Webinar Recap: Beyond Compliance: The Playbook for Building Disability-Inclusive Hiring Initiatives

About This Webinar

Hosted by CareerCircle on July 24, 2026, this hour-long panel brought together accessibility and talent acquisition leaders from Salesforce, CBRE, NSITE, and the Organization for Autism Research to address a gap between employers saying they want to hire people with disabilities and building hiring systems that actually let them compete and succeed.

Moderated by CareerCircle's Brittany Knowles, the conversation moved from diagnosis to what to do in practice, covering:

• What "compliance mode" costs companies in lost talent and retention
• Why so many candidates decline to self-identify during hiring, and what makes disclosure feel safe
• How accommodation requests should be handled differently during hiring versus on the job
• The specific ways AI screening tools can unintentionally filter out disabled and neurodivergent candidates
• How to rewrite job descriptions and interview processes so people don't self-select out
• Why accessibility investments almost always end up benefiting the entire workforce rather than one person

The panel closed with audience Q&A and a rapid round of single takeaways for talent leaders.

The Speakers

Brittany Knowles — Learning and Development Specialist at CareerCircle, and the moderator for this session. She works with CareerCircle to offer training and support for organizations building more inclusive hiring and workplace cultures.

Marianne Haegeli — Director of Learning and Leadership at NSITE, an organization focused on career skills training, employment readiness, and professional and leadership development primarily for people who are blind and low vision.

Amy Wood — Accessibility Manager at Salesforce, where she leads accessibility for the company's events, real estate, and travel programs. Amy is deaf, having lost her hearing at five months old after contracting spinal meningitis.

Will Brown — Senior Talent Acquisition Partner at CBRE, a global commercial real estate company, based in Tampa, Florida. CBRE has been recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index for several years.

Brittany Short — Manager of the Hire Autism program at the Organization for Autism Research (OAR), a national nonprofit formed and led by parents of children and adults with autism. Hire Autism is a free program offering a jobs board, employer resources, and one-on-one virtual job search mentorship for autistic job seekers.

Watch the Webinar 

Transcript

Brittany Knowles: Hello, everyone! Hello, hello, and welcome! Thank you for joining us today for Beyond Compliance, the Playbook for Building Disability-Inclusive Hiring Initiatives. My name is Brittany Knowles, my pronouns are she, her, and hers, and I am the Learning and Development Specialist here at CareerCircle, where skills go to work. I am an African-American female with a shoulder-length brown-colored bob, clear cat-eyed glasses, as well as a bright smile. This is a conversation for talent acquisition leaders who are ready to move past minimum requirements and build hiring practices that work for your organization and for the candidates you may have been overlooking. A few quick logistics before we get started. This session is being recorded. The recording will be shared with all registrants following the event. To enable closed captioning, click More in the bottom right of your Zoom screen, then select Captions, and then Show Captions. We will have time at the end for audience Q&A. You can drop your questions in the chat at any time, and I will get to them as soon as we can. Now, let me introduce my panelists. Can I have first, Miss Marianne.

Marianne Haegeli: Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. My name is Marianne Haegeli. I'm the Director for Learning and Leadership at NSITE, that's N-S-I-T-E. NSITE is an organization that focuses on career skills training, employment readiness, and general professional and leadership development for people primarily who are blind and low vision. But anybody may apply. It's just that our main focus is making sure all of our training is accessible to those with vision impairment. I am a 64-year-old white woman, I wear glasses, and I'd love to say my hair is salt and pepper, but to be honest, it's trending heavily to just salt at this stage. And I'm known for funky watches and crazy scarves. I'm not wearing a scarf today, it's too warm.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you so much, Marianne, and I love how expansive your introduction was, because we absolutely want to get to know each of you. So I'm going to give you all instruction to give me exactly what Marianne just gave me. I want you to introduce your name, your role, and a quick word about the work that you do, okay? Amy, you are next up. Introduce yourself.

Amy Wood: Thank you so much, and I hope I can follow Marianne's lead. My name is Amy Wood, and I am an Accessibility Manager at Salesforce. We are a huge tech company based out of San Francisco, and my role is focused on making sure that people with disabilities can access our events, our real estate, and our travel. Salesforce has hundreds of large events around the world every year, and as you can imagine, conferences of that size are often designed for the status quo, but we are really taking the time to make sure that people with disabilities can fully participate, engage with the content, and network with their peers. And then for the real estate, also making sure that all of our offices around the world are up to code, and making sure that they're accessible and we're compliant with local and federal regulations. And then lastly, travel. We have so many disabled employees, and we want to make sure that they can travel safely and accessibly, so that's part of our work, making sure that all of our policies and processes make that happen for our disabled employees.

And what were the other things I had to include? Brittany, you gave me a list, so I'm trying to stick to it. I'm very passionate about accessibility and inclusion because I am deaf myself. I lost all my hearing at 5 months old when I had spinal meningitis, and I grew up having to navigate a world that wasn't made for me, so I'm very passionate about removing those obstacles and barriers for people that have disabilities and medical conditions. I am a white female with blondish, grayish hair. I am wearing a funky scarf today, so I thought I would try it out. This is for my great-grandmother, so I'm very excited to wear this today. Thank you for having me.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely, Amy, absolutely. And y'all weren't able to be a part of our behind-the-scenes chat, but Amy also has a cute fan, okay? So just in case she pulls it out, it is so cute, it needs its own moment to be recognized. Thank you so much, Amy. Will, please introduce yourself.

