Solutions:
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Aide/Assistant/Attendant
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Braille Labelers
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Computer Braille Display
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Computer Phone Software
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Detectable Warning Surfaces
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Flexible Schedule
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Headsets - Computer (USB, VOIP etc.)
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High Visibility Floor Tape and Paint
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Job Restructuring
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Keyboard Tops and Labels
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Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Systems - Scan
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Qualified Reader
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Ridesharing/Carpooling
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Screen Reading Software and Training
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Service Animal
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Stair Tread/Textured Tape
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Tactile Dots and Markers
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Talking Bar Code Scanner/Reader
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Talking Cash Register
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Talking Color Detector
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Talking Credit Card Terminal
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Talking Money Identifier
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Telephone Light Sensor
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Telework, Work from Home, Working Remotely
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Worksite Redesign / Modified Workspace
Aide/Assistant/Attendant
A person who performs certain job-related tasks for a person with a disability to help overcome limitations resulting from the disability. Examples include a page turner for a person who has no hands, or a travel attendant to act as a sighted guide to assist a blind employee on work-related travel.
WPAS may include personal care-related assistance such as helping an employee to access the restroom, eat or drink at work, or travel for business purposes.
Braille Labelers
Vendors and Products
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
Computer Braille Display
A computer Braille display operates by raising and lowering different combinations of pins electronically to produce in Braille what appears on your computer screen. The display is refreshable meaning that the configuration of Braille changes continuously as the user moves around on the screen. The Braille display sits on the user's desk, often underneath the computer keyboard. Braille displays provide direct access to information on the computer screen and is quiet.
Vendors and Products
Computer Phone Software
Allows users to make phone calls and hold conversations using the hardware available from their computer.
Vendors and Products
Detectable Warning Surfaces
Tactile warning surfaces that can alert visually impaired pedestrians.
Flexible Schedule
Employees who experience limitations in concentration may need a flexible schedule in order to work optimally during hours of increased attentiveness. Flexible schedules can also be used to have a period of mental rest in order to refocus and reorient into his/her work. Examples of a flexible schedule would be adjusting starting and ending times of the workday, combining regularly scheduled breaks to create one extended break or dividing large breaks into smaller segments, and allowing work to be completed during hours when the employee is most mentally alert.
Headsets - Computer (USB, VOIP etc.)
Many workplaces are now using computer based telephone applications and as a result, computer headsets are needed to perform job tasks. There are a number of computer headset products to investigate, including analog computer headsets, USB headsets and amplifiers, and VoIP computer headsets. Most all of these products offer volume and mute control, and noise canceling technology. Contact the following companies for details regarding the products they offer and for assistance selecting a product that meets the demands of the job and the needs of the employee.
Vendors and Products
High Visibility Floor Tape and Paint
Color can provide important safety cues such as serving as an indicator of change in surface or level, a warning for potential hazards such as open doors or cabinets, and serve as a way to color-code files, documents and other paperwork. These high contrast/ high visibility products can be useful to help with a variety of tasks for someone with low vision.
Vendors and Products
- 2 in. x 54 ft. Adhesive Marking Tape
- 1-7/8 in. x 100 ft. x 0.005 in. Red Seam Guard Underlayment Tape Roll
- 15 oz. High Visibility Yellow 2X Distance Inverted Marking Spray Paint (6-Pack)
- 2 in. x 50 yds. Fluorescent Pink Gaffer Industrial Vinyl Cloth Tape
- 2 in. x 50 yds. Fluorescent Yellow Gaffer Industrial Vinyl Cloth Tape (3-Pack)
Job Restructuring
Job restructuring is a form of reasonable accommodation which enables many qualified individuals with disabilities to perform jobs effectively. Job restructuring as a reasonable accommodation may involve reallocating or redistributing the marginal functions of a job. However, an employer is not required to reallocate essential functions of a job as a reasonable accommodation. Essential functions, by definition, are those that a qualified individual must perform, with or without an accommodation.
An employer may exchange marginal functions of a job that cannot be performed by a person with a disability for marginal job functions performed by one or more other employees.
