Accessibility Worx is a job board that is designed specifically for job seekers with disabilities. It aims to remove two barriers that job seekers with disabilities often face. One is the website that’s not operable using a screen reader or only a keyboard, and the other is the lack of workplace accommodations.
Website’s Design
The website’s design is straightforward and minimalistic – very different from the websites we typically design. It was designed that way to be screen-reader and keyboard-friendly, as well as to reduce distraction. The colours were chosen to provide enough contrast for people with visual impairment and font for people with Dyslexia.
While other similar job boards in Canada target the same underrepresented group, most of them, if not all, install some accessibility plug-in and called it a day. This means they’re not truly accessible. For example, when selecting the location from the search dropdown, a screen reader needs to read out the cities for visually impaired people, but that’s not the case for several of the competitors we tested.
We try to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) throughout the website where we can. There are cases where it’s impossible without significant customization, but we are committed to improving it.
Functionalities
When submitting a job posting, employers are asked to provide a list of workplace accommodations they can offer them. With that information, job seekers can search for jobs that can accommodate their unique needs, whether it’s wheelchair access, technical aids, or the flexibility to work from home.
While other job boards have a resume section, we chose to eliminate it because we feel it’s too cumbersome to ask job seekers with visual impairment to navigate a resume builder. Instead, applications are emailed directly to employers and recruiters. Their emails are not displayed publicly to minimize spam, and there is a robot checker in place.
This job board also integrates with PayPal as its payment gateway. When a job posting is submitted and payment processed, the job will get posted automatically without the need for manual processing.
Search Engine Visibility
As always, SEO is a priority, and this is no exception. The website is optimized for search engines structurally. Job type schema markup can be found in the source code of every job posting to ensure it can be picked up by job aggregators such as Google and therefore maximize its visibility.
Update: We now offer accessible web design as part of our website services.
