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Making Those Who Cannot See Look Best: Effects of Visual Resume Formatting on Ratings of Job Applicants With Blindness

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Although general attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are often positive, these perceptions do not always lead to equal footing in the hiring process. This study examined stereotypes of job applicants perceived to be blind and the role of applicant blindness in hireability ratings made by human resource managers. Specifically, we highlighted a unique challenge for individuals who cannot see: the visual formatting of resumes. Human resource managers (N = 249) evaluated the visually formatted or unformatted resumes of hypothetical job applicants who were portrayed as blind or sighted and rated applicant hireability and personality characteristics. Although applicants perceived to be blind were perceived as more conscientious and agreeable by human resource managers, these positive evaluations did not translate into favorable hireability evaluations. Because human resource managers severely penalize applicants who do not attend to visual, nonfunctional resume presentation, applicants who cannot see are apt to find themselves disadvantaged in the hiring process. The implications of these findings for organizations, job seekers, and rehabilitation professionals are discussed.
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Making Those Who Cannot See Look Best: Effects of Visual Resume
Formatting on Ratings of Job Applicants With Blindness
Katie Wang
Rice University
Laura G. Barron
University of Wisconsin, Stout
Michelle R. Hebl
Rice University
Objective: Although general attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are often positive, these
perceptions do not always lead to equal footing in the hiring process. This study examined stereotypes
of job applicants perceived to be blind and the role of applicant blindness in hireability ratings made by
human resource managers. Specifically, we highlighted a unique challenge for individuals who cannot
see: the visual formatting of resumes. Design: Human resource managers (N249) evaluated the
visually formatted or unformatted resumes of hypothetical job applicants who were portrayed as blind or
sighted and rated applicant hireability and personality characteristics. Results: Although applicants
perceived to be blind were perceived as more conscientious and agreeable by human resource managers,
these positive evaluations did not translate into favorable hireability evaluations. Conclusion: Because
human resource managers severely penalize applicants who do not attend to visual, nonfunctional resume
presentation, applicants who cannot see are apt to find themselves disadvantaged in the hiring process.
The implications of these findings for organizations, job seekers, and rehabilitation professionals are
discussed.
Keywords: disability, blindness, bias, discrimination, applicant
Historically, individuals with disabilities always have been an
underrepresented group in the workforce. Although the Americans
With Disabilities Act of 1990 has significantly facilitated the
inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the workplace, the
unemployment rate is still nearly twice as high among individuals
with disabilities than among the general population (Stone &
Colella, 1996). Unfortunately, people with disabilities, especially
those with blindness, have received very little attention in the
workplace literature. The present study, therefore, aimed to con-
tribute to this limited knowledge base by investigating the question
of how individuals with blindness are perceived by prospective
employers and the role that visual presentation of their credentials
plays in initial evaluations of hireability.
How Do Employers Evaluate Persons Perceived
To Be Blind?
Although research that specifically addresses the perceptions of
visually impaired individuals is lacking, the stigmatization litera-
ture has provided substantial evidence regarding attitudes toward
job applicants with other disabilities, suggesting that such percep-
tions are typically ambivalent. On the one hand, empirical evi-
dence consistent with the “norm-to-be-kind” hypothesis supports
the idea that individuals with blindness might receive more posi-
tive hireability evaluations than their sighted counterparts. Defined
as the social pressure to act charitably toward those less fortunate
(Hastorf, Northcraft, & Picciatto, 1979), the norm-to be-kind gov-
erns many aspects of behavior toward people with disabilities. For
example, in the laboratory, nondisabled participants consistently
provide unrealistic positive feedback in response to the below-
average performance of individuals with physical disabilities (Has-
torf et al., 1979; Miller & Werner, 2005). Similarly, hypothetical
job applicants with physical disabilities are rated higher in consci-
entiousness and agreeableness, as well as activity and potency
relative to matched nondisabled applicants (Bell & Klein, 2001;
Louvet, 2007).
