Humanity & Inclusion’s (HI) inclusive workplace toolbox, named “WorkWith,” is an online platform that empowers non-governmental organizations, employers and entrepreneurs in creating work spaces, tools and work methods that are accessible for job seekers with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. WorkWith provides inspiration as to what is possible, and allows users to develop a personalized guide with actionable information to guide them on their inclusion journey. By building out this toolbox, HI aims to bridge the knowledge gap on reasonable accommodation between developed and developing countries, tailoring content to the work opportunities found in low-resource settings.
Inclusion, as it relates to work, refers to the idea of people with disabilities working alongside people without disabilities in the same workspace. To support this, employers should take action to freely accommodate people with all types of disabilities; including physical, mental, intellectual, sensorial, and learning disabilities.
The concept of inclusion emphasizes the importance of environmental, communication and tool related accessibility, such as ease-of-use of physical structures and elimination of barriers to enable movement in the world. For example, providing ramps can help foster inclusion by making sure wheelchair users can move freely and autonomously in the workplace.
However, the core of inclusion relies on changing the way people view disability.
Many thanks to (alphabetical order): Andrew Lu (design), Angela Kohama (project lead, content creation), Beatrice Schmidt (project manager, content creation), Bishnu Kumar Bamma (user testing, content creation), David Choy (full stack developer), Dil Maya Limbu (user testing, content creation), Harisha Varatharajah (ideation, user testing), Ivy Hu (design lead, user testing), John Kanja (user testing), Kerry Brennan (design, user testing), Meagan Durlak (design lead, user testing), Racheal Njiru (user testing), Shirin Kiani (content creation, technical review), Shiva Acharya (content creation, accessibility advising), Sudarshan Neupane (design, user testing).
Plus: The HI Nepal team, the HI Kenya team, & to the dozens of Disabled Persons Organizations, INGOs, Vocational Training Centers, Businesses, HI staff, and other stakeholders in Nepal, Kenya and New York City who gave us their time, attention and expertise throughout development of this tool.
This tool was made possible through the generous funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and IDEO.org.