Risk Free Assessment
Before we launched our workforce readiness programs at Ablr, I immersed myself in everything I could find about disability employment. Around 2019, one piece of research stuck with me. Gartner projected that the number of people with disabilities employed would triple by 2023 due to AI and emerging technologies.
That was a bold claim, and I believed it!
Did I understand how AI was going to make that happen? Not at all!
At the time, my experience with AI was mostly through the Microsoft Seeing AI App on my phone – which I used to read menus at restaurants or occasionally entertain friends by having it describe their expressions (and yes, the age guesses always got the biggest laughs!) But I was curious, and I wanted to understand how this technology could create real opportunities in the workplace.
I even experimented with applying for it in the LCI headquarters in Durham, where my office sits. Every day, as I walked to my office, I would pass the entrance into the manufacturing floor, where over 100 people who were blind or visually impaired worked diligently in a variety of roles. This got me thinking, and I wondered if AI could support tasks like medical kitting, where they assembled first aid and emergency kits. With help from the Seeing AI team, I trained a custom model by taking dozens of photos of each product that went into the different kits, from different angles.
I didn’t fully understand what I was doing at the time, and looking back, I wish I had leaned in more to learn. But the bigger realization came from the people actually doing the work (I never ask them how their experience was!) They told me the tool slowed them down. Their hands were faster, more reliable, and more efficient. And I totally could understand them!
So, we scrapped the idea.
A few years later, I had my first real experience with ChatGPT, and everything changed!
All of a sudden, it felt like I had another team member, whose only job was to collaborate with me! Someone I could brainstorm with, test ideas, and explore possibilities alongside! It brought me back to that original Gartner prediction. While we hadn’t seen employment triple by 2023, we had seen progress, especially with the rise of remote work opening doors for many people with disabilities.
This time, my focus shifted.
Instead of asking how AI could help individuals complete tasks, I started asking how it could help employers remove barriers.
That led to a collaboration with Julia Lang at Tulane University, who helped to build a disability inclusion-focused AI model based on our “Putting Untapped Talent to Work” training. The goal was simple – help hiring managers, recruiters, and HR professionals better support candidates with disabilities, and making interviews and hiring processes more accessible and inclusive.
But we never marketed it.
If I’m being honest, I think I let ego get in the way. At the time, the AI conversation was dominated by flashy tools and builders creating cutting-edge products. What we built didn’t feel as exciting. It didn’t feel like we were moving the needle enough.
So we kept it quiet.
Then something shifted.
I started seeing more and more people using generative AI, not just for fun, but in their day-to-day work. People on my own team began using it regularly. The outputs looked polished, and the grammar was perfect.
But something was missing. That’s because the content often didn’t actually solve the problem, or provide insight into what we actually needed to know.
That’s when it clicked: most people didn’t know how to use these tools effectively! Prompting, critical thinking, iteration – these weren’t intuitive skills. They had to be learned.
And if that gap existed for the general workforce, it was even wider for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Because the reality is that most AI tools are not designed with screen reader users in mind (like most digital content!). And most AI training programs don’t account for the unique experience of navigating these tools without pointing and clicking with a mouse – and that’s a problem!
It became clear that gaining essential AI skills for the workplace isn’t optional anymore, but rather it’s foundational, just like using Word or Excel.
But as we looked around, we didn’t see any training programs built specifically for our community. So we decided to build one!
What started as a small internal project last summer, working with interns to explore AI literacy, quickly revealed how much we didn’t know. That led us to connect with the NC State Data Science and AI Academy, and from there, something much bigger took shape!
Today I’m excited to share that Ablr and NC State have partnered to launch a first-of-its-kind Essential AI Skills for the Workplace training, designed specifically for individuals who are blind or visually impaired!
This isn’t just about learning AI, but rather it’s about using it to:
- Navigate the job search with confidence
- Perform more effectively in the workplace
- Stay organized and independent in daily life
Our first cohort of job seekers, made up of participants in different stages of our workforce readiness program, will begin this 8-week course on April 20.
Do I believe that this single program will triple employment for people with disabilities?
No, but it’s a start!
Because the real risk isn’t that AI will replace people, but it’s that entire communities, especially those already facing barriers, will be left behind if they aren’t equipped to use it.
At Ablr, we’re committed to making sure that doesn’t happen! Because access to opportunity shouldn’t depend on whether the tools of the future were built with you in mind. And ensuring our community has these essential skills is one way we make sure we’re not left behind! Learn more about NC State and Ablr Partner on Accessible AI Workforce Training. Want to learn more, or join the waiting list for our next Cohort? Then send us an email to Works@Ablr360.com!