On the other hand, further evidence challenges this straightfor-
ward proposition. Managers tend to hold unfounded negative ex-
pectations about the skills of workers with disabilities as well as
their future performance (Jones, 1997; Ren, Paetzold, & Colella,
2008; Stone & Colella, 1996). Hence, although people may praise
individuals with disabilities, such targets are less likely than a
nondisabled target to be chosen as a partner on an assigned task
even after previous task performance between targets with and
without disabilities has been equated (Colella, DeNisi, & Varma,
1998). Similarly, although job applicants with disabilities are rated
more highly than matched nondisabled applicants on many per-
sonal characteristics, applicants with disabilities are rated as less
Katie Wang and Michelle R. Hebl, Department of Psychology, Rice
University; Laura G. Barron, Department of Psychology, University of
Wisconsin, Stout.
Katie Wang is now at the Department of Psychology, Yale University.
Katie Wang and Laura G. Barron contributed equally to this article.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Michelle
R. Hebl, PhD, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, MS 205, Houston, TX
77005. E-mail: hebl@rice.edu
Rehabilitation Psychology
2010, Vol. 55, No. 1, 68–73
© 2010 American Psychological Association
0090-5550/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0018546
68
competent (Louvet, 2007). These ambivalent findings parallel
those found for other stigmatized groups such as women: Although
those in power may readily give praise to members of the disad-
vantaged groups, allocation of valued resources often does not
accompany positive feedback (Biernat & Vescio, 2002; Vescio,
Gervais, Snyder, & Hoover, 2005). One of the strengths of the
current study is that we investigated both ratings of personal
characteristics (praise) and direct ratings of hireability (allocation
of resources).
Differences in Evaluation of Individuals With
Differing Disabilities
Members of stigmatized groups are often targets of prejudice
and discrimination, and reactions toward these individuals can
vary significantly on the basis of the causal attributions and nature
of the stigma in question (Menec & Perry, 1998; Rush, 1998).
Specifically, origin (controllability) and peril have emerged as two
of the most important factors in determining attitudes toward
particular stigmas. On the basis of these dimensions, it is reason-
able to infer that blindness, as a nonthreatening impairment with
perceived uncontrollable onset, might be viewed more favorably
than many other disabilities. Indeed, among the various prejudices
that people seek to suppress under the pressure of social norms,
prejudice toward individuals with blindness is rated as substan-
tially less acceptable than prejudice toward other stigmatized
groups, such as obese or mentally ill targets, and even less accept-
able than prejudice toward typically nonstigmatized groups such as
White people (Crandall, Eshleman, & O’Brien, 2002). Therefore,
perceptions of individuals who are blind may represent a “best
case” for individuals with disabilities.
As such, in this study we investigated whether, even for indi-
viduals with a disability for which there are particularly strong
norms to be kind, positive evaluations can translate into favorable
hiring outcomes. Our first objective was to determine whether
applicants with blindness receive more favorable personality rat-
ings than their sighted counterparts. We focused on the Big Five
personality characteristics for comparability within the personality
literature and because of the documented relationship between the
Big Five traits and performance across jobs (Barrick & Mount,
1991; Hurtz & Donovan, 2000). Our second objective was to
determine whether these favorable personality ratings would trans-
late into enhanced hireability ratings of applicants with blindness
relative to sighted applicants.
Are Visually Appealing Resumes Beneficial
to Applicants?
Although attitudes toward applicants with disabilities generally
can provide a basic foundation from which to infer perceptions
toward applicants with blindness, we also highlight a challenge
that puts those who cannot see at a unique disadvantage: the visual
formatting of resumes.
1
Resume screening is a near universal
initial step in the hiring process, and job applicants’ resumes may
be judged on more than the content (i.e. education, experience,
skills) listed. Research shows that when the content of the resumes
is controlled, applicants with chronological-style resumes receive
higher hireability ratings than those with functional-style resumes,
suggesting that presentation style of resumes does have a signifi-
cant influence on employers’ hiring evaluations (Ryland & Rosen,
1987; Toth, 1993). Building on these results, we investigated
whether the visual formatting of resumes (e.g., font and page
layout aesthetics) can similarly affect employers’ evaluations.
