Accessibility Paradox

The accessibility paradox describes the gap between organizations' stated commitments to accessibility and the lived realities of disabled employees, who often encounter inaccessible tools, documents, and workflows in their daily work despite formal inclusion policies. Coined in research on blind and low-vision employees, the term highlights how the absence of knowledge about job accommodations, lack of infrastructural support, and reliance on ad-hoc workarounds force disabled workers to adapt existing workplace infrastructure themselves. Addressing the accessibility paradox requires treating accessibility as a shared collective responsibility embedded in tooling, culture, and leadership rather than as an individual accommodation negotiated case-by-case.