This document provides a summary of a presentation on building inclusive and accessible HR systems and processes. The presentation was given by Debra Ruh of SSB BART Group and Tammie McNaughton of HR Success Strategies. It discusses the growing number of people with disabilities and legal obligations for accessibility. It outlines myths and barriers regarding hiring people with disabilities. The presentation provides the business case for inclusion and discusses best practices across the HR lifecycle to ensure equal access.

1. Building Inclusive & Accessible HR
Systems & Processes
Presented by:
Debra Ruh, CMO, SSB BART Group
Tammie McNaughton, CEO, HR Success Strategies
Silicon Valley (415) 975-8000 www.ssbbartgroup.com Washington DC (703) 637-8955

2. Introductions
SSB BART Group
Founded in 1997 by engineers with disabilities, the SSB BART Group helps
companies like yours design and enhance their IT systems - including Web sites,
Web applications, software, hardware, and services - so they are accessible to
persons with disabilities.
Our proven Accessibility Management Platform (AMP) is the industry's first on-
demand solution that integrates the business and technical aspects of complying
with regulations such as the Section 508 accessibility standards, ADA, and WCAG
1.0 and 2.0.
In April 2011, TecAccess formed a Strategic Partnership with SSB Bart.
HR Success Strategies
Founded in 2009, HR Success Strategies was created to provide progressive
organizations with best practice solutions to maximize their human capital
investments. Focusing on best practices for talent, diversity, disability inclusion and
leadership development, HR Success Strategies aims to strengthen employee
engagement, enhance corporate culture and build positive brand recognition.

3. The World is Changing
 The number of people with disabilities is on
the rise due to many factors.
 Technological advances
 The United States, along with many other
countries, has been taking major steps to
ensure the rights of people with disabilities.
 UN Convention on the Rights of People with
Disabilities.
 Section 508 Refresh
 Digital Divide
 Corporate Social Responsibilities

4. Myths and Barriers
People with disabilities do not have the talent and skills needed in business -
People with disabilities have been among the greatest leaders and contributors to business, science, the arts,
and society. 11% of this year’s college graduates have disabilities!
People with disabilities leave jobs more frequently than workers without
disabilities - Employees with disabilities in most sectors stay on the job longer, resulting in up to a 6%
turnover rate improvement.
People with disabilities have a higher than average absentee rate and your
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worker’s comp claims will increase - In fact, people with disabilities who are employed have less
Introduction
overall absenteeism and the number of compensation claims are no different.
Customers and employees will be uncomfortable seeing a person with a
disability in the workplace or my business - 93% of customers surveyed said they would
prefer to patronize businesses that hire people with disabilities.
It will be expensive to accommodate the needs of people
with disabilities - Cost averages $400-$600. Only 44% need accommodations
& 56% require no accommodations!
Sources: Cornell University, JAN, & DePaul University
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5. The Business Case
Inclusion “Includes” People with Disabilities!
In the US, one out of 8 people report having a disability. People with Disabilities are the largest minority
subgroup in the US and is growing in nations such as Japan who has one of the largest aging populations in
the world.
Employment Rate Disparity
In developing countries, 80% to 90% of persons with disabilities of working age are unemployed, whereas in
industrialized countries the figure is between 50% and 70%. In the US, 39.5% of working-age people with
disabilities are employed vs. 79.9% of those without disabilities
Educational Attainment
In the US, 12.3% hold a bachelor's degree or more & 29.7% have some college or an associate degree,
34% of working-age people with disabilities have a high school diploma or equivalent
The Bottom Line
Workplace Disability continues to grow with aging of the workforce and active war. In the US, 21% of
experienced seasoned workers 45 to 54 years of age have a disability. The often-ignored market segment of
people with disabilities is 54 million people strong, with an aggregate income that exceeds $1 trillion and has
$220 billion in discretionary spending power.
In a consumer survey, consumers prefer to give their business to companies who
employ people with disabilities! Source: 2008 Disability Status Report, Cornell University, DiversityInc.
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6. Disability is Part of Diversity!
Disability is Part of Diversity!
Graphic Credited to Cardinal Health
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7. EEOC– The New Regulations
 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990,
by President George H. W. Bush.
 The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) became effective January 1, 2009 and made a
number of significant changes to the definition of “disability” under the ADA.
 The EEOC’s Final Regulations implementing the ADAAA were approved by a bipartisan
vote and were published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2011. (effective May 4, 2011)
 In enacting the ADAAA, Congress made it easier for an individual seeking protection under
the ADA to establish that her or she has a disability within the meaning of the statute.
Congress overturned several Supreme Court rulings that defined disability too narrowly
resulting in denial of protection for individuals with cancer, diabetes and epilepsy as an
example.
 The EEOC regs implement the ADA, in particular Congress’s mandate that the
definition of disability be interpreted in favor of broad coverage of individuals.
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8. EEOC New Regs contd.
 The Definition of the term “Disability” remains: A physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such impairment; or being
regarded as having a disability. The regulations further define “physical or mental
impairment,” & “major life activities”
 The new regulations implement significant changes regarding how those terms should be
interpreted. The Term “Substantially Limits” is to be construed broadly in favor of
expansive coverage, to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of the ADA
 As required by the ADAAA, the regulations make it easier for individuals to establish
coverage under the “regarded as” part of the definition of “disability.”
 The regulations clarify that an individual must be “covered” in order to qualify for a
reasonable accommodation.
 The regulations seek to clarify impairments that virtually always constitute a disability. And
examples of impairments that should be easily concluded to be disabilities including
epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, HIV and bipolar disorder.
Source: Fact Sheet on the EEOC’s Final Regulations Implementing the ADAAA
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9. Practical Steps for Employers
Implementing the new EEOC regulations
1. Update disability discrimination policies and reasonable accommodation processes to
conform to the ADAAA and regulations, including changes in language.
2. Train human resources personnel and managers on their duties under the ADAAA, and the
need to focus primarily on nondiscrimination, the interactive process, and reasonable
accommodations. The days of “severely restricted” are gone. Never assume that an
individual will not be considered disabled/not protected under ADA.
3. Document the interactive process. Being able to show what efforts were taken to engage in
the interactive process will be critically important to an employer’s defense to ADA claims.
4. Review qualifications standards that may tend to screen out individuals with disabilities to
make sure that the standards are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
5. Make sure that charges of disability discrimination are handled by a person with appropriate
expertise, as the charges may be used in more systemic investigations and litigation by the
EEOC or private litigants.
Source: Littler Mendelson ASAP, March 2011