Advancements in assistive technology have enabled blind indi-
viduals to perform most tasks on the computer effectively and
independently using a wide range of screen-reading programs
(e.g., Freedom Scientific’s JAWS, Dolphin’s Supernova, GW Mi-
cro’s Window-Eyes), including some with integrated Braille dis-
plays. Such software programs enable users without sight to access
mainstream computer applications and word processors through
synthetic speech. Despite these advances, many job seekers with
blindness still require some sighted assistance in preparing visually
appealing resumes. Specifically, although most screen readers can
identify the spacing, font, and other formatting elements, individ-
uals who cannot see may need sighted assistance to determine
what is visually attractive because they cannot actually see the
document’s layout. In addition, simple tasks such as visually
checking that all items are aligned and indented properly can
become cumbersome when relying on nonvisual means. Notably,
some job applicants who cannot see might be unaware of the
importance of formatting or reluctant to seek sighted assistance for
fear of appearing helpless. As such, applicants with blindness may,
despite equivalent qualifications, find themselves disadvantaged in
the hiring process to the extent that human resource managers base
their hiring judgments on visual (nonfunctional) resume presenta-
tion.
Method
Participants
To obtain a sample with real-world hiring experience, human
resource managers were recruited via e-mail through the Society of
Human Resource Management, the largest professional association
for human resource managers worldwide. We were able to obtain
contact information online for 353 of 575 local chapters in the
United States, of which 22% agreed to distribute the invitation to
their members, resulting in a total of 249 volunteer participants (55
men, 188 women, six unspecified) with a mean of 14.48 years
(SD 8.38) of working experience in a human resources capacity.
Our sample included human resource managers working in all four
U.S. regions: 14.1% West, 20.0% Midwest, 21.6% Northeast, and
44.3% South. The majority of participants (55.9%) were employed
by private, for-profit organizations, although 24.5% were em-
1
For the purposes of this article, we refer to individuals who are legally
blind. We recognize that visual formatting may also pose related challenges
for individuals with visual impairments who maintain partial sight. How-
ever, the challenges for this group may be somewhat easier to overcome
independently given that individuals with partial sight can rely at least
partially on screen magnification software (e.g., Dolphin’s Supernova
software combines screen magnification with screen reading and Braille
displays) to actually see visual cues such as font and layout aesthetics in
some form when necessary. Hence, although attending to these visual cues
is more cumbersome than for fully sighted individuals, some notion of the
“look” of a font or page layout is still possible for individuals with visual
impairments who are not legally blind.
69
BLINDNESS AND RESUME FORMAT
ployed by government organizations, and 19.6% were employed
by nonprofit organizations. By race, 89.8% of our participants
identified as White, 5.3% Black, 1.6% Hispanic, 1.6% Native
American, 0.4% Asian, and 1.2% other.
Design
The present study featured a 2 (visually formatted vs. unformat-
ted resume) 2 (blind vs. sighted applicant) between-subjects
design, with ratings of applicant hireability and personality char-
acteristics as the dependent variables. The online questionnaire
consisted of four hypothetical resumes (three fillers to prevent
participants from suspecting the true nature of the study and a
target resume from one of the four experimental conditions) and
ratings associated with each resume.
Independent variables. The manipulation of blindness was
conveyed through a slight change of wording across conditions:
The applicant with blindness listed working experience at the
“Division of Blind Services” and membership in the “National
Blind Student Association”; the sighted control reported com-
parable experience working at the “Division of Human Ser-
vices” and membership in the “National Student Association.”
Resume format was manipulated by modifying the spacing and
attractiveness of the fonts; specifically, the visually formatted
version was prepared using 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode font,
with indented and bolded headings, whereas the unformatted
version was composed in plain text using 12-point Times New
Roman font without indentations or other visually formatted
elements (i.e., centering, bullets, alignment). For realism in
creating the resume formatting manipulation, we compared
those visual elements that were found in resume templates
available from multiple university career centers with the re-
sume of a blind college student that was created without sighted
assistance (see Figures 1 and 2).
Dependent variables. To assess human resource managers’
perceptions of applicant personality characteristics, we used the Ten-
Item Personality Inventory (Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003),
which consists of five pairs of adjectives corresponding to the Big
Five personality traits. We used this scale because of its brevity and
ease of understanding. We measured hireability using a three-item,
7-point hireability scale, adapted from Rudman and Glick (2001; ␣⫽
.91): “I would interview this applicant for an entry-level management
position,” “I would consider hiring this applicant for an entry-level
management position,” and “I would personally hire this applicant for
an entry-level management position.”
