Most jobseekers think online job applications should be more accessible and inclusive

Nearly seven out of ten jobseekers (69%) think that employers and recruiters should make online job applications more accessible for disabled people, according to the results of a new survey by Recite Me and VERCIDA.

The survey of 112 jobseekers was run in collaboration between web accessibility company Recite Me and online diversity and inclusion recruitment platform VERCIDA in March 2018.

The results also show that just one in three jobseekers (33%) think that employers and recruiters currently do a good job of making online job applications accessible for disabled people.

These findings echo those of the 2017 RIDI candidate survey of 200 jobseekers with disabilities conducted by The Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) in partnership with VERCIDA.

The findings from that survey include:

• 75% of the disabled jobseekers surveyed find their condition has an impact on their job search
• 54% find hurdles at multiple stages of the recruitment process
• 28% find online assessments challenging

The disability employment gap (the difference between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people) is more than 30%.

However, many more disabled people face barriers that stop them from entering the workplace, including inaccessible online job applications.

The new survey run by Recite Me and VERCIDA also shows that only 26% of jobseekers think that employers and recruiters do a good job of making online job applications inclusive for people who don’t speak English as their first language.

And nearly half of jobseekers (47%) think employers and recruiters should do more to make online job applications inclusive for people who don’t speak English as their first language.

Employers and recruiters can learn how to make the digital and online parts of the recruitment process more accessible for disabled jobseekers thanks to a recently launched guide, produced in collaboration between Recite Me and Guidant Group.

The guide to digital inclusion for recruiters is available on the Recite Me website: http://bit.ly/2BUag8h

Ross Linnett, Recite Me Founder and CEO said:

“Online application forms and skills assessments are now standard parts of the recruitment process.

“But the results of this survey show that jobseekers think employers and recruiters must do more to make online applications more accessible and inclusive. 

“This backs-up the findings of other research that shows disabled jobseekers often find barriers in the recruitment process.

“Clearly, we need to help recruiters and employers to make the recruitment journey more accessible and inclusive by doing things like creating The guide to digital inclusion for recruiters.