Accessibility whether it’s in the workplace or online is not only a legal requirement, it’s also a neccessity for all customers to be able to access a companies products or services.
As organisations become more aware of Diversity and Inclusion and their legal and moral obligations to employing people with disabilities, organisations of all sizes in Ireland are increasingly becoming more and more aware of their obligation to make their workplaces and digital offerings more accessible to people with disabilities. Not only is this the right thing to do, but through the workplace adaptation grants there are often subsidies available to employers which can drastically decrease the costs associated with implementing the accessibility features either in the workplace or digitally.
Often Irish organisations who want to implement accessibility features don’t know where to begin. I thought this article could help. Here are a list of Irish companies that can improve workplace or digital accessibility:
Co-Founder Matt McCann has Cerebral Palsy and uses a stroller. He created Access Earth after finding some hotels he was using inaccessible to his needs. Together with Donal McClean the pair co-founded Access Earth to create assessments, training and awareness for businesses, so that the world can become more accessible for those with additional needs.
The five person team now has a range of services including but not limited to:
- Accessibility Awareness Training
- Accessibility Feedback System
- Accessibility Policy Alignment
- Building Accessibility Features
- Guest Speaking opportunities
Their clients include the likes of Musgrave Group, AIB and Microsoft to name a few. They’ve won awards such as National Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2023, Shortlisted for Workplace Wellbeing at Small Firms Association Business Awards 2023, Winner Social Impact at Diversity in Tech Awards 2022 and Top Innovative Practice at Zero Project 2018
One of Ireland’s most well known contributors for access routes to employment and advice for people with disabilities, through their Willing Able Mentoring (WAM) service that employs 51 graduates in 2022 in some of Ireland largest organisations such as The Public Appointment Service, Bank of Ireland or Dell Technologies. While their GET Ahead service gives information to their user base such as how to create a CV, interview skills, disclose etc. They also a have a Building For The Future event where they have a careers fairs where potential applicants can meet their potential employers and have mock interviews or learn more about the world of work
AHEAD also provides training badges for businesses to ensure that the corporate world is as inclusive as possible not only for their applicants but make the employers more inclusive to all applicants. Some of their training that would apply to making the workplace more accessible would include:
- Supporting students with disabilities in the learning environment
- Supporting students and graduates with disabilities moving into work
- Supporting employers who are you interested in expanding their talent pool
- Providing advice on Assistive Technology – what is it and how can it support individuals
These badges go in depth into some of the grants available for employers to improve their physical environment to adapt it to the needs of people with disabilities. In addition to some of the technology available to employers that can make their workplace more accessible to their user base
DFI is a federation of member organisations working with people with disabilities to implement the UN CRPD and ensure their equal participation in society. Our vision is an Ireland where people with disabilities are participating fully in all aspects of society. Our aspiration is that our strategy, along with the work of others, will contribute to the following outcomes:
- Policy implementation developments at national level spanning income and access to community participation.
- Member organisations in a sustainable and stronger position to support people with disabilities to have a full life.
- People with disabilities being more active within their communities, as participants, advocates, and representatives.
Part of the final point is letting people with disabilities be more active in their communities includes employment and accessibility. To this end they offer trainings in a number of different areas including:
- How disability is viewed in society
- The models of disability – medical and social
- Disability facts and figures
- Government supports to employers
- Real life experiences – Do’s and Don’ts
- Things to consider in a work environment
- Legislation and Policy – inclusion laws
You can view the application form here
ployers for Change was established in 2021 and is a programme of the Open Doors Initiative established in 2018. Employers for Change receives its funding from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). The aim of Employers for Change is to empower employers with the advice, information and training needed to hire inclusively and to recruit, employ and retain staff with disabilities as well as employees who acquire a disability.
Employers for Change provides free one-to-one advice through their dedicated helpline, guidance documents through their website and online and in-person training. Employers for Change is committed to supporting employers to ensure employees with disabilities have equitable access to employment, promotion and training throughout the employment lifecycle from recruitment to retirement.
