Summary: While most disabled adults see real potential in AI, only one in four believe those benefits extend to the workplace. For HR leaders rolling out AI tools, that gap carries legal, financial and reputational risk.
Business Disability Forum recently conducted a poll with research company Opinium to find out about the experiences of disabled people when using AI tools.
The poll of 1,032 disabled UK adults found that people were generally positive about the benefits that AI can bring for disabled people now and in the future.
More than one-third of respondents said they believe that AI tools can help disabled people by improving communications (38 per cent) and online experiences (34 per cent).
Respondents also mentioned improved access to healthcare information and communication (33 per cent). As well as better access to education (32 per cent), improved accessibility of digital content (32 per cent) and support for independent living (31 per cent).
Only one-quarter of respondents (24 per cent), however, recognised the benefits of AI for disabled people when accessing work or within the workplace.
The same poll also sought disabled people’s views around what would make AI more accessible for disabled people. Designing, developing and testing AI tools with disabled people was the answer given by 40 per cent of respondents. Which makes it the top response.
AI workplace barriers
For employers and HR leaders, these findings have implications for AI use in the workplace.
AI is widely recognised as a productivity tool. But have you considered whether there are barriers preventing your staff from using the tools brought in to help them? And, if so, how can you set about overcoming those barriers?
Involving disabled staff in planning and decision making around AI makes sense for many reasons.
Firstly, improving the user experience for disabled employees brings benefits for all colleagues. Many people in the workplace use accessibility features within programs and products to help them carry out their jobs more effectively. Even though they do not identify as disabled.
Automated captioning on a videocall, for example, or read aloud functionality within a document to help them access information.
These features were initially developed to help overcome barriers experienced by disabled people. For example, hearing loss, sight loss or dyslexia. But they now benefit everyone.
Have you considered whether there are barriers preventing your staff from using the tools brought in to help them?
Compliance risk
Compliance is also an issue. Under the Equality Act 2010, there is a legal duty on all employers to make sure the workplace is accessible.
Therefore, introducing tech and AI solutions without considering the access needs of all your staff is a risk. Retrofitting in general can be costly. Some research estimates that it could cost up to 100 times more than building in accessibility early on.
The organic nature of AI means that retrofitting could also be complex. You may be thinking, ‘well, no one has raised an issue, so everything must be OK’. If you are not sure if the AI and tech being used within your organisation is accessible, then it probably isn’t.
Also, remember that compliance issues can bring wider risks to your reputation and employer brand. It’s better to involve disabled colleagues in decisions around the purchase and use of AI tools from the beginning to help mitigate against this.
Actions for HR leaders
So, what can HR leaders do to make sure that staff needs are not overlooked when it comes to AI implementation and use?
1. Involve your disabled staff in AI development and use, from defining the need, to procurement, testing and post-delivery reviews
Make sure decisions around AI use within your organisation are based on staff needs and usability. Work with your tech teams and staff disability networks to gather information about need. Also to manually test any products and tools.
Avoid making assumptions or generalisations. Just because it seems to work well for one colleague who has hearing loss, doesn’t mean it will work well for everyone who has a hearing difficulty. Or someone with manual dexterity issues or who is blind.
Ensure any AI tools have flexibility built in to allow disabled colleagues to personalise them and work in ways that best suit them.
Continue to gather feedback throughout the rollout and post-delivery phases for any accessibility issues that may not have surfaced earlier in the process. BDF’s free Tech Toolkit contains advice on user-testing for accessibility.
Introducing tech and AI solutions without considering the access needs of all your staff is a risk
2. Make sure AI tools or platforms will work with any assistive tech already being used by staff
Many disabled people rely on assistive tech, such as speech recognition software or a specialist keyboard, to help them carry out tasks and overcome barriers in the workplace.
It’s important to consider the compatibility of any new AI tools with this tech. This is not just at initial roll out stage. It’s also with regards to any regular updates to AI or the assistive tech.
There may be examples where the AI and assistive tech just don’t work well together. So avoid making AI compulsory and give staff an option to ‘opt out’.
3. Provide colleagues with training and time to get used to any AI introduced
Make sure disabled colleagues are included in any learning opportunities around AI and the training is accessible for everyone.
Over one-third of disabled people who took part in our poll said that greater availability of information about how AI can support disabled people (37 per cent) and more support to help disabled people get started with AI (36 per cent) would improve accessibility.
Cover the issue of AI accessibility within training so all staff get to learn about its importance. Disabled colleagues should be made aware of the accessibility features of any AI being proposed so they know what the tools offer them.
Build in plenty of time for disabled colleagues to test out functionality and navigation. And for setting up any preferences and customisations they may need to make using the tools in their jobs easier.
Did you find this article useful? Why not read: Psychological safety across the employee journey: Where HR shapes the conditions that matter