Will Brown: Good morning and good afternoon, based on whichever time zone that you are in currently. My name is Will Brown, and I have the honor of serving as one of the Senior Talent Acquisition Partners at CBRE. We're a global commercial real estate company. Myself, I am based in sunny Tampa, Florida, so I do have my air conditioning on. I don't have a fan near me, but my ceiling fan is going. It's definitely a year-round thing here in Florida. I have brown-colored hair and brown-colored eyes. I am wearing a navy shirt today, and I'm excited to be here. Thank you all for the invite.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you so much, Will. And last, but certainly not least, my namesake, Brittany, introduce yourself.

Brittany Short: Absolutely! It's so great to be here with everyone today, and it's an honor to speak amongst such an amazing panel of individuals. My name is Brittany Short, and I'm the Manager of the Hire Autism program at the Organization for Autism Research, also known as OAR for short. A bit about us at OAR. We're a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization formed and led by relatives of children and adults with autism. OAR is dedicated to promoting research that can be applied to help families, educators, caregivers, and individuals with autism find much-needed answers to their immediate and urgent questions, and supporting programs that enhance their quality of life. So we're not looking for a cure or a cause, we're just looking to answer those everyday questions.

The Hire Autism program that I specifically work with is a free program through OAR. Our mission is to improve employment opportunities for autistic individuals and help businesses create more inclusive workplaces. Our program maintains an active jobs board, and we offer resources for both employers and job seekers alike, such as one-on-one virtual job search mentorship for our job seekers. We aim to expand employment opportunities for autistic individuals. This is truly what we're here for.

As for myself, I'm a 33-year-old white woman, and today I have long, straight brown hair. I say today because I have naturally curly hair, so in case you connect with me outside of today, it might be curly. I have hazel eyes. I'm also wearing white headphones, and I have on a dark navy blue polo with the OAR logo that my hair is covering. I also have a white digital background with the OAR logo in the top corner. While our organization is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, thanks to the flexibility of my workplace — which I have to make a note of, right, with the conversation we're about to dive into — I'm honored to be presenting from my home office located in Southern Maryland. And I'm super excited to be here with you all today.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you so much. What a powerhouse panel that we have. I'm already seeing some love in the chat for you. So with that being said, let's go ahead and get started. And if I can put just a little groundwork or ground rule in there for you all, I have a question. The first question is for each of you. If you are ready to speak, if you unmute yourself, that'll signal to me that you are ready to speak. And Marianne, I see that you are unmuted, so that lets me know you are ready, okay? You are ready to answer that first question, even before you see what it is! So let's get started. A lot of organizations say they want to hire people with disabilities, but in practice, they are still operating in compliance mode, checking a box, not building a system. From where each of you sits, what does that gap actually look like, and what does it cost companies that stay stuck here?

Marianne Haegeli: That's a really important question. Before I even get into the meat of this, I do need to mention that NSITE, besides providing training for people who are blind and low vision, also helps them find gainful employment. So we work with employers all the time. We have a curated job board where we really try to make that good match between people who are low vision or who are completely blind, with employers who are able to accommodate those employees and take full advantage of their amazing talents. We've all seen the studies on the importance of having a diverse workforce. You need people with a different mindset, you need people who are resilient and are problem solvers. I hear constantly from employers that it's hard to find people with grit. And I say to them, I have completely blind colleagues who go through more challenges by the time I have my first espresso in the morning, and have to find workarounds, than I ever have to face. So why wouldn't you want a problem solver? Somebody who thinks differently, approaches a problem from a different angle? You're missing out on innovative solutions if you're missing out on that kind of inclusive hiring.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely. Thank you so much. Amy?

Amy Wood: I love this question, because I think a lot of companies have good intentions when it comes to hiring people with disabilities, but there's a difference between compliance and inclusion. If we're saying we want to hire people with disabilities, we need to make sure that our systems and processes are accessible. Just like Marianne said, if someone is blind or has low vision, maybe they can't access an application, or maybe they can't use the website to apply for a job. It just becomes very inaccessible right at the very start, and then it makes it even harder to source a very talented pool of employees.

And honestly, hiring people with disabilities is one of the best decisions you can make. People with disabilities are scrappy. They will get the job done. They are used to being told no, they're used to encountering barriers their whole life, and so they have tried to figure out a way around that barrier. We don't take no for an answer, we are going to find the solution, and we think outside the box very often. When recruiters are told to hire more people with disabilities, job descriptions, assessments, and interview processes will remain inaccessible. So it becomes a barrier right out of the gate. We need to make sure that we are ensuring all of those processes are accessible from the very beginning, so that we can follow through with our promise of hiring people with disabilities.

Brittany Knowles: Oh, I love that. Somebody said in the chat, we love Scrappy. Absolutely. Brittany?

