Publisher Spotlight: Visualise Training and Consultancy - Expert-led eLearning courses for your LMS
It is entirely possible that some of your customers and/or colleagues may be struggling to cope with their hearing, sight loss or disability without your knowledge. They may even conceal their challenges which can lead to reduced accessibility and interaction, needless frustration and unnecessary anxiety.
By raising awareness of these issues, businesses can hopefully foster a more inclusive and empathetic workplace culture. Not only can this boost employee morale and teamwork, but it can also drive improved customer service, enhancing the company's reputation and customer loyalty. And, importantly, it ensures compliance with legal obligations related to disability accommodations, reducing the risk of costly legal issues. That all seems sensible, well and good, but delivering a well-informed, sensitive and consistent approach may seem challenging.
To this end, and to help businesses understand these issues and to take positive steps to support customers and colleagues in this situation, it can be extremely useful to engage an expert viewpoint. Visualise Training and Consultancy’s mission is to improve accessibility, inclusion and equality for people with all forms of disability, so we asked the company’s founder, Dan Williams, about their approach:
Course-Source: What challenges do businesses typically face when seeking to improve access to their services for people with sensory loss and other disabilities? What can go wrong or be especially difficult to achieve?
Dan: As hidden disabilities, hearing and sight loss often goes unnoticed, so it’s important for staff to be ‘hearing loss and visual impairment aware’. Our eLearning courses focus on identifying the signs and enabling staff to confidently offer and deliver support when required. The courses are intended for all staff, at any level, so that employers can develop an inclusive and supportive approach that is consistent throughout the workplace.
Course-Source: You’ve created a series of awareness courses around hearing loss, sight loss and disability awareness. What’s your specific motivation for this, and how have you incorporated your personal experiences (or the experiences of your contributors) into the courses?
Dan: My motivation stems from being diagnosed with sight loss (retinitis pigmentosa) in childhood and the challenges it poses. By simply being aware of the difficulties people face, you can make a huge difference to someone’s experience as a customer or colleague. Our course contributors all have lived experience of disability, so learners get first-hand knowledge of the barriers and associated solutions that exist.
Course-Source: How do you approach the design of a course to ensure that you stimulate understanding and empathy (as well as keeping the learner engaged throughout). And considering the subject matter, to what extent are your courses, themselves, “accessible”?
Dan: Our courses are designed to be thought-provoking and to build empathy and understanding through real-life scenarios and case studies. We focus on helping each learner to appreciate the perspective of people impacted by a disability, and to consider how both the working environment and interactions with colleagues and customers can be improved. Accessibility is a key element, so we include subtitles and audio when required.
Course-Source: How can training best be used as part of a “mix” of considerations and activities for a more disability-inclusive work environment? What does “success” look like in this context?
Dan: Awareness training is an essential ingredient when it comes to staff training and development. Feedback from learners includes the feel-good factor associated with assisting people along with increases in communication skills, confidence and self-esteem. At an organisational level, a disability-confident staff team leads to personal recommendations and a happy and increased customer base. Success for me is when everyone in society has their accessibility needs met which, in turn, develops inclusion and equality for all.
The expert-led eLearning courses from Visualise are available from Course Source. The range includes:
Disability Confidence and Awareness
Visual Impairment Awareness for All
Each course takes approximately 90 minutes to complete, and flexible license options are available. Please contact us for a quote to meet your exact requirements and to preview the courses on your LMS.