Disability Awareness Month is an important opportunity for organisations to reflect on how inclusive they are for employees with disabilities. It's a time for businesses to take stock of their efforts, consider how they are supporting disabled employees, and evaluate how their employer value proposition (EVP) and employer brand resonate with disabled employees. 

Hi Graham, how can companies integrate disability awareness into their overall employer brand strategy and why is it important?

Hi Flexa, that’s a very important question to start off with! Let’s get started, shall we?

Begin by learning about disability inclusion and unconscious bias. It’s essential to understand your own biases and the core concepts of disability. Familiarise yourself with your company’s DE&I policy, ESG reports, and related initiatives, and introduce yourself to the DE&I team.

Next, evaluate your EVP and employee journey to identify areas where your employer brand falls short. Take note of what’s being done but not mentioned, and consider how to enhance inclusivity. If you're building out your EVP, include questions about how your initiatives support employees with disabilities, what accommodations are available, and how to foster a culture of belonging that values diverse perspectives.

Many workplaces do not consider the needs of employees with disabilities; culture, policies, and processes often adopt a “one size fits all” approach, overlooking the inequities and barriers this creates.

Beyond being a workplace or company-specific problem, this is a societal issue. In fact:

• Over 5 million disabled people are working.
• Disabled individuals face high un-/underemployment, as well as low earnings.
• 27% of working disabled individuals live in poverty.
• 72% of disabled individuals have experienced negative attitudes or behaviours.

What role does an inclusive EVP play in attracting candidates with disabilities?

Everyone deserves a workplace that supports and welcomes them. An inclusive EVP demonstrates a commitment to DE&I, builds trust through actionable measures, enhances brand reputation, and boosts recruitment efforts.

This approach allows candidates to see they are genuinely welcomed—rather than merely a checkbox exercise—and that they can succeed, laying the groundwork for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

How can companies ensure their recruitment processes are accessible to candidates with disabilities? 

Great question! A great first step is ensuring we’re not speaking on behalf of disabled candidates or requiring them to prove their disability to receive support.

Start by working with your Accessibility ERG to audit your current setup, identifying opportunities for improvement and ensuring we’re not being performative. Beyond that, survey prospective talent through candidate experience or career site surveys, as well as employees, on an ongoing basis to enhance accessibility in hiring practices.

Here’s a great list to help you get started on your journey:

• Post roles on job boards geared towards individuals with disabilities
• Create accessible job descriptions with clear and straightforward language 
• Detail the types of accommodation support you offer in your job ad.
• Offer various application formats—like online forms, email submissions, and video applications—and allow candidates to request assistance if needed.
• Provide candidates with interview questions ahead of time.
• Allow candidates to select their preferred interview format—whether in-person, video, or phone—while providing additional time to complete interviews or assessments.
• Educate hiring teams on disability awareness, inclusion, and unconscious bias.
• Standardise interview questions and use structured scorecards for all candidates, focusing on relevant criteria instead of subjective factors like eye contact.
• Include your policy on flexible working locations and hours in job advertisements.

What are some key messages companies should use to promote inclusion of disabled employees in their employer branding?

Sure! How you frame inclusion will depend on the uniqueness of your company, its culture, and your EVP, but it should always be genuine. To create specific key messages, tie in your EVP statement or pillars, or focus on a central theme. Are you looking to demonstrate your commitment to social impact, foster employee retention, or strengthen company culture?

By framing it as a strategic advantage—like 'driving innovation through diversity'—you promote the value of employees with disabilities while highlighting the broader benefits of diversity and inclusion for the organisation and its workforce as a whole.

How can companies better showcase disability inclusion efforts in their external employer branding content (e.g., website, social media, job ads)?

Certainly, companies can do much more to better showcase their efforts, provided we’re genuine and recognize that it’s a year-round commitment. Remember, you want prospective and current talent not only to see themselves working there but also to feel welcomed for who they are and how they’ll be supported. 

My biggest takeaway is to be more descriptive. Cut the corporate fluff and share specific examples of your inclusion actions (similar to your EVP proof points). Move beyond high-level initiatives and dive deep into what this means in practice.