Brittany Short: Absolutely, these are all such great points. And so the first part of that question, what does that gap look like? I think it looks like focusing on just hitting the bare minimum requirements — minimum accessibility and accommodation requirements — just to achieve a certain hiring number, without implementing true overall change in your workplace. True inclusion really means fostering a culture of belonging, from the very top down to everyone in your company. It's ensuring that autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled people are included in not just conversations about themselves, but all conversations within your company. And ensuring that they have access to a workplace, to an environment, that is conducive to their needs. And what does it really cost those companies that do stay stuck in compliance mode? If your culture is not what it claims to be, maybe on your website, people will find out, people will know when they join your company. That might lead to reduced employee engagement, lower retention, higher turnover, lower job satisfaction, less creativity and innovation. And they're going to leave, and they're going to take their strengths to a company that does foster that true inclusion.

Brittany Knowles: I love that response, Brittany. Thank you so much. Will!

Will Brown: Fantastic answers by everyone on the panel. I'm just going to piggyback a little bit. It's similar to what's already been stated, that gap being accommodating disability versus designing for true inclusion. Compliance is a little bit more reactive, in the sense of making adjustments when someone asks — which, yes, it's important, but there's a big difference between that and inclusion, building a hiring practice so talented people with disabilities cannot just join, but, I think a key there, fully participate, and do it from day one. Big, big differences in those little details. So if companies stay stuck in that compliance mode or train of thought, like we've mentioned, they're missing out on skilled talent, there's probably going to be unnecessary barriers, and they're losing those diverse perspectives that truly drive, in any industry, innovation and business performance. Companies big and small are going to be all about these things. The organizations that are really leading in this space, they don't view disability inclusion as a legal requirement, it's instead a competitive advantage and a critical part of their talent strategy. That shift is when disability inclusion stops being viewed as a legal obligation, and it's really more a key and central part of a talent strategy.

Brittany Knowles: Excellent responses. This next question is for Brittany S. and Will. For a talent acquisition leader who genuinely wants to do this well, but does not know where to start, what is the first thing you would tell them to do — one move that creates real momentum? Brittany?

Brittany Short: I can take this one, and this is really a tough question to answer. I'm probably going to give more than one way, so apologies. There are just so many ways that you can start. Some individuals are really hesitant to implement inclusive initiatives, because they're afraid of getting it wrong or making mistakes. So I would say define what you want to accomplish, and don't be afraid to start. It's often not one big answer, it's just looking at your processes overall, from the hiring process, the interview process, onboarding, training, and retaining your employees. There are small little changes that you can make that can make a real difference in the employees at your workplace.

And then another thing that I will add is to get buy-in from those within your company who want to see this done well, who genuinely want to be a part of the conversation. Of course, it's important to get leadership buy-in, because they're the ones in power. Oftentimes people are looking at them as a role model, so any supervisors, CEOs, or interviewers who have use of accommodations themselves, to just speak up and share their experience, can be freeing to others who might be a little bit shyer, or who wonder, is it just me who's getting these accommodations? But truly, any employees in your company that want to be involved, try to make a space for them, for their voices to be heard. Employee resource groups, advisory groups — these are groups that can make a big difference, and can be the individuals who are pointing out where change is needed in your workplace. And so I'll pause so Will has a chance to contribute too.

Will Brown: Please know I'm smiling over here, because I'm literally thinking a lot of the same things. My advice, if you're approaching this in a very tangible manner, would be to start listening to your own employees, as Brittany kind of touched on as well. Funny enough, she just mentioned employee business resource groups, and we have those at CBRE, so I'm going to use my own in-house example here. Engaging in your own EBRG, whatever the name of that may be for this particular population — it's like we talked about earlier. Engaging with and listening to your own employees who have that lived experience, to understand where the barriers may exist in your own hiring process, those that you identify as well as those that are shared with you by your own employees.

At CBRE, we have an Abilities EBRG, which can be a powerful partner. They help our talent acquisition teams identify these opportunities and create a lot of practical solutions. But once companies — not just CBRE, but once they engage in something really similar to this — picking one area to improve, whether it's job descriptions, interviewer training, which is another one that we do, accessibility, or sourcing partnerships such as this particular partnership. It's those small, intentional changes that, in my opinion, in our opinion, really build that positive momentum and create lasting impact. It's not about trying to do everything at once, it's taking that first meaningful step and building from there. And I think that's something that, no matter the company, no matter the size, it's probably a thought that you keep with yourself all the way through. It's engaging your own voices, choosing one area at a time as part of the hiring journey to improve, and not trying to solve everything all at once — but the ultimate goal of building a system where candidates with disabilities, simply put, don't feel like they have to overcome any kind of barrier to demonstrate their very talent to your organization.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely. Thank you so much. This next question is for Marianne and Brittany. Question number 3: we hear from employers that many candidates with disabilities do not self-identify during the hiring process. Why does that happen? And what does it take to build a culture where people feel safe enough to do so? This is good. I love this question.

Marianne Haegeli: Thank you, this is a really good question. It's such an important question that we have an entire e-learning program focused on whether, when, and how to disclose your disability. It's a huge concern on the job seeker side, obviously. And many of them don't feel comfortable disclosing their disability, because there are these nightmare stories out there of what happens. Everything's going well, you've had three virtual interviews, then you're invited for the in-person, you show up and you have a white cane, and then you're ghosted afterwards, right? So these things do happen.