Employers For Change were kind enough to provide a case study interview on what they do, along with another article outlining some of the myths around employing people with disabilities. You can read that article here.
Enable Ireland provides services to over 13,000 children and adults with disabilities and their families from over 40 locations in 14 counties. Covering childhood to adulthood our expert teams work with the individual and their family on a plan for each life stage. We are a national disability services provider supporting children and adults and their families. Our Mission and Values is to work in partnership with those who use our services to achieve maximum independence, choice and inclusion in their communities
As part of their assistive technology training website, Enable Ireland offers a module on “Disability Equality Training‘, saying on their website “This course is designed help you to provide quality public services to people with disabilities. Staff that provide services directly to customers will become more confident when dealing with customers with disabilities. Staff that develop policies or procedures will learn how to make sure that people with disabilities can use the relevant services. All staff will get useful information about engaging with a person with a disability.
All content was originally authored by the National Disability Authority (NDA). Enable Ireland have adapted the original course so that it is accessible using current web browsers”
Helperbird is a platform that’s helped countless people, whether they have learning difficulties or not. Our mission is simple but ambitious: we want to make reading and web accessibility a piece of cake for everyone. That means whether you’re dealing with dyslexia, concussion symptoms, ADD, or low vision, we’ve got your back. To make sure everyone can benefit from Helperbird, we offer both a free version and a low-cost version. And let me tell you, seeing people from all walks of life use Helperbird to elevate their productivity? That’s the cherry on top for me.
I interviewed Helperbird’s CEO Robert James Gabriel to find out more about the company. You can find that interview here
Established in 2021 with the aim of creating a voice for people excluded from the digital revolution. The founding members of IA Labs want to drive forward the issue of equal inclusion and access to the digital world for everyone.
IA Labs specialise in website and app audits which will be measured against the Web Accessibility Directive, with our experienced staff offering actionable feedback to help improve your website for people with disabilities. The area of accessible reviews is one that is specialised and with the support of IA Labs you can be confident that the service provided will uphold against the WCAG directive.
A web design company that takes special interests in accessibility audits ilikecake works with their clients to ensure that their website is up to WAG 2.0 standards. They state on their website “ we regularly undertake accessibility audits for our clients and, in the past, have advised website tenderers on their accessibility requirements. All state funded organisations are required to have an accessible website. We have recently worked with The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Irish Water, and Comreg, amongst others, to advise them of their website compliance with current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).”
In addition to that the experts in the team can offer training on accessibility within clients organisations stating
“We can advise on and deliver specific training required by content managers.
We can work with your existing website maintenance organisation to advise on changes needed to website templates. We can work through your existing PDF generation processes to find the best way for your organisation to generate accessible PDFs quickly and efficiently going forward.
Sandra Healy and her team developed Inclusio after four years of research into the area in DCU. They then spun out the project into a company that recently received €6.2 million in funding from Enterprise Ireland and private equity and a promise of 80 new jobs
The platform according to their website We built a science-based, third-party platform that will help your organisation shift its culture and prove its DEI impact – all through the voices of your people, because we believe in building workplaces where people want to work. The Inclusio platform is developed by experts in behavioural data science, psychology, artificial intelligence, equality, diversity, and inclusion.
In addition their CIPD training includes a range of topics from unconscious bias training to building workplaces where everyone wants to work. The virtual training is thought leadership so that management may become aware of their blindspots and become better leaders for the entire workforce.
Having worked for more than 30 years in all levels of the Irish education sector. Claire Kennelly noticed one of the most common problems is that although there are supports in place for students with disabilities to get into the workforce, there is an issue when these students try to get employment, due to the lack of inclusivity in the private sector particularly. Claire setup Inclusive Cork to bridge the employment gap between the education and private sector by showing the private sector the inclusive tools they can implement that will make their workforce more diverse.