Here are a few other ways to enhance your approach:

• Ensure your career site complies with WCAG standards.
• Use camel case for hashtags on social media to enhance screen reader accessibility.
• Share testimonials and stories—both written and video—from disabled employees that showcase their achievements and contributions to the company.
• Create an inclusive imagery library featuring individuals with disabilities in diverse roles, and incorporate these visuals into your marketing materials.
• Add alt text for images and captions for video and audio content, including podcasts.
• Create dedicated DE&I pages on your career site to highlight policies, actionable initiatives, partnerships, and resources tailored to your employees and culture.
• If you’re a partner in any DE&I scheme, like the UK's Disability Confident Employer or Endometriosis Friendly Employer, demonstrate what this looks like in practice.
• Showcase your commitment to inclusivity by using platforms like Flexa, helping candidates discover companies that genuinely prioritize DE&I.

What are some examples of initiatives companies can implement to create a more inclusive work environment for disabled employees?

First, engage your disabled employees, work with your Accessibility ERG, or consider bringing in a DE&I consultant to assist you in exploring initiatives. It’s essential to recognize that one size doesn’t fit all and to avoid speaking on behalf of disabled employees—accommodations can vary widely, even among individuals with the same disability.

Here’s a solid starting point:

• 🏡 Provide flexible work options or hours to accommodate individual needs.
• ♿ Create accessible workplaces, including adjustable desks and low-level lighting.
• 📚 Conduct ongoing training on disability inclusion and unconscious bias.
• 🎧 Develop + communicate a clear process for requesting accommodation support.
• 🧠 Offer a variety of leave options (e.g., mental health leave, caregiver leave, bereavement leave) to promote inclusivity.
• 👟 Adopt a flexible dress code for comfort and to accommodate disabilities.
• 💼 Allow extra time for task completion and develop customised onboarding plans.

Lastly, establish channels for collecting ongoing feedback on your inclusion efforts and for suggesting improvements—be sure to listen and act on it.

How can employer brand experts ensure that disability inclusion is seen as a year-round priority, rather than just a focus during Disability Awareness Month?  

It’s simple: be genuine and ensure your words match your actions.

Take the opportunity to review your current processes at every stage of the employee lifecycle to identify what can be removed or amended to be more inclusive. You could establish a working group to uncover these hidden issues. Could you conduct all interviews virtually using accessible software instead of phone calls? Or could our performance evaluation metrics focus on outcomes, collaboration, and the quality of work rather than arbitrary measures like office attendance and eye contact?

What are the biggest mistakes companies make when trying to promote disability inclusion in their employer branding?

By far, the issue lies in performativity or the lack of EVP proof points.

You will often find DE&I statements in job ads or mentions of disability support on DE&I pages that encourage people with disabilities to apply, but that’s where the effort often ends. Companies tout diversity in leadership, report on the gender pay gap, and highlight their UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their ESG reporting.

However, diversity in leadership is frequently viewed solely through the lens of gender or race, with disability status often overlooked. Similarly, pay gap reporting often fails to include disabled employees entirely. In ESG reporting, disabled employees are often absent from discussions about what the company is doing to support them.

Both hidden and visible disabilities are relevant, but the same premise applies to employer branding efforts. Companies often talk about their support or the awards they've won but fail to provide concrete proof points. It’s easy to enhance your efforts by showing tangible examples of how you’re being a disability ally, provided that it’s genuine and not just performative.

How can companies leverage employee stories from disabled staff members in their employer branding without being performative?

Quite easily! Begin by asking yourself, ‘Are we doing this for the right reasons, or are we trying to appear more inclusive than we are?’ Companies should always portray their employer brand honestly and authentically.

However, you need to ensure you’ve created a psychologically safe environment where employees can share openly; otherwise, it won’t be successful. If you have, great! Seek a diverse range of voices to assist you; partnering with the relevant ERG will help. To support this, provide employees with a list of prompts to get them started. You could focus on the impact of disabled inclusion internally or how diverse perspectives contribute to innovation, problem-solving, and a richer workplace culture.

How can companies measure the success of their disability inclusion efforts within their employer branding?

While many metrics can guide your efforts, focus on what you can measure to evaluate your progress and inform future strategies.

Assess the inclusion and value experienced by disabled employees through engagement surveys and written feedback. Track disabled candidates and hires using voluntary DE&I application questions, and correlate this data with employer branding efforts over time. Additionally, analyse social media engagement on disability inclusion posts by creating an EVP-branded hashtag, such as #DisabilityInclusion, to monitor usage. On career sites, measure time spent on pages and drop-off rates in the DE&I section.