In overcoming that fear, we strongly recommend, amongst many other ideas we have, that job seekers do research on the company. So to build off of what Brittany and Will just talked about: if you already have an organizational culture that's very inclusive and supportive of everybody, make sure you communicate that. Yes, you need to listen to your own employees and figure out what the right path forward is, and then use your social media presence, because as our job seekers do research on your company, they will find out what's out there about your company. You should not hesitate to share the fact that you're doing the right things. And if you're not sure how it's done, reach out to organizations like the ones represented here, who can definitely help you build that organizational culture. Make sure it's obvious to everybody out there that that's who you are, that's what your values are, that's where your focus is, and take that fear factor out of it.

Brittany Knowles: I love that answer. Thank you so much, Marianne. Brittany.

Brittany Short: Excellent points, Marianne, I love it. I think the reason that people are not disclosing within the hiring process is built into this question, right? It's safety, it's lack of safety. They don't feel safe to open up about their experiences, just as we heard — bad past experiences really do happen to these job seekers. There's a lot of trauma, discrimination, harassment, and bullying that many people have experienced in past workplaces, or just in their life in general. So it closes them off, and they want to go into the next interview, into the next workplace, and they want to do well. They want to show up well for you. They don't want to be judged or rejected.

So how do you really create a space where people do feel safe opening up? I think one is coming from a place of understanding. If you're joining this webinar today, hopefully you're coming out with a better understanding that job seekers are coming with these past negative experiences, and this is a reason why they're not opening up. So you want to prioritize creating a psychologically safe space, meaning people feel truly included. They're comfortable asking you questions, asking if certain supports are possible or available. They feel comfortable making mistakes, that they're not just going to make a couple of mistakes and be dismissed or thought less of. They want to be a valued employee who is looked at like they're going to be able to contribute meaningfully. So I would say listen to your employees, your candidates coming in, and be willing to learn yourself, and ask questions yourself, especially if you're coming from a place of power — which the interviewer usually is, the person of power in the conversation.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you so much, Brittany. And if I can just have this shameless plug: if there are any companies or organizations on this webinar that need support when it comes down to supporting that culture that is going to cultivate those responses, that's going to encourage people to feel comfortable, to be able to disclose — y'all connect with me as the Learning and Development Specialist here at CareerCircle. We have trainings for you and your team. Alright, with that being said, my next question is for Marianne and Will. The request for accommodations comes up at two very different moments: during the hiring process, and then again on the job. How should organizations be thinking about those separately, and where do you see them get it wrong?

Will Brown: I'm happy to start with this one. I think it's two separate, but very meaningful and distinct conversations. During hiring, they're about ensuring candidates have equal access to demonstrate their skills. And then after hire, it certainly doesn't stop. It's about helping employees perform, grow, and thrive in their careers. I think where companies get it wrong is treating accommodations as a one-time compliance activity, like a checking of the box, so to say. At CBRE, we leverage resources, like I mentioned earlier, with the Abilities EBRG, informing not just recruiting, but then to this very question, a lot of our People team members, to assist with accessibility, talent development, and employee experience initiatives. The goal is not just hiring talent with disabilities, but creating this environment that we're all describing, where they can build long-term, successful careers.

I will put in a shameless plug: CBRE has been recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion through the Disability Equality Index for several years. And I say that not just to boast, but more so to the point made earlier about researching companies and trying to get the feel as best as possible. These candidates are doing just that, scoring us and scoring you all before submitting the application, or during their interview process. So again, thinking of the trendsetters and the leaders: the best organizations are not asking, how do we accommodate someone or a group of people? They're asking, how do we remove barriers, so that these talented individuals can succeed. That's the mindset shift that moves from compliance to a more true inclusion.

Brittany Knowles: I love this response. Thank you. Marianne?

Marianne Haegeli: I love that, and I would say to that, for me the two places where these questions come up, or the issue occurs, is: during the hiring process, your organization has an opportunity to do exactly what Will just did, and say, with us, this is embedded in the culture, just so you know. Disclosing here is not a problem, we do make accommodations, and as things change, keep communicating with us, and we'll adjust with you as we go.

The second piece, once folks are in the job, I think there are two major problems that I see. The first one is that we make assumptions, and we have certain accommodations, and then we get stagnant. Technology changes unbelievably quickly. Assistive technology changes incredibly quickly, and I'm relying on my differently-abled colleagues to let me know what's going on. So now it's time for me as an organization to say, oh, there's something new on the market, I'll gladly have my people check this out, tell me what they think, and then make sure these accommodations are available for everybody. That needs to be a continuous conversation. It's not a one-off. It's a continuous conversation to make sure we adjust as we go.

I do want to say, coming from working with the blind and low vision community, I tell employers all the time that if you believe the statistics out there, 40% of the workforce has some type of a disability, many of which are not visible. And if you make your stuff accessible for people who are blind or low vision, it's vastly better accessible for neurodivergent employees as well. Wouldn't you want to create an environment that makes everybody more productive and less stressed? And they never have to let you know they're neurodivergent, you don't need to know, you just know they're getting their work done. Why wouldn't you do that? It's such an easy thing.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you so much for that. Question number 5. This is for you, Amy. AI screening tools are being used at almost every stage of hiring right now. What are the ways those tools can unintentionally screen out candidates with disabilities? And what can organizations do to correct this?

