Accessible Technology in Today's Business by Gary Moulton, Ladeana Huyler, Mark Levenson, Janice Hertz

Accessible Technology in Today's Businessby Anonymous

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07/24/2002: Hiring core-competent professionals is a key to business success. Recruiting, interviewing and hiring employees is both time-consuming and difficult. Once hired the task of training and familiarizing new-hires with company policies and practices begins. Ten years ago I found myself in a position to hire a core-competent programmer-analyst. He just happened to be a person with a disability. I had never hired a person with a disability before. My new-hire needed to access the same development tools as his other work associates. I knew little about Accessible Technology (AT). I knew nothing about integrating AT into our work environment. There was no, formal, AT plan to refer to. There were no instruction books, or documented case studies, referring to AT. I thrilled to learn there is a book on the subject. Moulton, et. Al., opens their book by presenting the business benefits of integrating AT into work environments. I found this approach refreshing. All too often citations of the law are used to gain attention to the opportunities to accommodating people with disabilities into the workplace. The opening chapters of the book discuss several business benefits I never considered. They are the positive impacts, accommodating employees with disabilities, can have on the way your customers perceive your company and the value of retaining employees who become temporarily disabled or develop disabilities because of aging. Opening chapters of the book include 'Did You Know' and 'Myth vs. Fact' sidebars. Did you know that, in the United States, a company can receive tax benefits for hiring and accommodating people with disabilities? The authors do a good job defining the term Accessible Technology and helping the reader understand different types and frequencies of various disabilities. The part of the book I liked most were the case studies. Nothing generic here. The names of company's, managers and employees, all of whom found success in embracing the use of AT, are cited in the book. The book presents its case studies by industry sector. These included healthcare, financial, government, retail and manufacturing. The manufacturing sector case study proved especially useful to me. It describes the experience of accommodating the needs of a professional with an 80% hearing loss. Shortly after reading this example I accommodated a new employee, in our Business Operations Center, who just happened to have the same degree of hearing loss. The old saying, 'If you don't know where you are going any road will get you there' has no place for companies following the books five steps of developing an Accessible Technology plan. The detail provided here will enable anyone interested in developing an AT plan to be successful in their efforts. In support of achieving each of the five-step planning process the book provides much detail. The five steps are: 1. Define Strategy; 2. Identify Requirements; 3. Design, Develop, Purchase; 4. Implement and Train; and, 5. Maintain and Continue Learning. Unlike many other books on the market 'Accessible Technology in Today's Business: Case Studies for Success' contains a useful CD.... And it's not an enticement for Internet connectivity! The CD contains information about the accessibility of Microsoft products and step-by-step tutorials for accessibility options...