Ever since Covid-19 first arrived, attitudes towards remote working have shifted significantly. While most people are embracing the work-from-home culture for its convenience and comfortability, people with disabilities are now presented with an opportunity for rare and career growth and accommodation. 

Disabled adults have been asking for the integration of remote work for years, but only now that everyone is being encouraged to stay home is the concept becoming fully normalized. Working from home allows people with disabilities to operate from a familiar environment and be provided with all of the tools and appendages necessary for supporting their particular condition. 

Being able to work at home as a disabled person means working from an optimized space that does not work against the disabilities they are affected by. Poor understanding of disabilities, lack of resources, and discrimination have gatekept disabled people from pursuing careers, but the new wave of remote working culture is changing that.

How Does The Normalization Of Remote Working Impact Disabled People?  

Remote working has been the most requested yet refused form of accommodation for disabled people in the workplace.  Despite people with disabilities asking for more flexibility and accommodation for their job roles over the years, companies from just about every field have failed to integrate sufficient accommodation. 

However, the rise in remote working culture instigated by Covid-19 has changed that. Now, almost every office worker (both disabled and able-bodied) is operating from home as a matter of necessity. This means that where disabled people were denied the option of working from home in the past, they are now able to do so without being singled out or discriminated against. 

This also highlights the fact that we were always able to provide this form of accommodation for disabled people – businesses simply chose not to. Remote working was not acceptable until able-bodied people needed it to survive – and the world discovered that working from home is not the train smash everyone seemed to think it was. We already eschew land-based casinos to stay home to enjoy games at Big Dollar online casino, so why can’t we work from home too? It turns out that we can.

There are so many ways in which this shift in work culture impacts disabled individuals, and one of these is in the tech that’s used. Let’s look at how it drives the advancement of tech, and why.

Advancements In Assistive Technology 

There are many digital and technological tools available that can assist disabled people become more adjusted and communicative employees. Giving people with disabilities the opportunity to work not only means that these tools are being utilized by those who rely on them most, it also means that the technology behind it can become more informed and advanced. 

Some common forms of assistive technology include:

• Braille integrated technology 

• Hands-free navigation

• Voice recognition and speech generation

• Speech-to-text software 

Progressions in assistive technology mean that people with disabilities can now perform tasks, execute responsibilities, and be optimally productive in ways that they might otherwise be unable to do so effectively. Many of the major systems currently in place are designed exclusively for able-bodied people, making even simple tasks much more challenging for those with disabilities. Now, the remote work shift will change this.