Now, before you get started with your response, Amy, I want to make sure that I am letting the audience know we are at the halfway mark, and so these amazing panelists that you have before you, you all have the opportunity to be able to ask questions of. So please — I see you all networking in the chat. That's exactly what I want you to do. I want you all to connect with each other and build a community. But the second thing that I want you to do is take advantage of the brilliance that is on your screen currently. So while Amy is getting her response together, make sure you're dropping those questions into the chat, so that we can make sure that we provide those to our brilliant panelists. And I love how Will is like, yes, connect with me on LinkedIn. Everybody, let's go ahead and connect! And Amy, you are up. If you need me to repeat that question, because I know that I asked the question and then kind of re-swizzled, I have no problem asking that question once again.

Amy Wood: I think I can answer the question in my response, hopefully.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely.

Amy Wood: Talking about AI hiring tools and how that can impact the hiring process and interview process for people with disabilities. Look, we all love ChatGPT. I think it makes it so much easier to be able to just dump an email in there and say, make this friendly, make it positive. However, AI is not perfect, especially when it's not designed with accessibility in mind. A lot of hiring teams are using AI hiring tools to improve consistency and efficiency, but they do disadvantage people with disabilities if these AI tools are not designed, trained, and deployed with fairness and accessibility in mind. I'm going to share some examples of how these risks can come from using AI models, and also how that can cause a big risk to your organization.

One of the first ways that AI tools are being used, starting with resume screening: a lot of models will review your resume, and then they will identify certain employment gaps, or non-traditional career paths, or assistive technology experience. But that could be interpreted negatively, depending on the type of AI tool that you're using. So how you can reduce the risk is by focusing models on on-the-job relevant skills and qualifications, rather than historical hiring patterns. Sometimes people with disabilities or medical conditions will have a gap on their resume due to an illness, or due to not being able to find employment, and that shouldn't be used against them if you are considering them for a role at your company.

There are also online assessments. Sometimes there are timed cognitive tests online, or gamified assessments, or interfaces that are incompatible with screen readers and also alternative input devices. And so that can exclude qualified candidates. You want to make sure that all of your assessments meet accessibility standards, such as WCAG. WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, and there's a whole set of guidelines and regulations online, and you make sure that all of your digital content is up to code with WCAG. You also want to provide accommodations, like extended time, and offer alternative assessment formats. When Marianne was talking about how if you can make something accessible for a screen reader, or someone who's blind, it could be more beneficial for someone who's neurodiverse — think about text-to-speech, for example. Someone who's blind may be using text-to-speech to consume a web page, but that's also going to benefit somebody who has dyslexia. And so you are thinking more broadly about how you're designing something. It's not just for one person, it really is going to benefit more people.

There are also AI tools that you can use in video interviews, where AI is going to analyze your facial expressions, your eye contact, speech patterns, and body language. But sometimes it can misinterpret those characteristics. And those characteristics can be associated with autism, or cerebral palsy, facial paralysis, stuttering, deafness, or other disabilities. And sometimes that will reflect as an indicator of poor performance. So really, to avoid the risk, you want to avoid using emotion recognition or body language scoring for employment decisions. I talk with my hands a lot, I know I move around a lot, I'm laughing, I'm smiling, all those kinds of things. So just take into account the whole thing, not just what AI is saying: hey, this person was moving around a lot, it seems like they were uncomfortable. Just eliminate that.

And then I'll wrap it up with voice analysis. There are some AI tools that are using speech recognition systems, and that can perform poorly for candidates with speech impediments, or people with accents that are influenced by disabilities. I myself have a speech impediment. Sometimes I can't say my S's and R's correctly. And so if you are able to use text responses or human interviews as an alternative to voice analysis, you're going to create a much more fair interview process for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, these things happen a lot in AI, because a lot of these AI tools have biased training data, they have poor accessibility, they have invalid proxies — so variables like employment gaps, typing speed, speech fluency, or eye contact, that can correlate with disability without reflecting their job performance. So there's so much you can do out there to make sure that you are deploying and training AI tools to be fair and accessible.

Brittany Knowles: Oh, that was so good. I loved your response. AI is such an exciting, emerging new technology that has been very helpful to make things efficient, but it's so important to think about how it impacts the day-to-day. You breaking down how we need to be cognizant of our use, and making sure that we're doing that Q&A to ensure that we're not excluding exceptional talent — thank you for really breaking it down for us the way that you did. This next question is for my namesake! Brittany, neurodiverse candidates bring real strengths, but they can also be filtered out by hiring processes that were not designed with them in mind. What are the specific things organizations need to consider to make sure that is not happening? Amy kind of touched on this, so you piggyback, talk to me.

Brittany Short: I know, I was going to give a shout out to Amy today for supporting this conversation of really leading with a strength-based or skills-based hiring process. I also love, just as the point that we're talking about, not labeling people or putting people in a particular box, but being open-minded. And so to dive into these questions on the specific things that organizations can consider to make sure neurodiverse candidates are not filtered out through their hiring process: a lot of candidates can self-select out of opportunities, so you want to make sure that things like your job descriptions are as clear and direct as possible. Really use that clear language. Is the terminology that you're using, or your wording, vague? For example, words like "wear many hats," or "working in a fast-paced environment," or "we offer a competitive salary." While you might think those are enticing, they can be confusing to some individuals. So if they're more descriptive, such as "must be able to collaborate across teams," or "must be able to handle rapidly changing projects," or if you're including a specific salary range, the candidate understands exactly what they're walking into in your hiring process. Making those little changes can be very helpful and encourage some candidates to apply for those roles.

