Every October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) celebrates the contributions of workers with disabilities and promotes inclusive employment practices. The 2025 observance marks NDEAM’s 80th anniversary. In recognition of this milestone, we’re highlighting how digital accessibility can make hiring and onboarding more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Inclusive hiring starts with accessible design. At the State of Minnesota, we believe that every step of the employment journey—from job search to onboarding—should be barrier-free. Digital accessibility is more than just a compliance checkbox; it’s a proactive commitment to equity, transparency, and opportunity.

The digital hiring journey: Where accessibility matters

Minnesota state government has a framework of laws and executive orders to ensure that its workforce reflects the state’s population, which includes people with disabilities. As a result, state agencies have worked to review, refresh, and update every aspect of the hiring process.

Let’s walk through the typical hiring process and highlight where digital accessibility plays a critical role:

1. Job search & listings
   • Are job boards and state employment websites screen reader-friendly?
   • Are videos captioned and narrated?
   • Is plain language used to describe roles and expectations?
2. Application process
   • Can applicants navigate forms using only a keyboard?
   • Is security provided through less intrusive (and more accessible) means than CAPTCHAs?
   • Are instructions clear and inclusive of neurodiverse users?
3. Interview scheduling & virtual interviews
   • Are scheduling tools accessible to screen readers and assistive tech?
   • Are virtual platforms (Zoom, Teams) configured with captions or interpreters?
   • Is there a clear process for requesting accommodations?
4. Onboarding & training
   • Are onboarding documents provided in accessible formats?
   • Are training videos captioned and narrated?
   • Are digital tools used in orientation compatible with assistive technologies?

How MNIT leads by example

According to Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) Director of Equal Opportunity, Diversity, and Inclusion Sarah Herder Lewis, MNIT has implemented several best practices to ensure inclusion in hiring:

• Structured interviewing: Hiring supervisors are trained to align interview questions and scoring criteria with the job posting. All materials are reviewed by staffing representatives to ensure fairness and consistency.
• Connect 700 program: This initiative allows candidates with qualifying disabilities to demonstrate their abilities during a pre-probationary period—removing barriers posed by traditional interviews.
• American with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordination: MNIT’s ADA coordinator works directly with candidates who request accommodations, ensuring equal access throughout the hiring process.

Advice for other organizations

Sarah offers this guidance: “Bring together a diverse group of people—including individuals with disabilities—to walk through every step of your hiring process. Consider where unconscious bias might creep in and take steps to mitigate it. At MNIT, the time we invested in building inclusive procedures has paid off. We attract the most qualified candidates from the broadest pool, and we’re stronger because of it.”

MNIT’s Human Resources Director, Chad Thuet, offers this advice: “Intentionally include at least two other individuals in the interview and selection process who not only understand the organization, team, or role—but who also bring different lived experiences and perspectives than your own. Seek out colleagues with varied backgrounds, geographies, demographics, and socio-economic histories. These differences help ensure that candidates are assessed through multiple lenses, reducing the risk of unconscious bias and broadening the definition of what ‘qualified’ looks like. Inclusion in hiring starts with who’s at the table making the decisions.”

Proactive inclusion starts with communication

Tell applicants that ADA accommodations are available and share who to contact. Build accessibility into every step of hiring—from job postings and applications to interviews and onboarding.

Inclusive hiring and onboarding open doors for people with disabilities and strengthen our teams, our services, and our communities. Accessibility is everyone’s responsibility—and when we lead with inclusion, everyone benefits.