In recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month
There Is No Such Thing as a “Blind Job” (and no such thing as a “Sighted” one, either)
What is NDEAM?
Every October, the United States marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), a national campaign dedicated to getting employers, schools, and communities thinking, talking, and acting on disability employment. It celebrates what workers with disabilities contribute to the economy, and it keeps a spotlight on the barriers that still stand in their way.
This year’s theme is Celebrating Value and Talent.
The Employment Problem
Blind Americans are not short on talent. They are attorneys, analysts, teachers, programmers, engineers, and managers. Yet many of them, nearly 70% of blind Americans, are unemployed or underemployed.
Part of the problem is that when we think about a job, we often think about the way it is performed rather than what needs to be done. You check the grammar on a document by scanning for errors with your eyes. You monitor a dashboard by looking at a screen. Those functions can be accomplished in other ways though. A blind person can review a document with a screen reader, navigate and enter information into a spreadsheet with a keyboard, and track the same metrics and hit the same KPIs.
Corporate America is built around assumptions on how things must be done. We train people to perform tasks the same way, and that leaves little room for imagining how the same result might be achieved differently.
When these assumptions rear their heads in hiring processes, they can prevent qualified blind individuals from getting the job.
One of the easiest places to challenge these assumptions is in job descriptions.
Too often, job descriptions describe how the last person happened to do the job instead of the essential functions of the job. A role gets labeled a “sighted job” before anyone has the chance to prove otherwise.
The Americans with Disabilities Act knows this, as it protects a “qualified individual,” meaning someone who can perform the essential functions of a position, with or without reasonable accommodation. The law asks employers to separate the purpose of a task from the method used to accomplish it. The purpose is essential. The method is almost always negotiable.
When you write a job description, instead of focusing on how a task is performed, look at the job functions in your description and focus on the goal. What does the job actually require someone to accomplish? Once you identify that, describe the function rather than the method.
Here are some common examples:
- Instead of: “Must visually review documents.” Try: “Reviews documents for accuracy and compliance.”
- Instead of: “Must be able to watch dashboards.” Try: “Tracks key metrics and flags anything out of range.”
- Instead of: “Must have a valid driver’s license.” Try: “Able to travel reliably to client sites.”
Notice how each of these rewrites doesn’t lower the bar. They just make the overall objective clearer. The same logic can be applied to any workplace process or accommodation. Job descriptions are just the gateway into a more inclusive and accessible workplace.
How BISM Recognizes NDEAM
At BISM, NDEAM isn’t a once-a-year event. Employment is the center of our mission, and we celebrate it every month by giving blind and low vision jobseekers the skills they need to succeed in today’s market.
Our Workforce Development programs walk participants from assessment to employment. The Work Readiness Assessment Program (WRAP) evaluates readiness and proficiency, laying the foundation for personalized coaching. Pathways to Employment builds the skills, confidence, and strategies to navigate the job market, and our Job Readiness Seminars give jobseekers a place to practice. Students explore their career goals and take concrete steps toward them, from attending networking events to building an airtight resume to preparing for interviews. For younger jobseekers, our Gold STAR program connects teens with employer partners, and BISM’s internship program offers a way in.
We also employ directly. BISM’s manufacturing operations and Base Supply Centers put the “function over method” argument into practice every day, across locations in Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C.
The workplace was always meant to be about what a person can contribute. That promise is still worth working toward.
What You Can Do Today
Audit what you have. Pull up your open postings and read the requirements line by line. Circle every phrase that describes how instead of what: “must be able to see,” “reads,” “visually inspects,” “must be able to stand for long periods.” Each one is a question worth asking.
Separate the function from the method. For each circled phrase, ask: what is this actually for? Then write that. If the answer is “to make sure the numbers are right,” that is your new sentence.
Imagine it done differently. When you catch yourself thinking a task needs sight, ask how else the result could be reached. If you can’t answer, that is a reason to learn, not a reason to rule someone out.
Ask, don’t assume. When a candidate discloses a disability, or when you aren’t sure how a task could be done, start a conversation. “How would you approach this?” is a better interview question than a guess made on their behalf.
Build it into your process. The most lasting changes come from adding a checkpoint. Implement a review of essential functions every time a role is opened or rewritten, rather than retrofitting after a hire.
Learn the vocabulary. “Essential functions,” “reasonable accommodation,” and “undue hardship” don’t require a law degree to understand. ODEP and the Job Accommodation Network offer plain-language guidance for employers at every level.