Also, how many required skills do you have on those job descriptions? Are you differentiating your must-haves from your desired qualifications? Take a really hefty look at those educational requirements you're asking for, or the prior experience required. Saying a requirement like a minimum of three years prior experience working in a certain sector can be very limiting for some candidates, so instead, focus on describing those specific skills or outputs needed from that individual. Really think about what skills enable someone to be successful on the job that you're recruiting for.

Also, just having that willingness and openness to provide things like interview questions in advance. Certainly someone could request this, but if you did it for all candidates, wouldn't it be helpful for everyone who's coming through your doors? Also, be very clear throughout the whole process. Share your format, your style, how many people will they be connecting with? Is there a phone screening before another virtual or in-person interview? Knowing that information ahead of time can really eliminate the anxiety that a lot of candidates can experience coming into your hiring process.

Also, just be aware that neurodivergent candidates present differently. They can struggle with eye contact, they can fidget, and you want to, again, utilize that strength-based approach. If you ask big, multi-layered questions, that can be hard for some people to break down, especially if you ask it all at once. So try to ask single questions, ones that people can process more easily.

Also, sometimes it's nice to encourage candidates to feel welcome by putting a statement or a disclaimer at the bottom of your job applications. So I'm going to read you all an example of what OAR includes at the bottom of our job descriptions: "Company name is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, including sexual orientation, pregnancy status, or gender identity, age, or disability. We are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As a part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If a reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact —" and then you give them the name of somebody who is a real person that they can reach out to and get in touch with, not just a contact that is going to go to an email inbox that is unread. Those are some ways that you can open up your hiring process and encourage candidates who might not meet every point on that job description. It's going to encourage those people to apply more.

Brittany Knowles: Wow, my heart just skipped a beat. So let's just go through this, right? You talked through inclusive language, you gave us a specific example. I hope you all were listening, because that — just copy and paste. And make sure that you're citing Brittany, okay? That was amazing. Thank you so much for that. My last question before we get into the Q&A is for you, Amy. There's a common misconception that accommodations are costly add-ons, something extra you do for one person. But a lot of what makes a workplace accessible for someone with a disability actually benefits everyone. Where have you seen that play out in practice? And how do you make that case to leaders who are still thinking about this as a line item cost, rather than a design decision?

Amy Wood: I love this question, because it is something I deal with every day, and we have a lot of people that assume that we are just implementing accessibility for one person, or for a small group of people. But one of the most effective ways to shift this conversation is to reframe accommodations as investments in better systems, not exceptions for individuals. And I think a lot of us on this call talk about the curb cut effect, which is how something designed for one group of people actually benefits a larger group of people. A curb cut is the downward slope in the sidewalk, and it allows people using wheelchairs to get from the sidewalk into the street safely and back up. But researchers saw that if parents were pushing strollers, they could use that curb cut to get down and up from the sidewalk. People pushing carts, or cyclists — cyclists aren't supposed to be on the sidewalk, but I digress. There is still a bigger benefit of curb cuts, bigger than what they were originally intended for.

So here are some examples that I've seen reflected across our events at Salesforce. Captions. Captions are amazing. Here's a little fun fact: 80% of people that use captions aren't even deaf or hard of hearing. Captions are really beneficial for people that are maybe in noisy environments and can't quite hear the Zoom call, or people that speak English as a second language. It is really beneficial for people to have a visual text of the words being spoken so they can follow along a little bit easier. Employees that are joining from mobile devices, or if someone is reviewing recordings after a meeting, and there's this transcript there. And then also you have people who are deaf or hard of hearing. I know I'm deaf, and I rely on captions, but we can't forget about people who have moderate hearing loss just from getting a little bit older. They are going to lose a little bit of hearing just due to aging, or too many concerts and loud music and all that. You are going to experience a gradual decline of hearing as you get older, and so captions are going to be really beneficial for those people.

Flexible work arrangements. This can be essential for employees managing disabilities. If they have chronic health conditions, these flexible schedules and hybrid work also improve retention, they reduce burnout, and they support caregivers and parents and employees across different time zones. I think a lot of us are in the sandwich generation, where we have children and we're also caregivers for our parents, and so that's a lot that we're trying to manage with doctor's appointments, or home health care and all of those things. So having a flexible work arrangement would benefit so many people.

Clear documentation instead of verbal-only communication. Having written decisions, written agendas, and meeting notes really does help employees with cognitive disabilities, like ADHD, and also benefits people with hearing impairments. There have been so many times that I've been in a meeting and I thought I heard something, and I did not hear it, and then I did not follow through. It would have been better had I just had written documentation of what the decision was, what the action item was, and the next steps. Clear documentation, clear, easy to understand, plain language. No one is ever going to come to you and say, that was too easy to understand. Just keep it nice and plain. If you're using jargon or tech-heavy language, just make sure you're simplifying that. That's really important for people with disabilities, but also for people without disabilities.

