Some workers with disabilities benefited by the pandemic

As the pandemic brought about a more flexible approach to many workspaces, employees found new ways to stay connected and productive outside a traditional office setting. This swift and widespread change came as a bit of a slap-in-the-face for unemployed and underemployed workers with disabilities who were fighting for workplace equality and accommodations under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Employers suddenly started embracing remote work, flexible work hours, wellness, mental health and many other accommodations that were considered burdensome earlier. For some workers with disabilities, this meant they could work from the comfort of their homes. 

A happy discovery during the pandemic was that video technology is up to the challenge of facilitating everything from online conferences to virtual office parties and job interviews. Marlowe, a grant writer and communications coordinator in Southern California, who describes herself as a hard-of-hearing says that she was comfortable with video meetings but she had to rely on features like automatic voice-to-text captioning and third-party apps to communicate easily with her coworkers. 

However, as the pandemic loosens its grip and employers move to a hybrid work setup, workers with disabilities also worry that they could lose some of the accessibility they have now. Additionally, with the Great Resignation phenomenon, employers are also on the lookout for more "lean" staff that can produce a full staff’s output at minimal expense. 

Source: The Washington Post