The Accessibility Paradox: How Blind and Low Vision Employees Experience and Negotiate Accessibility in the Technology Industry

TL;DR

This paper explores the experiences of blind and low vision employees in the tech industry, revealing a paradox between organizational accessibility efforts and actual employee experiences, highlighting areas for improvement.

Contribution

It introduces the accessibility paradox concept, analyzing how organizational priorities conflict with the lived experiences of disabled workers in tech companies.

Findings

Persistent misalignment between accessibility policies and employee experiences

Manifestation of the accessibility paradox in workplace interactions

Recommendations for improving workplace accessibility and inclusion

Abstract

Many technology companies aim to improve access and inclusion not only by making their products accessible but also by bringing people with disabilities into the tech workforce. We know less about how accessibility is experienced and negotiated by disabled workers within these organizations. Through interviews with 20 BLV workers across various tech companies, we uncover a persistent misalignment between organizational attempts at accessibility and the current realities of these employees. We introduce the concept of the accessibility paradox, which we define as the inherent tension between the productivity- and profit-driven nature of tech companies and their desire to hire and retain disabled workers. Focusing on the experiences of BLV workers, we show how the accessibility paradox manifests in their everyday workplace interactions, including digital infrastructure, accommodations processes and policies, ability assumptions, and competing priorities. We offer recommendations for future research and practice to understand and improve workplace accessibility and inclusion.