Although an employer is not required to reallocate essential job functions, it may be a reasonable accommodation to modify the essential functions of a job by changing when or how they are done.
Keyboard Tops and Labels
Stickers for standard keyboards that lay over the keys with tactile markings in braille for vision impaired individuals.
Vendors and Products
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Systems - Scan
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology allows people with a vision impairment to scan printed text and receive a synthetic speech output or save it to a computer. Currently, OCR technology cannot convert handwriting to voice output.Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has three factors: scanning, recognition, and reading text. First a camera scans the printed document. Next, OCR software converts the image into recognizable characters/words. Then the user can store the information in electronic form to a computer or the OCR system itself.
Vendors and Products
Qualified Reader
A reader is someone who can read out loud from hardcopy material or from a computer screen for an employee who is unable to read because of a disability. There are no national standards or accreditation for a reader, but the reader must be qualified to read at the required level. A reader does not interpret the information, but may need specialized knowledge, for example to pronounce technical words correctly so the employee with the disability can understand the information. A reader is often used for testing situations when a job applicant cannot read the test. Because they help with work-related functions, it is typically the employer’s responsibility to hire and pay for readers.
Ridesharing/Carpooling
Cut down on individual travelling and gas money by organizing with co-worers and friends to take a single vehicle to and from work on an efficient route.
Screen Reading Software and Training
Screen Reading Software can be installed on a computer to allow text to be converted into computer synthesized speech. With this software, the computer basically reads aloud the text that appears on the screen. The hardware that provides the actual "voice output" is a speech synthesizer. This can be an internal sound card or an external speech synthesizer device. The screen reading software “tells” the speech synthesizer what to say.
Vendors and Products
Service Animal
Vendors and Products
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
Pet Partners
U.S. Department of Justice Disability Rights Section
Stair Tread/Textured Tape
Non-slip surfaces that can be attached to stairs to prevent slips and falls in cold weather.
Vendors and Products
Tactile Dots and Markers
For individuals with vision impairment, these products help to give information through touch. Some overlays for keyboards can add braille symbols to keys for blind typists. Some special markers use a unique quick-drying ink that can create free-form dots and lines and cn be applied on many different surfaces.
Vendors and Products
Talking Bar Code Scanner/Reader
Commercial bar code readers that can read out products scanned in a synthetic voice to assist low-vision users.
Vendors and Products
Talking Cash Register
Cash registers for commercial businesses that have synthetic voices for vision impaired individuals.
Talking Color Detector
Devices that scan an object and inform the user of the color of the object for vision-impaired individuls.
Vendors and Products
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
Talking Credit Card Terminal
A credit card reader device that speaks with a pre-recorded voice with instructions and confirmation for low-vision customers and employees.
Vendors and Products
Talking Money Identifier
Devices that can scan dollar bills and relate their value to vision impaired individuals so they can keep their money in order.
Vendors and Products
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Telephone Light Sensor
A telephone light sensor can be held over a line to indicate if a line is lit steady or blinking. Line status is signified through audible or vibration.
Vendors and Products
Telework, Work from Home, Working Remotely
Telework, within certain fields, can be an excellent alternative for employees who have conditions that make it difficult for them to leave their home or reliably travel to a place of work. Employers should consider if a job can be made compatible with telework for their employees and communicate their expectations and requirement for the job to be performed out of home. Allowing work from home during worksite or office construction; extremely hot, cold, or inclement weather; or parking renovations could be a reasonable accommodation.
Vendors and Products
Worksite Redesign / Modified Workspace
Redesigning a worksite as an accommodation can include moving a workstation closer to a break room, restroom, office equipment, or employee parking lot; duplicating work materials in a workspace; teleconferencing into meetings; having others report to the employee physically; or communicating in an alternative way (instant messaging, pager, texting, or telephone).
Modifying a workspace for an employee who experiences limitations in concentration can help limit or even eliminate both auditory and visual distractions. These modifications can include relocating employees to private area away from high traffic areas, reducing clutter in the employee’s work environment, redesigning an employee’s workspace to minimize visual distractions, and providing higher cubicle walls and/or cubicle doors.