Her comprehensive 8 module training course covers:
- Disability etiquette, language, legislation, awareness, unconscious bias and empathy training.
- Disability Smart Workplaces
- Inclusive Leadership
- Neurodiversity and Autism Awareness
- Mental Health Awareness
- Temporary Disability
- Resilience Workshop
- Inclusive Intercultural Communication
Additional bespoke trainings can also be arranged for everything from HR and Talent Aquisition to Supporting ERG’s and Access Officers
Clare does not promote her prices online, those must be obtained from contacting her, but she does have testimonials from clients and a range of links in the media for the work she has done promoting the company.
The Irish Deaf Society seeks to achieve and promote the Equality and Rights of Deaf people in Ireland. On the grounds of the Irish Constitution and Human Rights and international legislation, the ambition of full access to citizenship and society is sought through the empowerment and mobilisation of the Deaf community. With an awareness of their identity and their rights as individuals, Deaf people in Ireland are enabled to celebrate their culture and continue to ensure the upholding of Irish Sign Language recognition and break down the barriers of discrimination.
Deaf Awareness Training (DAT) aims to highlight the experience of the Deaf Community and the issues and barriers that they face. This programme has the hope of giving guidance and clarity to those who have little or no experience with the Deaf Community, creating understanding and an ability to communicate in a Deaf-friendly way. It seeks to show the culture & language of the Deaf community. Awareness of the Deaf community is needed in order to break down barriers and unfounded attitudes.
Our Deaf Awareness Training programme covers the below topics:
- Irish Sign Language – a brief explanation of the language and the ISL Act 2017
- Deaf Community – we explain how the Deaf community is a linguistic minority with Deaf and Hearing people involved and cover topics such as positive Deafness and Deaf identity
- Lip-reading video challenge – this demonstrates how hard it is to lip read
- Correct Terminology to use
- Barriers faced by Deaf people
- Communication Tips – what is the best practice when communicating with a Deaf person?
- ISL Challenge – learn how to spell your name and some other basic signs
- Q&A & Discussion
The Irish Wheelchair Association delivers Disability Awareness Training to groups and organisations. The training seeks to open people’s minds about how easy it is to accommodate people with disabilities into their workforce.
Their training includes modules on:
- Anti-discrimination and equal opportunities legislation
- Perceptual awareness exercises
- Language and behaviour used in relation to people with disabilities.
- dealing with mental health issues in the workplace.
- most common reactions people can have to a person with a disability.
- barriers people with disabilities face and how to remove them
- challenges in communicating with some people with disabilities
- Political correctness and what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ to say to blind person
Mobility Mojo’s tagline is “accessibility made simple”, created by Stephen Cluskey and Noeelen Daly,the two wheelchair users experienced first hand how inaccessible buildings, offices and workplaces are. Their mission is to “be the most positive and effective agent of change in accessibility, working hard to open the world to everyone.”
Through gathering your buildings accessibility features, creating an accessibility report, and then working with clients to ensure that by implementing the actions in the report the clients can become more inclusive and make their workplace more accessible for everyone, thus reducing the barriers to entry for people with disabilities being employed in the workforce.
Their software has been certified by international accessibility experts and recently the company won the prestigious ESG Awards 2022 SME Company of the year’, which showcases the best ESG performance in line with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Their website states that “Our functions are set out in the National Disability Authority Act 1999 and the Disability Act 2005. The main function of the NDA is to advise and inform the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth when it comes to policy and practise for people with disabilities.
We also assist the Minister in the coordination of all disability policies. We engage with officials across most Government departments and in the wider public sector.
Our advice and guidance support public bodies to achieve the goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The NDC runs universaldesign.ie website Trainings in accessibility include:
The National Disability Authority’s advice paper on disability language and terminology is a living document that is updated periodically and we always like to receive feedback and suggestions on the content within from Disabled Persons Organisation, disabled people and other relevant organisations. Feedback can be sent to nda@nda.ie.