And then also accessible digital products. Better color contrast is a huge thing. I was talking about the aging population, the aging workforce — people over 50 aren't necessarily disabled, but they benefit from things like better color contrast, bigger text, bigger font on the screen, quieter environments, and plain language. So it just makes it easier for people to be able to follow along, absorb the content, and deliver upon that.

And then lastly, I'll wrap it up with speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools. These technologies support people with visual impairments, dyslexia, and mobility limitations. And it also helps employees multitask, review content, and consume information. Have you ever tried to use your mouse to click on a little radio button, and the button is so small, and you're trying to find it and click on it? Imagine if you have a mobility disability, or arthritis in your wrist, or maybe you got hurt playing pickleball or something. That little radio button is going to be so hard to click on. So really thinking broadly about universal design is going to make it so much more accessible and easier for people to use.

I'll wrap it up with saying that the business case needs to stop being, how much will this accommodation cost? It needs to ask, what friction are we removing from the system? Don't think about accommodations as benefiting one person, and it's going to be costly, and it's not worth it. You're going to be benefiting your entire workforce, mostly everybody.

Brittany Knowles: I love it, Amy, and thank you so much. You just helped me to see my world differently, because there are so many things that you mentioned that I use on a daily basis. And everybody uses that, so thank you so much for really breaking it down. Now we're on to Q&A from our audience. I think that we might have time for three, and then I have one final question for you all. So if you haven't already put your questions in the chat, go ahead and do so, because I'm finalizing my three, and then we have one question for everyone on the panel. If you want to answer the question, just unmute yourself, and I promise you, I'm going to pick you. All right, question number one. What are the three most essential and realistic things that I can do to prepare myself as a neurodivergent employment seeker to find my next job, including both preparedness and things to look for in the hiring process or company?

Brittany Short: I can kickstart answering this question. The three most essential things — this is another tough one to answer, but I would say finding a mentor. Shameless plug, because Hire Autism does provide mentorship to autistic job seekers. We've seen this really make a big difference, eliminate a lot of the questions and fears about what's behind a job search. How do I get prepared? How do I even look for jobs on a job board? How do I advocate for myself in an interview? So, really connecting with some sort of mentor. It does not have to be through some sort of neurodivergent supportive program. It can be a family member, it can be a friend, someone to sit down with and practice and go through advocating for yourself and your skill sets. That can help you feel more prepared when tackling the job search. Did I get through the question there? Let me know if I missed anything. I'm bad with multi-part questions myself.

Brittany Knowles: I love it. And let me just say, I did something, and I need to explain what I just did. So when I did like this, this is me expressing enthusiasm for what you said, okay? I love shameless plugs. So this is my version of enthusiasm. It's like, yes, say that. So for those of you at home that saw me do that, okay? I also want to make sure that I'm emphasizing those shameless plugs that have been made, because it's absolutely worth it. Will was talking about the award that his organization got. Brittany talked about the mentoring component of her role. Marianne, you spoke to — there was something that you said to us. My memory isn't serving me well at the present moment.

Marianne Haegeli: We are doing consulting work for employers, to help make their workplaces more inclusive.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely. And then I did my shameless plug for training. So, Amy, I need you to think about something that you want to plug for your organization, because all of us have had shameless plugs within the last hour. With that being said, this question is for you, Will and Amy. Everyone on the panel has advocated for offering physical accommodations, workplace adjustments, and support — sometimes AI, sometimes other supports — right from the start. However, at Specialisterne, we still see new hires hold back out of fear, often waiting to ask for support until they run into challenges as employees, rather than setting themselves up for success from day one. And whoever put this question in the chat, please forgive me if I have mispronounced the name of your organization. Thank you, Jennifer. Thank you so much. So that's the first part of the question, and then once you answer that first part, I have a second part to that question.

Will Brown: The first thing that comes to mind is that it sounds like the scenario is being described as a little bit more of a reactionary or reactive approach. If you're not already, take a look inward and see: are you giving individuals a space, a very intentional opportunity, to voice anything, everything? It doesn't always have to be a perfectly worded question. It can be a safe space, if you will, to voice anything from, like we've talked about, recruitment through hiring and onboarding and things like that. So in that manner, hopefully individuals will voice these things early, but then also you don't have to worry about, are we asking the right question? It's more so providing a space, but an open-ended space, and seeing if there's that potential gap. That would be my first approach, at least, to trying to address what is a reactive environment to this point.

Brittany Knowles: Thank you, Will. Amy?

Amy Wood: I would just add in that, unfortunately, employees disclose disabilities only when they're encountering barriers, and so it makes it almost seem like it's a problem to solve, as opposed to being a part of workplace diversity. One of the best ways that you can approach this is just by simply saying, this is what I need to bring my best self to work, I just need XYZ. And just kind of making it a matter of fact, not like, I'm so sorry, is this going to be expensive? Just, this is what I need, I can be my best self at work, and this will not only benefit me, but benefit others. That would be my best advice.

Brittany Knowles: Absolutely. And the second part to that question is, what best practices or strategies have you seen effectively encourage new hires to self-identify and request accommodations up front?

