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the helen hamlyn research centre: design for our future selves the royal college of art: postgraduate art and design

DBA Inclusive Design Challenge 2006

www.workable.org.uk / Felton Communication

A central online resource for disabled people looking or training for employment backed by a national integrated communications campaign that will empower and inform all parties.

Background

Equal access to employment is a key issue for many disabled people and a determinant of their quality of life. Official statistics reveal a depressing reality that is a moral and economic scandal. Disabled people are at least five times more likely to be unemployed. In the UK, only 49.6% of those of working age are in work with over three million in the UK economically inactive. Of this latter number, one million say they would like to work. Numerous existing websites attempt to address this problem but they are either disability or location specific or simply serve as a link to mainstream recruitment sites. None match employers' needs with disabled job seekers' abilities but focus instead on disability.

How Does it Work?

The website www.workable.org.uk will be a central resource combining the best specific advice and information on employment and training opportunities for all disabled people from existing UK independent and government organizations. This pan-disability site would therefore be a more accessible and effective way for disabled people to search and achieve desirable employment.

The site would act as a portal providing links to all relevant existing sites. The key feature of workable.org.uk is a totally confidential job matching system based on job seekers' abilities.

The site would also:

  • List all UK training courses and sort by location and profession
  • Provide advice to employers including latest legislation updates
  • Provide a forum for debate on related issues
  • Act as a notice board for job opportunities available
  • Answer FAQs
  • List Employer league tables

In order for such a resource to be effective, the target audience has to know of its existence. To this end Felton Communication propose developing a national integrated communications campaign for both print and broadcast media. The campaign is based on the ‘dis-abled but work-able’ concept and would be both impactful and empowering. The benefit of such a communications strategy is that it highlights the plight of disabled people to the able-bodied population, particularly potential employers or work colleagues.

This fully integrated campaign will focus on disabled people's ordinary rather than any extraordinary ‘heroic’ abilities, would shift negative perceptions and dispel myths and encourage take-up by employers not just to tick the statutory employment box but because it can result in a better workforce. As Roger Felton explained: “We realised that targeting the one million disabled job seekers was irrelevant if we couldn't change the hearts and minds of the employers. So our efforts to promote the site focused on them.”

User Input

Potential employers, recruitment specialists and people with disabilities of varying ages who are in employment or currently unemployed.

Judge’s Comments

An important campaign that directly addresses the serious issue of the under employment of disabled people - the one million disabled people in the UK who are not working, would like to but can't get a job. The judges felt that it would change hearts and minds, overcome resistance among employers and motivate many to think again about an issue that has impact on so many.