10. HR Employee Life Cycle
Recruitment – Is your company disability friendly?
Disability Outreach, company marketing, website,
position descriptions, recruitment process, policies.
Selection – Recruiters, Hiring Manager, how to
interview PwD, appropriate questions, accommodations.
Performance – Do you focus on performance vs. the
disability, do managers have a performance standard
for supporting disability employment? Coach, Mentor,
Engage and Retain.
Succession – Do individuals with disabilities know
what positions they may aspire to, is internal upward
mobility practiced for all?
Development – Are training programs, educational
opportunities and internal learning programs accessible,
are people with disabilities invited, encouraged to attend
and accommodated as needed?
Transition – Are policies and practices for layoff,
severance, retirement, etc. written and practiced
consistently regardless of disability? Graphic credited to yhrct.com
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11. HR Best Practices
 Gain executive level support for your disability initiative.
 Build a focused recruiting program for people with disabilities.
 Ensure marketing efforts include people with disabilities.
 Assess and provide accessible systems and facilities.
 Build an inclusive workplace with visible disability programs.
 Educate your leadership team and your workforce.
 Start employee resource groups for people with disabilities.
 Ensure training programs and self service apps are accessible.
 Include everyone in promotions and career advancement.
 Verify equal access to your products and services.
 Brand your organization as “Disability Friendly!”

12. ICT Accessibility
 ICT (Internet, Communication and Technology) must be accessible.
 Our world is changing, and to assure that everyone can participate,
technology must be accessible to everyone.
 Touch Points – where do your clients, employees and stakeholders
interact with ICT?
 Website, Career Centers, Intranet, Service Centers, Help Desks, IT Support, HR,
Documents, and Marketing
 Have a plan of attack – create a plan, dashboard and manage the plan.
 Build accessibility into the process level. Make it part of the Life
Cycle.
 Quality assurance - tools versus manual testing using PwD.

13. Career Centers & HR Systems
 Is your Organization an Employer of Choice?
• Many employers forget to assure their HR systems and processes are
fully accessible.
• Can a wounded warrior submit her resume even if she is blind?
• Can someone that can’t use a mouse submit their resume?
• What should I do if I need an accommodation during my interview?
• Employers say they want to employ people with disabilities but if their HR
online systems and processes are not fully accessible and recruiters
are not trained to accommodate PwD, you are sending
a different message!

14. Best Practices & Quick Tests
 Best Practices
• Be sure everyone can access your online HR systems including people
that are blind, vision impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, have mobility issues
and/or an intellectual impairment.
• Test using people with disabilities that use assistive technology.
• Remember to test for multiple disabilities and test every aspect of the
process.
• Train recruiters, managers and team members.
 Quick Tests
• Unplug your mouse and try to use only your keyboard to access your
online HR systems.
• Do all graphics, pictures and logo’s have a text alternative?
• Use the accessibility features in your operating systems like MS Vista
and Windows 7.0.

