When I was starting my career at Goldman Sachs, the bank had recently transitioned to an open-floor layout, and all new hires could get an ergonomic assessment of our workstation. The ergonomic specialist had me sit at my workstation so that she could determine what improvements would benefit me. While my colleagues and I received many of the same enhancements, including a second monitor and a keyboard wrist pad, I got a few extra items. First, I received a left-handed mouse since I’m left-handed, and because I’m five feet tall, I also got a footstool so that my feet would not hang off my chair.
When the specialist noticed that I type with one hand, she asked if I would benefit from speech-to-text technology, which I had frankly never heard of before. Today, I use a free tool with paid features called Otter.ai, which records my audio and puts together a rough transcript and even an outline, with a shareable link. I think this program is skilled enough to be used—for free!—by regular businesses. (And no, they don’t pay me to say that.) I have many friends who use speech-to-text technology when sending text messages, and I still frequently use this technology to write large amounts of text (like this book), to get rough transcripts of my podcast episodes, or to help generate meeting notes.
I grew up with the assumption that accommodations for my disability were “special treatment” and that I should never ask for them. But what I saw with the ergonomic specialist was how she proactively offered me, as well as my non-disabled colleagues, many options without ever making me feel that my needs were special, extraordinary, or inconvenient. As Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano, a technology executive and workplace equity expert whose work focuses on anti-racism and disability inclusion, reminds us, “So often, as disabled people, we accept the bare minimum of kindness, accommodation, [and] understanding, especially at work.”1
What I’ve come to learn is that accommodations promote equity. Accommodations are not a “nice to have” option or an “unnecessary cost.” They exist so that disabled people can participate in the same way as everyone else and so that all of us can participate equitably. When not distracted by barriers to our participation, we focus and perform our roles more efficiently and with better results.
“Accommodations are almost always considered ‘unreasonable’ until they’re actualized, at which point almost everyone, regardless of disability, appreciates them,” says author Rebekah Taussig, referencing the curb-cut effect in a piece she wrote for Time magazine about the disempowering experience of flying commercially with a wheelchair.2 “What if accommodations weren’t reserved for extraordinary circumstances? What if we took this moment of rebuilding to listen to the ones on the edges experiencing the brunt of our inadequate systems and used their insights to make those systems work better for all of us?”
If we plan to offer accommodations, we need to think beyond the binary. Long before the pandemic, disabled employees were already advocating for remote work and telehealth, but their requests were often shut down by employers and medical establishments who said that those were unreasonable accommodations or couldn’t be done. It took COVID for the world to realize that remote work was possible for everyone and that telehealth could be efficient and keep people safe and healthy without their having to lose a whole or half day of work to travel to a doctor’s office. “The excuse we had always heard [was] like, ‘Oh, we can’t do that, because that would require us to have all these accommodations, and everyone has to be in the office from 9 to 5.’ Now we know all that stuff is baloney,” says Matthew Shapiro, founder of 6 Wheels Consulting.3 As many employers expand return-to-office mandates, let’s remember to embrace the pandemic-era flexibility in how we worked and not reimpose barriers that pushed many of us out of the workplace. Surveys have shown that working remotely doesn’t interfere with employee productivity and that productivity actually increases.4
There is also a misconception that accommodations are cost-prohibitive and high-tech. While that may be true for some, like ASL interpreters, the majority of accommodations can be free for the employer,5 such as speech-to-text technology like Otter.ai, turning on auto-captions during Zoom meetings, providing written materials in accessible formats like large print, and allowing remote work and flexible schedules.
Employers agree. In a study conducted by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), 56 percent of surveyed employers reported that their accommodations cost zero dollars to implement. For those who invested in a onetime cost, such as access modifications to doors, bathrooms, and entrances; braille signage; or tech devices or software, the median expenditure was only $300. Furthermore, the employers reported that the benefits from making accommodations far outweighed the costs, including retaining valuable employees (85 percent), increasing productivity (53 percent), increasing attendance (48 percent), increasing safety (31 percent), and increasing company morale (30 percent).6 This is in comparison to the average of $200,000 that companies spend to defend against discrimination lawsuits if they fall out of ADA compliance.7 Simply put, accommodations are worth it.