Will Brown: I'm going to go beyond just my time at CBRE and even think about some previous roles and careers and even industries from my experience. Asking early and being more proactive is probably the best way of describing my response here. It's not just asking, but in addition to asking a question and providing a space — a form that's asking you to describe the specific disability — even taking it a step further and saying, can you provide specific previous accommodations that you've received? Because sometimes the best way that we can respond and help is if somebody says, well, I had this at my last role, and this was really beneficial. It's not always a guarantee that the current company can match what you had previously, but it gives us a great starting point, and we might be able to indeed match it, or maybe even try something and do it a little bit better. So it's not just asking for the self-identification part, but we love the inspiration and ideas of — you could have this diagnosis or disability, but each individual may respond differently to that, and thus telling us what accommodation has helped you the best. We love to hear that as well.

Brittany Knowles: Love that. Thank you, Will.

Brittany Short: I agree. I just want to piggyback off of that. I think being able to define your needs very clearly, or be able to work with those who may be open to exploring those needs, is helpful for both parties. There is the Job Accommodation Network, too. They're very well known, and they have a live chat feature. They have a lot of helpful content that breaks down specific accommodations that have been used for individuals in the past. So if you yourself don't know what accommodations might be helpful for the particular challenge you're having, or if you're working to support an employee who's opening up to you about their concerns, going to those resources to learn more can be beneficial. But it almost plays hand-in-hand with the first question that I answered. Really, job seekers and candidates getting to know themselves well — what their strengths are, what their needs are, who they are, and how they show up to the workplace — not only helps them navigate their job search successfully, but also stay in their employment successfully.

Brittany Knowles: I love that. Thank you so much, Brittany. All right, we have our fire round. That means 30 seconds or less, and I'm going to give you 10 additional seconds, Amy, because I want you not only to answer this question, but also give us a shameless plug for your organization. Because we wanted to be as inclusive as possible. Everybody else had one, you get an extra 10 seconds. So with that being said, the last question of the day, as we wrap up the panel portion: I want each of you to let us know, if the talent leaders in this room leave today and can implement one thing from this conversation, what would you want it to be? Who wants to go first? Marianne, I love it.

Marianne Haegeli: I know I'm your favorite victim. Amy's been talking about the aging population. I've disclosed I'm 64 years old. I'm going to date myself further. I don't know if you guys remember, but there was a time when the motto worldwide was, we've got to go mobile first. I remember the day when we didn't have email, okay, just so we're clear. Mobile first. Your key takeaway as an employer from this session, as far as I'm concerned: let's move from mobile first, which we've achieved, clearly. Let's please go to accessible first. That needs to be our number one priority, and everything else will flow from there.

Brittany Knowles: Yes, Marianne, accessible first. Will!

Will Brown: Implement a mindset, if it is not already present, that this is not a one-time conversation, or act, or checking of the box. It is an ongoing, communicative, back-and-forth conversation that continuously evolves — but with everyone approaching that with a positive manner and intent, because that is how we, on all sides of the table, essentially get better at what we do throughout changes in our workforce.

Brittany Knowles: Yes, yes, and yes again. Brittany.

Brittany Short: Be open and be adaptable. Real impact and real cultural shifts happen when people sit down and they're intentional about change, intentional about supporting their candidates — not just from the first time someone expresses a need, but every single time. People are different, they're always going to bring different perspectives to the conversation.

Brittany Knowles: I love it. And lastly, with your additional 10 seconds, Amy.

Amy Wood: Okay, I have 40 seconds. One thing I would say is to just remember that accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I don't know sign language. I am deaf, and I do not know a lick of sign language, but a lot of times people have assumed that this was the accommodation that I needed. So if you're going to be setting up a process to receive accommodation requests, allow them to tell you exactly what they need. Don't make any assumptions, and that way it takes the guessing game out of it for you. You don't have to try to guess what they need. Marianne, I hope I'm doing this right — I believe that it's 11% of the blind community that uses Braille, so if someone says, I'm blind, don't make the assumption that you need to print everything in Braille. Just ask them simply what works best for them. Then I'm going to wrap it up with a little plug: Salesforce has been named on the Forbes Accessibility 200 list for the second year running, and this is amazing. I think this really reflects our commitment to digital inclusion, accessible product design, and workplace equity for professionals with disabilities. That's it.

Brittany Knowles: I love that so much, and I'm going to wrap it up in a bow. I just had to take notes. Accessibility first, from Marianne. Ongoing communicative conversation to improve our workforce, from Will. Being open and adaptable, from Brittany. Accessibility is not one size fits all, from Amy. Yes, yes, and yes again — mic drop moment. Thank you so much, Amy, Brittany, Marianne, and Will, and thank you all for being here and for asking such thoughtful questions. This is exactly the kind of conversation that moves things forward.

As we close out, a couple of quick asks. We have put together a resource to help you take action on what you've heard today. The Complete Playbook for Inclusion is available for download now. The link will be included in your follow-up email along with today's recording. Please also take a few minutes to complete our post-webinar survey, which will also be in that follow-up email. Your feedback helps us continue to bring you conversations like this one. Thank you again to our amazing panelists — you get applause and the hand claps, alright? What you've done today has given us all of the tools that we need to start to make those positive changes. We hope to see you all continue with us in the future, and you will be hearing from us shortly. Until next time, everyone, take care. Bye-bye.

Will Brown: Thank you, everyone.