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Inployable: Employment Network for Those with Down Syndrome

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Inployable is a revolutionary collaborative move from the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and LinkedIn

The first-ever global employment network on LinkedIn for people with Down syndrome has launched. Inployable is a revolutionary collaborative move from the Canadian Down Syndrome Society and LinkedIn, this innovative platform, which opened its digital doors in 2022, has the potential to change so many people’s lives by reducing obstacles in the work place

Statistics show that there are 1 million open jobs in Canada, however, more than 50% of people with Down syndrome can’t find paid employment (26% are in volunteer positions, while 30% are without paid or volunteer positions). Meanwhile, companies that hire people with disabilities found that revenues were 28% higher, net income 200% higher and profit margins 30% higher. This is exactly the reason why Inployable was started, to give people with Down Syndrome more equal opportunities in the workforce and enable companies to find and connect with these brilliant and more than able people. So, how does it work?

Inployable marketing content

© Inpolyable

People with Down syndrome who feel ready to take on a new role can fill out a form on inployable.com, which includes their LinkedIn profile. If someone who wants to apply doesn’t yet have a profile, a LinkedIn coach can guide them through the steps to do so. Next, these job seekers are inducted into Inployable’s network, which looks like a company page on LinkedIn, and this is where potential employers can read about their work and life experience, as well as the kinds of roles they’re interested in applying for. Brands and companies can then contact them directly to set up a digital or face-to-face meeting where the interview process is explained. There’s also a short video on the Inployable LinkedIn page to help those who respond better to things being explained in a more visual way.

Laura LaChance from the Canadian Down Syndrome Society explains, “We truly believe that job seekers within the Down syndrome community have been long overlooked simply due to outdated perceptions. It has been proven that employees with Down syndrome can bring numerous benefits to employers, other employees, and customers when they are given an opportunity.” 

Inployable marketing content

© Inpolyable

Inployable plans to extend community outreach and implement additional resources for employers on relevant topics such as training processes and how to best practice inclusive hiring. The bigger picture aim is to offer long-term support to people with Down Syndrome who may not have the same workplace opportunities. These people have the same rights to a job, it’s just the access that may be lacking, until now. These job seekers want exactly what others have; the potential to earn an income, to know their worth, to develop and learn new skills, to contribute to their community and most importantly, to reach their full potential. 

Visit Inployable for more, and please share with anyone who may benefit from this brilliant service.

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The Sensational Museum

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The Special Museum

‘Using what we know about disability to change how museums work for everyone’ is the tagline for The Sensational Museum

Led by Professor Hannah Thompson from Royal Holloway, University of London, The Sensational Museum is a £1 million pound-funded project by the Arts and Humanities Research Council whose goal is to alter current access methods and introduce a deeper sense of inclusivity within the museum sector in the UK. 

Thompson is joined by a plethora of professionals on this project who unite on the idea that disability needs need to be put at the centre of all museums’ strategies going forward. There is Social Design specialist Anne Chick from the University of Lincoln; Psychologist Alison Eardley from the University of Westminster; and Museum Studies expert Ross Parry from the University of Leicester. They will work together between April 2023 and July 2025 to really transform the way disabled and non-disabled people interact with the art and each other in museums in the future.

The Special Museum 

Collaborating with museum staff as well as disabled and non-disabled visitors, the more-than-equipped team will be looking into two core areas: new ways of accessing museum collections and cataloguing objects in a more inclusive way. The key idea is to acknowledge and put into practice the fact that the needs of diverse visitors are all unique and not everyone absorbs art in the same way. Sector organisations include VocalEyes, an initiative that works towards inclusion for the visually impaired and blind in the arts and heritage sector, Curating for Change which helps create career paths for the disabled community, and the Museums Association, a membership organisation that campaigns for socially engaged museums. They will all be on hand to offer acute advice and inspiration as to how this project can create innovative change within museums across the country. 

“Many people want or need to access and process information in ways that are not only – or not entirely – visual. But museums are very sight-dependent places. Let’s imagine a museum experience that plays to whichever senses work best for you. The project aims to give all visitors inclusive, engaging, enjoyable and memorable experiences,” Professor Hannah Thompson. 

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Visit The Sensational Museum website to stay up-to-date with this project and how it’s developing. It has the capacity to create real social justice and impact the disabled community and how they will be able to engage with art in a more inclusive way in the future. 