Procedure
All participants were sent a link to the survey after agreeing to
take part in the study. They were first presented with a cover story
regarding the historical use of convenience samples of undergrad-
uate students as research participants and were told that the study
Figure 1. Visually unformatted resume stimulus materials.
70 WANG, BARRON, AND HEBL
aimed to examine differences in how human resource profession-
als and undergraduate students evaluate the work and academic
experiences of job candidates. Participants were told that they
would be presented with the resumes of four hypothetical gradu-
ating college seniors, and that they would be asked to infer the
personality characteristics of the applicants and evaluate their
suitability for a typical entry-level management position. Partici-
pants then were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental
conditions on the basis of their answers to the following question:
“In which season were you born?” For each resume presented, they
were asked to rate the applicant using the personality and hireabil-
ity scales previously described. In addition, they were asked to
judge the extent of visual formatting on a four-item, 7-point scale
(␣⫽.95; sample item: “This is a well-formatted resume”). Before
submitting the survey, all participants were asked whether they had
noticed that one of the applicants was blind using a checklist of
seven stigmas (i.e., blindness, deafness, gay or lesbian), which
served as a check for the manipulation of blindness. The online
survey did not allow participants to return to previous pages of the
survey to change their earlier responses.
Results
Manipulation Checks
As expected, participants judged the visually formatted resume
to be significantly more visually appealing than the unformatted
resume, t(247) 15.97, p.001. Specifically, the formatted
version of the target resume received a mean rating of 4.29 (SD
1.23) on a Likert scale with 1 very poorly formatted and 7
very well formatted. In contrast, the visually unformatted version
received a mean rating of 1.97 (SD 1.06).
Also as expected, significantly more participants in the blind-
ness condition perceived the applicant to be blind relative to those
in the nonblind condition,
2
(1) 38.52, p.001, and no
Figure 2. Visually formatted resume stimulus materials.
71
BLINDNESS AND RESUME FORMAT
participant in the nonblind condition reported perceiving the ap-
plicant as blind.
Perceptions of Blind Applicants
We began by testing the idea that applicants perceived to be
blind (vs. sighted) would be rated as possessing more favorable
personality characteristics. Indeed, applicants perceived to be blind
were rated as more conscientious, t(148) 2.50, p.01, d
0.41, agreeable, t(148) 2.75, p.01, d0.45, extraverted,
t(148) 2.16, p.05, d0.36, and open to experience, t(148)
2.91, p.01, d0.48, than applicants perceived to be sighted.
However, despite the importance of these personality characteris-
tics for job performance (Barrick & Mount, 1991; Hurtz & Don-
ovan, 2000), there were no significant differences found in the way
that participants evaluated applicants perceived to be blind versus
sighted on hireability ratings, t(151) 1.04, ns.
Effect of Visually Appealing Resumes
We next tested the idea that visually appealing resumes enhance
the employers’ perceptions of job applicants beyond objective
qualifications. Sighted applicants with formatted resumes, relative to
those with unformatted resumes, were judged to be more conscien-
tious, t(114) 3.80, p.001, d0.71, more agreeable, t(114)
2.00, p.05, d0.37, more emotionally stable, t(114) 2.28, p
.05, d0.43, more open to experience, t(114) 2.34, p.05, d
0.44, and more hireable, t(117) 2.43, p.02, d0.45. Notably,
these advantages were not limited to the sighted applicants. Like their
sighted controls, among applicants perceived to be blind, those with
formatted resumes were rated as more conscientious, t(125) 2.03,
p.04, d0.36, more emotionally stable, t(126) 2.78, p.01,
d0.50, more open to experience, t(126) 2.24, p.01, d0.40,
and more hireable, t(127) 3.33, p.001, d0.59. Visual format
did not, however, affect perceived agreeableness, t(126) 1.40, ns.
Discussion
The present study examined employers’ perceptions of job
applicants with blindness in the initial credential evaluation pro-
cess. We contribute to the research literature on individuals with
disabilities by showing that even for those individuals with a
disability for which particularly strong norms to avoid prejudice
exist (Crandall et al., 2002), favorable general attitudes do not
translate into equal opportunity for qualified applicants with blind-
ness in hireability evaluations made by organizational decision
makers.
