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If a company wants to hire people with disabilities, but disabled candidates don’t believe it… What happens?
On Episode 23 of the WCATea Podcast, Tanner and Ellie sit down with workplace expert Stela Lupushor to talk about why qualified disabled candidates don’t believe existing and prospective employers, what’s driving the fear, and how employers can earn their trust.
Who Is Stela Lupushor?
Strong. Humble. Confident. You have to be when you’re born in Moldova during the Soviet-era and speaking a language that no longer exists.
Since then, Stela founded Reframe Work, teaches Digital Workplace Design at NYU and co-hosts the Workestration podcast.
The five Reasons Disabled Candidates Don’t Trust or Believe Employers
1. Hiring Bias and the Interview Process
Ellie says many people with visible disabilities have walked into interviews where the interviewer was “not even subtle about it.” Tanner calls the fear almost generational and admits he still manages unconscious bias against himself.
What to do? Respect every candidate, even the ones you don’t hire. Stela suggests a personal note explaining the decision, plus a way to stay connected for future openings.
2. Leaving a Safe Job is Risky
A colleague asked Tanner to recommend someone from his apprenticeship program. They wanted to hire a tester from AccessAbility Officer. The candidate never applied.
What to do? Show candidates they’re wanted. “You cannot blame the individual for the fear,” Stela says. People take the risk only when a company feels truly welcoming.
3. Your Careers Page Doesn’t Show Disabled Employees
If there’s no disabled employees on your hiring site, how could a disabled candidate believe they’ll succeed in any role?
What to do? Feature disabled employees, “showcasing and bragging about them,” as Stela puts it. And make sure candidates can use the page. If your careers page isn’t accessible to assistive technology users, they’ll never apply. Worse, they might file an ADA claim.
Get a free accessibility test and report of your careers page!
4. Nobody Wants to Be a Token Hire
Candidates know when they’re filling a quota. And nobody wants to be a token disabled employee, token diversity employee, or token anything employee.
What to do? Incorporate mentorship, coaching, and employee resource groups (ERGs), deliver support from day one, and never stop listening. At IBM, Stela helped build a tool that tracked the mood of 450,000 employees’ conversations. When HR stopped reimbursing Uber rides, one frustrated post went viral internally, and the decision was reversed within 16 hours.
5. Don’t Underestimate Disabled Talent
Ellie, a blind accessibility tester, was told she’d need a sighted person for visual checks. Out of “sheer stubbornness,” she fed screenshots to AI and did as much of the work she could herself.
Disabled employees are some of the hardest working people there are.
What to do? People with disabilities are today’s MacGyvers of solving problems and overcoming obstacles. We have to do it every day for everyday activities.
Why Hiring People with Disabilities Pays Off
As we age, more of your customers will have disabilities. “How will you know to build those services if you don’t have anybody internally telling you what it’s like to be on the other side?” Stela asks.
Ready to Build a More Inclusive Workplace?
Ensuring your Careers page and hiring process are accessible are great starts. Our certified disabled testers and DARTAudit will find the violations, deliver a report, and teach you how to fix it.
Get a digital accessibility audit
Want to build accessibility DNA into your organization? Explore Digital Accessibility Training. And ask about DARTLearn for upskilling your team during the onboarding process.
Missed Episode 22?
Brandon Biggs of XR Navigation shows how blind voters can follow election results on a map they can see, hear, touch and read.
Read: How to map out where you’re going with Brandon Biggs
Where Can I Listen to the WCATea Podcast?
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- Did you know we’re syndicated? Catch WCATea on Mind’s Eye Radio every Wednesday at 6 PM Central