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All I Want For Digital Campaign Calls for Inclusive Future

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All I Want For Digital campaign

All I Want For Digital is Knocking Down Disability Accessibility Barriers Online Worldwide

Global digital transformation agency Cyber-Duck has launched the ‘All I Want For Digital’ campaign, which aims to remove digital accessibility barriers worldwide. Diverse users of the internet need to be heard and listened to. Is there enough being done to include them across all digital channels? Data from WebAIM, shows not, with less than 3% of website homepages being truly accessible to all users, meaning that the majority feel excluded from what most people take for granted. This is exactly what the #AllIWantForDigital campaign is shining a light on; the need for all brands, companies, and individuals to work harder to make all their digital experiences inclusive. 

‘Ask yourself, what one thing would make digital better for everyone?’ 

This is the question Cyber-Duck team members asked a group of campaigners, Paralympians, creators and personalities with visible and hidden disabilities. The goal was to learn about their positive and negative experiences of online interactions in order to provide the world with inspiration to better the digital world. 

Former tech journalist Rory Cellan-Jones, comedy writer Sara Gibbs, author and campaigner Sandi Wassmer and gold medal Paralympian Giles Long are amongst others, featured in the campaign as representatives of people living with disabilities and how they’re affected by non-inclusive digital experiences. They share their reasons why they want to see positive change in this space. Take Mik Scarlet, TV presenter, co-CEO Phab, and wheelchair user, who says, “I want people who design or own a website or app to have a mind shift change. To stop thinking that they’re designing for disabled people or for those people over there and remember that good products work for everybody.” 

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All I Want For Digital campaign

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Danny Bluestone, CEO and Founder of Cyber-Duck says, “Whether you are trying to pay utility bills online, order groceries, find gifts for friends and family, apply for a job or keep in touch over the holidays, no one should feel excluded because of poorly designed digital experiences, which are not inclusive.” 

Bluestone explains further that this inclusive mindset should be adopted at the first stage of a web design, “Accessibility guidelines are a tick box activity for some. But we and our campaign partners want to see more positive action taken to design with inclusivity in mind, creating accessible experiences, which benefit everyone. Accessibility can’t be an after-thought and can’t be solved with plug-ins.” 

The campaign has been supported by key charities and initiatives including the Royal Association for Deaf People, Employers Network for Equality & Inclusion, para-sports

classification organisation LEXI, disabled children’s community Phab, digital disability awareness training platform AbilityNet, and the British Interactive Media Association, which supports the next generation of digital professionals through knowledge sharing and developing talent. This campaign alongside this powerful group of initiatives together have the power to create impactful solutions to improve the usability of digital products for everyone.

Take a look at the All I Want For Digital campaign here.

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Tatiana Lee: Advocating for Accessibility and Inclusion in Media and Tech

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Tatiana Lee

Tatiana Lee is an award-winning disability inclusion and accessibility consultant, producer, model, actor and activist

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, Included is proud to be sharing in the joys of women and their successes. International Women’s day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women around the world. The globally-celebrated day was initiated in 1908 when women marched through the streets of New York calling for higher pay, shorter hours and the opportunity to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America celebrated the first National Woman’s Day. Notably, today we will be celebrating Tatiana Lee, Apple TV+ Accessibility Lead.

Tatiana Lee is an award-winning disability inclusion and accessibility consultant and is herself a wheelchair user. She has also modelled in campaigns for Apple, Target, Zappos, and a host of others. Lee’s activism was influenced by the underrepresentation of people with disabilities in the media and entertainment industry. Her passion and commitment to creating a more inclusive Hollywood and creating accessible working places pushed her to advocate for accessibility and disability visibility in the entertainment scene. 

Tatiana Lee

Via Tatiana’s Facebook Page

She was known to be very consistent on social media platforms — raising awareness and seeing that emerging disabled creatives access opportunities to be included in Hollywood films and other entertainment platforms. Speaking on her experience of navigating the entertainment industry as a disabled woman of colour, Lee expressed that “I have discovered a more profound passion advocating for accessibility and inclusion in Media and Tech.” She continued,“I never thought six years later that I will be taking on a role that encompasses all those passions into one,” Lee said. 

However, Lee’s advocacy, consultation, and production projects won her numerous awards, notable among them was the Hollywood Fringe Festival Encore Producers Award. Most of her works were featured by reputable media outlets, including Forbes, CNET, Washington Post, and Apple Newsroom.

Tatiana Lee is not only an incredible example of what disabled women can achieve but her work is also increasing opportunities and improving the lives of disabled women.

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