Consistent with findings on other groups with disabilities (Bell
& Klein, 2001; Louvet, 2007), the personal characteristics of
applicants perceived to be blind were rated more favorably than
matched sighted applicants. Human resource managers rated ap-
plicants perceived to be blind as more agreeable, more conscien-
tious, more extraverted, and more open to experience than sighted
applicants with equivalent qualifications. However, these positive
evaluations were not accompanied by more favorable hireability
ratings. Consistent with past research (Biernat & Vescio, 2002;
Vescio et al., 2005), even hypothetical allocation of valued re-
sources did not accompany positive feedback toward members of
a disadvantaged group.
Rather, applicants with blindness face a unique challenge. Re-
sume screening is a near universal initial step in making hiring
decisions, and our results show that human resource managers
attend significantly to the visual format of resumes rather than
content (qualifications) alone. Despite various assistive technology
tools (e.g., screen-reading software), applicants with blindness still
cannot see the “look” or aesthetics of resume font and layout, and
may require sighted assistance to attend to visual cues. As many
who cannot see may not be aware of the importance placed on
document formatting or may be reluctant to seek help from others
for fear of appearing dependent, even with equal qualifications,
applicants with blindness are apt to find themselves disadvantaged
in the job-seeking process. This news may be unsettling for indi-
viduals with blindness who are trying to navigate much bigger
issues.
From the perspective of employers, these findings suggest the
need for standardized applications that can be screened for objec-
tive qualifications without penalty for visual cues. Online applica-
tion blanks in html can be readily completed with the use of screen
readers, allowing blind applicants equal footing in the initial
screening process. From the perspective of vocational rehabilita-
tion professionals working with individuals with blindness, these
findings suggest that counselors should focus more on conveying
the importance of document formatting and other visual self-
presentation skills to their clients and provide necessary training to
help those who cannot see better understand how they may be
evaluated by sighted individuals. As long as visual formatting
remains a major consideration in the hiring process, career work-
shops that provide sighted assistance and feedback in the specific
formatting elements of resume preparation might be very helpful
for job seekers with blindness.
Although the current study has extended research on job seekers
with disabilities to include applicants with blindness, some ques-
tions remain unanswered. First, we note that our findings likely
reflect a “best case” scenario for applicants with blindness. Al-
though we did employ many measures, including a realistic cover
story and filler resumes to minimize the social desirability bias, our
participants may have responded differently if faced with blind
employees in the particular context of their own organizations.
That is, human resource managers in our study may have reacted
similarly to participants in previous research, which shows that
expressed attitudes are much more favorable than behavioral con-
comitants directed toward individuals with disabilities (see Hastorf
et al., 1979; Kleck, Ono, & Hastorf, 1966).
Future research using resume correspondence testing in field
settings (e.g., Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004) would contribute to
our understanding of how visual impairment affects one’s per-
ceived suitability for employment. Furthermore, previous research
has shown that disability–job fit often moderates hireability out-
comes. We used an entry-level management job to allow for
common familiarity and expertise by our sample, but studies that
assess the perception of individuals with blindness seeking em-
ployment in other professions might be extremely valuable. In
addition, future studies could examine whether the relationship
between visual format cues and hireability is moderated by quality
of applicant credentials. Perhaps most important, empirical re-
search is also needed to better understand the factors that may
72 WANG, BARRON, AND HEBL
contribute to the reluctance of individuals with blindness to seek
sighted assistance as needed during the job-seeking process.
In summary, this research offers a solid starting point in inves-
tigating perceptions toward a largely unstudied group of disabled
applicants. We extend general research on applicants with disabil-
ities by showing that even for those with a disability for which the
strongest norms to be kind exist (Crandall et al., 2002), more
favorable perceptions of personal characteristics do not translate
into equal opportunity for qualified applicants with blindness in
the credential evaluation process. Rather, we show that human
resource managers’ reliance on visual format cues in resume
screening is apt to disadvantage applicants with blindness, which
highlights the need for changes in how employers screen appli-
cants’ qualifications.
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Received June 29, 2009
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... The purpose of this study is to examine the employers' view of the participation of people with disabilities to the Canadian economy, in the wake of social and legislative pressures that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. Studies have shown that employers hold mixed views concerning employees with disabilities (e.g., Wang, Barron, & Hebl, 2010). Some authors even declare that evidence provided thus far concerning the employer's perspective of people with disabilities in the workplace is inconclusive (Colella & Stone, 2005). ...
