ABSTRACT
AT&T, as a federal contractor, has been subject to the requirements of Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, since its inception. The Job Accommodation Specialists program was started at AT&T in 1982 and thus pre-dates the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is, however, of great assistance to AT&T in complying with the act. Disabled volunteers broaden their AT&T contacts and sometimes discover new accommodation alternatives which they can take back to their regular jobs and discuss with their management. In keeping with AT&T's stated policy of hiring qualified people to fill available jobs, it is possible to find people with disabilities in a variety of positions within the company. The accommodation situation was somewhat different for a vision-impaired employee who works in the AT&T Corporate Human Resources organization. All AT&T employees are expected to meet performance standards set by their management during periodic discussions.