What are some examples of accommodations that you can make for your employees? Because disability is so diverse and we have a vast range of experiences and needs, there is no definitive list. But you can start by taking stock of your situation, naming the disability if it has been disclosed (reminder: it is not necessary for employees to disclose our disability for you to make our requested accommodations), identifying the access barrier the employee faces, and searching for the right accommodation that can help us overcome the barrier and meet our access needs. Here are some examples:
| Disability | Access Barrier | Access Needs Met |
| Low vision | Reading text in print or on a screen | • Audio transcripts of meetings • Large-print font on public notices • Anti-glare guard for computer monitor • Screen-magnification software • Frequent breaks to rest eyes • Additional or adaptive workstation lighting |
| ADHD | Attentiveness and concentration | • Structured breaks during the workday • Quiet workspace • Tasks given as to-do lists • Time-management apps • On-site coach or mentor |
| Chronic pain | Relief from pain | • Ergonomic chairs • Flexible work schedules to take medication or take medical leave • Work-from-home option • Speech-to-text software • Reallocating lifting or other physically demanding duties to coworkers • Unlimited sick days |
| Hard of hearing | Participation in group discussions | • Written transcripts of meetings • Option for email instead of in-person discussion • Whiteboards or notepads • Closed captions or communication access realtime translation (CART) services |
| Autism | Communication with coworkers and managers | • Staffwide training on interacting with neurodivergent people • Written task list or agenda • One-on-one communication • Direct communication with opportunities for questions • On-site coach or mentor |
| PTSD | Stress-free environment | • Apps for handling anxiety and stress • Counseling and therapy • Support animal • Flexible breaks • Remote work |
| Immunocom-promised | Healthy and safe environment | • Mandatory mask requirement for workspace • Private area away from high traffic areas • Teleconferencing into meetings • Remote work • Flexible breaks |
| Wheelchair User | Navigating physical spaces | • Adjustable desks and workstations • Step-free entrance • Accessible bathroom and meeting rooms |
I’ve found that the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is an excellent free online database for employers to look up accommodation ideas for different types of disabilities or requirements, listed from A to Z.8 For example, I can look up information by disability, such as typing in “PTSD,” or by what JAN calls “limitation,” such as “Attentiveness/Concentration.” The latter is useful in cases where a disability is not disclosed. It also reminds us that the problem we’re solving for is a lack of attentiveness or concentration, which can impact any employee, disabled or not.
The JAN website has a comprehensive list of accommodation ideas sorted by limitation or work-related function, and it provides real-life case studies from employees who have benefited from specific accommodations. For example, when a schoolteacher with PTSD experienced anxiety and flashbacks that prevented her from controlling her classroom, JAN suggested giving her special training on behavioral management techniques, supplying administrative support for student disciplinary actions, and providing her with a radio to get classroom assistance quickly if she needed it.9
Finally, while providing accommodations has to be our starting point, they are just the first step toward the final goal of inclusion and an accessibility-first culture. Disabled people need accommodations because our spaces are currently inaccessible. But once a space is accessible, we will no longer need those accommodations.
Though some of us might use the terms interchangeably, there is a difference between accommodations and accessibility. Accommodations are a reactive way to promote equity. According to Katie Rose Guest Pryal, JD, PhD, a speaker and expert on mental health and neurodiversity, they are special exceptions people make to pre-existing spaces in order to accommodate disabled people to ensure that we can participate. In contrast, accessibility is a proactive way to promote equity because it means creating spaces that are designed and built to be welcoming, inclusive, and functional for disabled people from the get-go so that we won’t require extra accommodations, just like everyone else.13
Often, unlike my experience with the ergonomic specialist at Goldman, accommodations require that disabled people navigate privacy invasions and tedious paperwork. Imagine an open-plan workspace, says Pryal. Although designed to build community, it is challenging for neurodivergent employees to concentrate in such spaces because they can be loud and distracting without cubicle walls to break up the noise. In order to do their best work, a neurodivergent worker might need to wear noise-canceling headphones. However, what happens if headphones are against office policy because they inhibit community building? The employee will have to jump through hoops and over hurdles to submit an accommodation request to HR, which may also mean disclosing their disability or submitting medical records. Even if their request is successful, they may still experience judgment from coworkers who assume they’ve received “special treatment.”14
If a workspace is truly accessible, there will be no burden for disabled people to prove that we deserve what we need because “accessibility presumes that disabled people are [already] part of a community.… In an accessible space,… the door is open.”15 Marisa Hamamoto, a disability inclusion changemaker, speaker, dancer, and founder of Infinite Flow dance company, adds, “It’s worth navigating methods and practices that foster a sense of community and safety. We do our best work in a culture of belonging, after all.”16