15. Legal Obligations
• ADA – Americans with Disabilities Act
• Section 508, 504, 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act
• UN Convention on the Rights for People with Disabilities
• U.S. Carrier Access Act
• HAVA – Help America Vote Act
• State Legislation (Section 508 “Type”)
• International Legislation (Section 508 “Type”)
• W3C WCAG 2.0 Standards
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16. Pace of Innovation
The overall population also continues to increasingly depend on
computer technology:
 Sharing data between systems, departments & companies
 Powerful search capabilities are simplifying info retrieval
 Becoming easier to build and manage teams that span the globe
 Improved mobility allows business to happen almost anywhere
However, there is increasing difficulty for companies and workers, with
and without disabilities, to keep up:
 Email, instant messaging, text messaging
 Audio/video conferencing, online virtual meeting places
 Internet vs. Intranet sites
 RSS Feeds
 Blogging, Social Media, Etc.
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17. Numbers Are Growing!!!
There is no sign the rate of change
will slow:
 Convergence of technologies
enables new scenarios.
 New technologies replace existing
solutions.
 Increased storage capacity & speed
delivered in smaller form factors
creates new possibilities.
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18. Risks & Touch Points
• Websites
• Online HR Systems
• Intranets
• Service Centers
• Products and Services
• Promotions & Marketing
• Communications
• Procurement
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19. •General Tips
 Strike “undue burden” from your accessibility vocabulary.
Not an acceptable solution plus it has demanding
requirements.
 Visit organizations with operational accessibility programs
and benchmark their processes.
 Offer training for several years. It is the second year that
everyone starts to believe you are serious about
accessibility!
 Enforce small, easy to make compliance issues first. Build
employee/management expectations that accessibility is
not difficult or expensive.
 Constantly look for ways to promote accessibility.
 Create a Road Map and Plan of Action.
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20. 30-60-90 Day Action Plan
 Ask for and receive leadership’s commitment for accountability.
 Champion 508 & 503 compliance reviews with legal.
 Collect inventory of all external and internal careers sites.
 Evaluate all careers sites and forms by doing accessibility scans.
 Start detailed requirements analysis.
 Send report findings with recommendations to leadership.
 Identify a prioritized list of deliverables, defects, and
enhancements for testing.

21. 30-60-90 Day Action Plan, cont.
 Build a test plan.
 Identify a prioritized list of deliverables for careers site’s
Section 508 updates.
 Launch integration and rollout plans.
 Invest to remediate/program all career sites to 508 & 503
compliance.
 Track, train and test for best practices.
 Yield services and positive benefits of hiring people with
disabilities!

22. Next Steps
Next Steps: Points of Contact:
 If anyone has questions please send Debra Ruh
us an email and we will reply. SSB BART Group
 Schedule some time to speak with Chief Marketing Officer
an SSB expert in your industry. (804) 749-3565 (office)
 Sign-up for a webinar covering (804) 986-4500 (cell)
further topics on Web Accessibility. debra.ruh@ssbbartgroup.com
 Take one of our online courses www.ssbbartgroup.com
covering core Web Accessibility
knowledge. Tammie McNaughton
 Sign-up for an online AMP training HR Success Strategies
session. Chief Executive Officer
 Contact an industry expert to setup (724) 668-2010 (office)
a free trial of AMP (724) 263-5214 (cell)
tammiemcnaughton@windstream.net

23. QUESTIONS ???

24. Bio – Debra Ruh
Debra Ruh joined SSB BART Group in April 2011 as their Chief Marketing Officer,
Debra is also the founder and CEO of TecAccess, the leading provider of accessible
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for the largest and fastest growing
minority group– People with Disabilities, Baby Boomers, and Veterans with Disabilities in
the world. Debra Ruh serves as the Chair of the VABLN and board member of the USBLN.
She is also on the steering committee, and is chair the Employability and Technology
Group, at G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication
Technologies, a flagship advocacy initiative of UN-GAID, the United Nations Global
Alliance for ICT and Development. Additionally, Debra serves on the RI Global Board
invited to participate by U.N. Ambassador Gallegos of Ecuador, a global network of people
with disabilities, service providers, researchers, government agencies and advocates
promoting and implementing the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.
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25. BIO - Tammie McNaughton
Tammie McNaughton is the CEO and Founder of HR Success Strategies. For
over three decades, Tammie has built her business career on helping organizations
establish successful and inclusive capital management strategies. She is widely
regarded for her work and Human Resources expertise in diversity and inclusion,
talent management, disability strategy, training, leadership development, workforce
development, employee engagement, culture and communications. As a sought after
speaker and workshop facilitator, she brings significant experience from her work in
sales, service and manufacturing organizations. Tammie provides consulting
expertise to build best practice organizations and enhance the overall employee
experience and company image. Her firm focuses on integrated disability strategies
and services that include people with disabilities as a business advantage.
She serves on the New York City Business Leadership Network (BLN) Board, the
USBLN Corporate Advisory Board and Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board.
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