Why Accessibility Belongs at the Heart of Talent Strategy

Imagine what’s possible when your entire work team can contribute their best work, pursue a career they love, and live to their full potential. Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) recognizes and celebrates accessibility as a crucial component in organizational success that shows up through the contributions of people with disabilities in the workplace.

When non-apparent barriers limit who can apply, contribute, develop, or advance, businesses risk missing out on valuable talent and perspectives. Building accessibility directly into the employee experience can unlock business advantages. It allows organizations to expand access to talent, strengthen engagement and retention, and create better experiences for everyone.

That makes DEAM more than a moment for awareness. It’s an opportunity to turn awareness into action—and to consider accessibility as an essential part of a strong, future-ready talent strategy.

Building a workplace where people with disabilities can thrive requires moving from commitment to impact. At Salesforce, accessibility is part of the employee experience from start to finish. Employees have access to tools, opportunities, and leadership throughout the employee lifecycle—including the recruiting process—in order to attract and retain top talent.

Prioritizing accessibility from the start can help organizations reach a broader talent pool, remove barriers that can affect productivity and engagement, and offer an employee experience where more people are equipped to succeed. Employees benefit when businesses build inclusive ways of working that accommodates various needs and work styles.

For example, before someone joins your company, impact looks like allowing candidates to apply for open positions using assistive technology, request accommodations for interviews, and gain access to the tools and training they need during onboarding. Each of these touchpoints can influence whether talented candidates are able to enter and grow with an organization.

Once they are fully in their role, accessibility continues to be a central part of the employee experience, and managers play a critical role in cultivating that environment. Removing everyday barriers can help employees spend less time navigating unnecessary friction and more time contributing their skills, ideas, and expertise. Effective leadership can show up by: 

• Leading a meeting: Turn on captions, share meeting agendas ahead of time, and offer different ways to participate.
• Creating a document or presentation: Use clear headings, meaningful link text, readable formatting, assistive technology (AT) compatible interfaces, and alt text for important visuals.
• Managing a team: Ask what helps people work effectively as a team ritual. Learn how your organization handles workplace adjustments before someone needs one. Look for barriers across development, advancement, and hiring.
• Collaborating with others: Listen. Stay curious. Seek clarity. When you spot unnecessary friction, look for ways to make the experience better.

Intentional choices like these can add up to meaningful change. Together, accessible processes, equitable opportunities, and effective support create an environment where more people can do their best work. That’s the opportunity DEAM can help bring into focus: accessibility isn’t separate from how businesses attract talent, develop people, and perform. It’s part of building a workforce—and a business—ready for what comes next.

For global organizations, accessibility and the employee experience will take different forms across different parts of the world.

Employees experience work within distinct cultures, communities, legal environments, and regional contexts. A shared global ambition becomes more meaningful when local teams hold space for relevant conversations, community-building, and action. For businesses, that balance matters: a global approach can establish a consistent commitment to accessibility, while local insight helps organizations understand and address the barriers that may affect their people in different markets.

Listening to lived experiences is essential. Personal stories can challenge assumptions, build empathy, and reveal barriers that processes or policies alone may not surface. They can also give organizations valuable insight into where the employee experience is working—and where unnecessary friction may be preventing people from contributing at their full potential.

Turning those insights into change is a shared responsibility. When that collective responsibility is shared across the business, accessibility becomes more than an individual accommodation or initiative. It’s an integral part of how an organization attracts talent, develops people, strengthens teams, and creates an environment where more employees can succeed.

DEAM puts disability employment in the spotlight each October—and gives us momentum we can carry forward throughout the year. For organizations, it’s also an opportunity to consider whether accessibility is part of the everyday practices and experiences that shape how people work, grow, and contribute.

So here’s the challenge: choose one action you can take this week to create a more accessible workplace.

Make your next meeting more accessible, and ask your team if/how it helped them. Try and adopt one new accessibility practice. Ask a better question, then share what you understood. Make space or learn a process before someone needs it.

Every action moves us closer to workplaces where more people can contribute, grow, lead, and thrive. And when more people have the opportunity to do their best work, businesses are better positioned to benefit from the talent, ideas, and perspectives of their entire workforce.

That’s the promise of moving from commitment to impact: creating greater opportunity for people while building stronger, more accessible workplaces—and ultimately, stronger businesses.