Exploring Information Systems for the Workplace Accommodation Process
Shiya Cao · 2021 · Proceedings of the 18th International Web for All Conference (W4A '21) · doi:10.1145/3430263.3452437
Summary
This extended abstract presents doctoral research exploring how information systems (IS) can facilitate the workplace accommodation process for employees with disabilities. The research is motivated by the persistent employment gap for people with disabilities — only 19.3% are employed compared to 66.3% of those without disabilities — and the observation that many organizations struggle to effectively provide needed accommodations despite legal requirements under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The accommodation process involves multiple internal stakeholders (HR, supervisors, IT staff) and external stakeholders (clinicians, vendors), and organizations face three key challenges: limited stakeholder understanding of the process, lack of formal corporate accommodation procedures, and slow information flows between stakeholders. The author argues that while IS has been shown to facilitate business processes and drive positive organizational change in other domains, there is very little IS research specifically addressing the accommodation process. The research examines different types of accommodations (screen readers, flexible schedules, accessible desks, job coaches) and focuses on how technology — such as electronic forms, intranets, online platforms, and databases — can better manage and operate these processes.
Key findings
This is an early-stage research proposal rather than a completed study, so findings are preliminary. The researcher identifies that information systems could support the accommodation process in several ways: electronic forms for employees to submit accommodation requests, intranets to disseminate organizational information about accommodation procedures and policies, online platforms to track accommodation processes end-to-end, and databases to store and retrieve accommodation-related information. The research methodology involves case studies with organizations that have best practices in accommodation processes and use IS to manage them. Semi-structured interviews are conducted with stakeholders in the accommodation process, and documentation about accommodation procedures and policies is collected. Due to privacy and legal constraints around interviewing employees with disabilities and other stakeholders within the same organization, the researcher recruits employees with disabilities through disability organizations for separate interviews. The data analysis follows an interactive process between data collection and analysis. While specific results are not yet reported, the research framework positions IS as a potential solution to the systemic organizational barriers that prevent effective accommodation delivery.
Relevance
This research addresses a critical gap at the intersection of workplace accessibility and information technology. While much accessibility research focuses on making digital products usable, this work examines how technology can improve the organizational processes that deliver accommodations to disabled employees — a systemic issue that affects whether people with disabilities can participate equitably in the workforce. For organizations and HR practitioners, the identification of three core challenges (stakeholder knowledge gaps, lack of formal procedures, and slow information flows) provides a useful diagnostic framework for evaluating their own accommodation processes. The research highlights that the accommodation process is fundamentally an information management challenge involving coordination across multiple stakeholders, suggesting that well-designed IS solutions could significantly reduce friction and delays. Although this is an early-stage extended abstract with limited findings, it opens an important line of inquiry: most workplace accessibility discussions focus on specific accommodations themselves rather than on optimizing the process through which accommodations are requested, approved, and implemented. Improving this process through technology could have an outsized impact on disability employment outcomes.
Tags: workplace accessibility · accommodations · information systems · disability employment · organizational accessibility · ADA
Standards referenced: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)