ABSTRACT
Disabilities take very diverse forms. Despite that, an employer should be able to provide a working environment that is as appropriate to the needs of the disabled person as it would be for someone without a disability. This requires an appreciation of the limitations that a disability brings, as well as developing a knowledge of what specialised equipment or systems are available to reduce the impact of the disability. This chapter will offer some advice on what disabled individuals need to enable them to do their work as safely and comfortably as possible. It focusses on assistive and adaptive technologies that enable a disabled person to work. Assistive technologies are products or equipment that can increase, maintain, or improve the functional abilities of a disabled person. Accessible design has been focussed on developing assistive technology to make products or systems easily usable by people with disabilities. Adaptive technology is any hardware or software created or modified to enable a disabled person to use a computer system. The use of these technologies is intended to increase disabled people’s access to work. This chapter outlines that people with reduced strength, coordination, mobility, and control of their hands and fingers find it difficult to manipulate and manoeuvre objects, such as a mouse. It considers the difficulties that a hearing-impaired person may face, as well as a visually impaired person, and a person with a cognitive impairment. A business might employ an individual who has a combination of impairments, which makes providing a suitable working environment a more challenging task. This chapter touches on the systems that are available to enable an individual with a disability to perform a computer-based task, as well as use mobile devices with minimal difficulty.
