We are in the home stretch of welcoming in 2016. As the few hours wane down for 2015, Accessibility Partners wants to take a look back at what a wonderful year it was, and how we can move forward with positive resolutions for the coming New Year. Luckily, we can do both at the same time.

In 2015, we were honored to receive the Best in Business award from the Ruderman Family Foundation. With some incredible other recipients, we publicly demonstrated our commitment to maintaining a workforce that proudly features a majority of people with disabilities. With over 85% of our staff having one or more major disability, the award was a wonderful recognition, but truly, employment of people with disabilities is in our mission and a corporate value. It is its own reward.

Accessibility Partners enjoys its staff. Having people with disabilities makes good business sense on the literal level, because we are indeed an accessibility technology consulting company. We need people with disabilities to tell our clients how to make their products more accessible for the greater population of people with disabilities. But on an internal level, we truly enjoy the diversity, loyalty, cost-effectiveness, and knowledge from having a staff of experts with disabilities aboard.

Therefore, our resolution for 2016 is to not be quiet about our staff. We’ve done a few presentations and webinars promoting helpful accommodations and the positives of hiring people with disabilities. Our goal for this coming year is to be more public and vocal. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turned 25 this year, and their momentum inspired us to be advocates both during business hours and off the clock. If there’s ever a time we see a negative stereotype or attitudinal barrier, we will teach our staff how to address and best handle the situation with positive knowledge and teaching.

Join us in making 2016 the most inclusive year yet! Happy New Year to you and yours from Accessibility Partners.