from something you know.
Whether you’re able-bodied is irrelevant.
NO BARRIERS
The situation would be very different without AT — many talented Canadians would be prevented from contributing to the knowledge economy. Those
affected would include people with disabilities — for example, those who are blind or have low vision, and those without the physical mobility necessary to use a keyboard and mouse — and many of these solutions were developed specifically to address such needs.
Rami Zabanah is an assistant in the human resources division at BMO Financial Group in Toronto. He has weak vision and uses adaptive technologies
including ZoomText (a screen-magnifying application) and a closed-circuit television system that enables him to magnify and read documents on a 20-inch LCD monitor.
Adaptive technologies have enabled Zabanah to build a career in an information-intensive sector. “Frankly...I wouldn’t have been able to do the job I’m in at all,” he said. “I work in an industry where information is critical and our use of it is how we do most of our work. (Without AT), simply accessing
the computer would be very difficult for me because I wouldn’t be able to see what’s on the screen in an effective way.”
BMO has made a public commitment to employing a diverse workforce that reflects the communities in which it does business, and it even has a vice-president responsible for diversity and workplace equity. The bank acts on that obligation, in part, by embracing AT.
“The corporate commitment is to hire the best people available to do the job, but that doesn’t mean that people who have adaptive requirements are not fully capable — or even more capable — than people who don’t have those requirements,” said John Madill, department manager for desktop planning and development at BMO. “The objective is to make our workforce diverse and representative and to eliminate those barriers that [the best candidate] may have to being employed by us.”
ENABLING ALL
But adaptive technology is not useful just for those with disabilities. A normally able-bodied person may enlist AT while recovering from an accident or injury. Such technologies are also useful for environments in which a standard computer interface won’t work; try typing while wearing heavy work gloves or reading a laptop screen in full sunshine.
Jan Richards, a user-interface design specialist at the University of Toronto’s Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC), calls it the curb-cut advantage, explaining that ramps were created at street corners to enable people in wheelchairs to get on and off the sidewalk, but these curb cuts help almost everyone, including parents pushing strollers and delivery people hauling dollies. “In the computer world, often fonts may be a little too small for people to read at the end of the day, and they benefit from the ability to increase the size,” he said. “There are many people who would benefit from
being able to just have a document read out loud to them; some people just process information better that way.”
In fact, it’s likely everyone will benefit from AT as they get older, especially in Canada’s computer-enabled, knowledgebased economy. “Your ability to retain the workforce you have — the experienced, seasoned workforce you have — will become a much clearer business advantage (in the years ahead),” said Sara Basson, program manager for accessibility services at IBM.
“Your ability to do that usefully means: can they still continue to engage with IT as they always have? Often they can, if you build your systems with accessibility in mind.”
PRESERVING TALENT
Ensuring that accessibility isn’t a hurdle is an important part of Laurie McArthur’s work. The services coordinator at the ATRC matches up the University of Toronto’s faculty, staff and students with appropriate adaptive technologies to accommodate a variety of needs.
Her goal is to help preserve the university’s core asset: its talent pool. “We have faculty who have visual impairments, some quite significant, and we work with them to provide technologies that help them read their students’ work and create their lesson materials, using adaptive technologies like screen readers, screen magnifiers or scanning software,” she said. “We also have a number of faculty and staff with repetitive-type injuries or who have been in accidents and require accommodations (to be able to use a computer).”
McArthur said in addition to working within the university community, the ATRC is leveraging its expertise to provide consulting services to the private sector looking for AT advice. “Most employers’ goals are to maintain that knowledge and investment in their employees and the unique contributions they have to a company,” she said, adding that companies are increasingly asking for ARTC’s help.
“We’ve never really advertised the service and we have plenty to keep us busy.”
ADAPTIVE SELLS
For IT companies, incorporating AT is no longer just a means to serve a broader market. Increasingly, it’s a requirement to supply major users of IT, such as governments.
“The U.S. Federal Government is now requiring that all the (IT) stuff they buy be accessible — that could be everything from Microsoft Word to a fax machine to an outsourced Web page,” Richards said.
“That’s a huge driver in the IT industry.”
But the opportunities exist for all businesses, BMO’s Zabanah said. By embracing adaptive technologies to diversify its workforce, the bank is also realizing new opportunities to better serve customers. “We’re able to harness our innovations and our employee experiences...and we’re able to effectively
translate that into the customer experience,” he said. “Understanding that some of our employees require Braille displays, for instance, will naturally transfer over to the customer side, such as the ability to provide our customers with Braille statements.”
Basson agreed. “By incorporating some of these technologies — by basically transforming their IT space and incorporating this accessibility know-how — companies broaden their customer base, they broaden their employee base and they present themselves as a company that ‘gets it.’”
Web AT
ATRC http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc
BMO http://www.bmo.com
IBM http://www.ibm.ca
Ryerson http://www.ryerson.ca
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