Access Ability Report: Employers’ Lessons Learned

The strategy report from Public Policy Forum synthesizes findings from research and roundtables about organizational inclusion of employees with disabilities.

The findings reflect lessons learned by employers, by practitioners supporting employers, and by employees working to identify possible directions to make workplaces more equitable for employees with disabilities.

Research for the Access Ability strategy report included a review of publicly available literature, qualitative and quantitative data collection from public governmental and employer sites, and an environmental scan of Canadian employer initiatives on inclusion and accessibility and the resources that support them.

Access Ability asked questions such as:

  • Why do inequities persist for people with disabilities in the workplace?
  • What have organizations learned from their years of practice and progress in disability inclusion?
  • Why do strategies to improve disability inclusion sometimes fail to produce measurable results or lasting change, even when organizational support and leadership motivation are high?

While the Access Ability project did not expect to fully answer these questions, they served as a rationale and grounding point for research and consultation—and an invitation for further research and policy directions.