- Centre of Excellence for Universal Design
The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) is dedicated to enabling the design of environments that can be accessed, understood and used regardless of a person’s age, size, ability or disability. The CEUD is part of the National Disability Authority.
- Disability Awareness Training: e-learning
We produced a short online training module on disability equality awareness in 2011. It is currently being revised to reflect new legislation and practice and to make it more accessible. It should be available in 2023.
Eoin O’Herlihy established O’ Herlihy Access Consultancy (OHAC) in August 2007. The award winning business now has a team of 5 consultants can that can assist clients in:
- In-house built environment access consultancy
- Disability equality and awareness training
- Accessibility advice and support to service providers
- Expert Witness and work with your legal teams to provide professional insight and advice on a range of accessibility or disability access issues
In addition to this OHAC has more than 17 auxiliary services that they can provide in terms of audits, training, regularity advice and signage that they can offer to clients. Some of their clients include companies already on this article such as The NDA and The Irish Wheelchair Association, government bodies such as The European Commission; Dublin Castle or Dublin City Council or architectural firms such as Cantrell and Crowley Architects or Henry J Lyons Architects amongst other sectors too
Sensory rooms or calm zones are rooms in a workplace or educational sector that can be used as a room that people with sensory issues such as autism can go to self-regulate and de-stress for a short time, before reimaging to complete their tasks. However, many workplaces and educational sectors found that these rooms not only benefit people with sensory needs, but they help the wider workforce as well.
I’ve interviewed two founders who have created their own sensory rooms. Robert Byrne from The Sensory Pod can implement a sensory room and soft play area, and David O’Caomhe from The Nook Pod. A self enclosed room that can act as a sensory room or a place where employees can go to, to get away and concentrate on their tasks.
According to their website “Texthelp is a world leading inclusive technology company that helps all people to understand and be understood. While many of our product users have dyslexia, our tools are designed with Universal Design in mind – making learning and working more engaging, and offering more choice to everyone in the way that they learn and work. Our tools help people at work achieve more by making it easier to understand and communicate in a digital environment.
Our software helps organisations to embrace inclusive communication both inside and outside the office. Our product portfolio has grown substantially in recent years, after acquiring Sweden-based assistive tech group Oribi in October last year; the ed-tech division of Don Johnston, a US-based assistive technology company, in January 2022; and Danish firm Wizkids in July 2021. All of this has been made possible by our investors, most recently from Five Arrows Capital, the private equity arm of Rothschild & Co.”
By 2020 Sinead Burke had already become one of the foremost advocates for people with disabilities not just in Ireland but worldwide. Being a little person, Sinead saw first hand how inaccessible the world can be for people with disabilities. She then grew her reputation in the fashion world, eventually interviewing the likes of Victoria Beckham Kim Kardashian, being on the cover of Vogue magazine and speaking at some of the most prestigious events in the world, meeting world leaders like the Obamas all while creating her own successful podcast and doing a PHd in Education.
The website states “In 2017, she delivered a powerful TED Talk on ‘Why design should include everyone.’ and in Her children’s book, ‘Break the Mould,’ is a primer on how to take your place in the world – with lessons for all. It won the ‘Specsavers Children’s Books of the Year’ at the An Post Irish Book Awards in 2020.
Then in 2020 Sinead founded Tilting The Lens.to “design with Disabled people, not for Disabled people. We craft solutions to intentionally build an accessible and equitable world.” They educate, advocate and design solutions for their clients staff through a series of consultations and training. Audit workplaces to ensure legal procedures are adhered to and provide research and technical solution from people with disabilities feedback, and then produce a product for the clients that meet their target audiences needs while having been consulted with industry experts, embed universal design principles in the built environment and ensure best practice for websites or digital services. Finally, they then assist with the promotion of their solutions through internal training and support, PR and ensuring the message is promoted to the target audience
Some of Tilting the Lens clients include Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Netflix, Pinterest and Starbucks.