A Guide to Inclusive Communication in the Workplace

Inclusive communication is something we should all be talking about much more than we already are. Particularly so, how we speak to and about disabled people in the workplace is of massive importance. 

Our communication has an impact on so many things within just one workplace. If we communicate poorly, we can alienate disabled people from working with us in the first place. If it continues to be poor, we can ruin their experience in the workplace, discriminate against them, and cause them to leave employment. 

By communicating in any way that isn’t accessible we are also letting ourselves down. We do this by showing ourselves to be unequal employers.

If we want happy and healthy workplaces that actively promote equality, diversity and inclusion, we need to start with how we speak. Particularly, we need to think about how we speak about disabled people and to disabled people. 

In this blog, we are going to talk about 3 main pillars of inclusive communication. All 3 need to be present in an accessible and inclusive workplace. Without any of these aspects, we are not practising best care for our disabled employees. We are not presenting the best versions of ourselves either.

This is super important information for employers everywhere, so take note. 

Inclusive Communication: Language and Terms

The first thing that we need to think about when we are thinking about inclusive communication is the actual linguistic terms we use to describe people, conditions, and disabilities. 

There are many terms and sayings that have been around for decades and so people continue to use them. However, these terms can be offensive and exclusionary. They are sometimes things we would never think to be offensive, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we do the research and the learning so that we know, from a disabled person’s point of view, what is and isn’t appropriate. 

Here are some common examples and their more accessible counterparts: 

• “The disabled” – swap for “disabled people”
• “Suffering from blindness” – swap for “a blind person”
• “Crippled” – swap for “disabled”
• “Confined to a wheelchair” – swap for “wheelchair user”.

Not everyone will agree on every preferred term, but there are general guidelines around how we should speak about disabilities appropriately. Those guidelines mainly include:

• not using negative sentiments to describe disability
• not invalidating the disabled person’s autonomy and individuality
• and not using sweeping statements

We should be using inclusive terms whenever we are speaking to anyone in the workplace. We should also do this when we are publishing any kind of written communication. When it comes to the world of work, it is important to use inclusive communication from the beginning stages of recruitment to the end stages of a career. 

Inclusive job postings, for example, are very important when it comes to being an accessible, Disability-Friendly company. If you want help with screening your job postings for inclusive and non-inclusive language, you can make use of our specialized service, right here. 

Accessible Modes of Communication 

In thinking about how we appropriately talk to disabled people, it is important that we think about the modes of communication and communication channels we use to reach the disabled community. 

For example, if we use a system that doesn’t allow any accessible formats or extra support, we are automatically excluding a large percentage of disabled people. If we aren’t actively thinking about disabled people when we are creating and distributing content, we are likely excluding them. Even when we don’t realise it.

If you are an employer and you want to make sure you are communicating accessibly with all members of staff, you will need to consider:

• Visual impairments
• Hearing impairments
• Learning difficulties, and
• Co-ordination difficulties

… every time you put out a piece of communication or correspondence. 

Similarly, employers who want to increase the number of disabled staff in their company need to think about the accessibility of recruitment content. You will need to consider how accessible the language and format of the content are. Importantly, you will also need to think about where you are posting your content. 

Posting job adverts and recruitment notices somewhere that disabled people have an active presence is the only way to speak to a large, diverse pool of candidates. 

Creating an employer profile on Careers with Disabilities and posting inclusive job adverts with the help of our extra tools will help you reach the next level of being an accessible, Disability-Friendly employer. 

If your adverts aren’t reaching disabled people, they aren’t accessible. Make sure all of your communication matters.

Commitment to Training

Finally, if you are committed to having inclusive communication in your workplace, you need also be committed to in-house training. 

It is all well and good if one member of staff knows how to use communication in an inclusive way. It only counts if the entire staff are able to work together to build an environment that is safe and accessible. 

Providing training resources and sessions for your staff will greatly improve inclusive communication within your workplace. If you don’t have disabled staff already, using external trainers who are disabled is a great choice. It is really important to always be in touch with disabled people’s points of view and perspectives. 

Diversity starts at home and we can only truly succeed in diversity if we work together. 

If you want to up your game with inclusive communication, check out the packages we offer for employers and start posting your very own inclusive job postings today on Careers with Disabilities.