... For instance, while there is evidence of positive attitudes toward people with disabilities at work (Ren, Paetzold, & Colella, 2008) these positive attitudes are not associated with hiring decisions and evaluations concerning the candidate's true potential Hernandez et al., 2000;Lengnick-Hall et al., 2008). To illustrate, Wang, Barron and Hebl (2010) found that applicants with disabilities were rated significantly more favourably on personality characteristics (e.g., conscientious, agreeable), than their without disabilities counterparts. However, this positive orientation did not translate into a more favourable hireability rating for the candidate with disabilities. ...
... Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in Oxford Handbooks Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy). Subscriber: OUP-Reference Gratis Access; date: 05 September 2015 presentation (e.g., aesthetics) disadvantages visually impaired applicants (Wang, Barron, & Hebl, 2010). Rehabilitation providers have recommended nonthreatening methods to overcome negative employer attitudes, such as videotapes that introduce employers to the concept of employing the visually impaired (Crudden, Sansing, & Butler, 2005). ...
... Such fairness perceptions can cause those with a disability to respond negatively (e.g., reporting less workplace loyalty) (Schur, Kruse, Blasi, & Blanck, 2009). Finally, the norm of kindness perspective (Hastorf, Northcraft, & Picciotto, 1979) explains how employers provide positive personality ratings but do not hire the visually impaired (Wang et al., 2010). Further research is needed that considers the range of visual impairments (Crudden & McBroom, 1999) and that draws from different models of disability (Brown, Hamner, Foley, & Woodring, 2009). ...
Chapter
This chapter examines workplace discrimination faced by persons with (dis)abilities. It begins by discussing usage, meaning, and effects of the word "disability" and the related term "persons with disabilities." It then considers the diversity of conditions and experiences among persons with (dis) abilities by reviewing extant research on people with five common disabling conditions (i.e., mobility, seeing, hearing, chronic illness, and psychiatric conditions). It also examines the importance of national context by taking a closer look at research on the experiences of people with (dis)abilities in five nations (i.e., United States, Canada, Germany, India, and China). By separately highlighting extant research on a few common conditions and nations, the chapter's intent is to show the need for more research on specific conditions in specific work and national contexts, as well as the need for research integrating and summarizing these focused studies.
... Quant à la bienveillance déplacée, plus les répondants adhèrent à ces attitudes, plus ils évaluent la candidature de la personne ayant une incapacité motrice comme chaleureuse. Tel que l'ont dé-montré d'autres études, les dimensions du PO font en sorte que la personne ayant des incapacités est perçue comme sympathique, mais incompétente; souhaitable, mais inutile (Louvet, 2007;Louvet et al., 2009;Miceli, Harvey, & Buckley, 2001;Wang, Barron, & Hebl, 2010). ...
... Job seeking: A positive attitude and persistence are integral traits to attain employment success, considering the barriers associated with accessing the labor market [40,50]. Lack of prior work experience [23,25,49,50], lack of proactiveness in a job application [32,40], and a visually unappealing resume are some of the challenges during application [51]. From the system perspective, variation in the available job choice, employment legislation across countries and regions [23,40], and employer hiring behavior are significant hindrances that are often overlooked [21,26,27,36,37,45,52]. ...
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Background: The high rate of unemployment among individuals with vision impairment remains a pressing issue, even with the implementation of disability laws and coordinated effort to foster inclusive workplace. Employment integration challenges persist for people with vision impairment due to inaccessible job markets and workplaces. Objective: To create new knowledge from previous studies related to employment among people with vision impairment and to understand what has been explored and identify the gaps in employment integration. Method: A comprehensive search of six databases was conducted utilizing both index terms and keywords. The title and abstract of identified studies were screened, followed by a full-text screening using pre-set criteria. Only available peer-reviewed studies with a focus on employment and vision impairment were included, irrespective of location and publication year. Result: Of 2264 studies screened, only 43 studies were eligible for review and data extraction. Using thematic analysis, 8 key themes emerged: social support, disability rights and service systems, transition strategies and challenges, career, employment integration, employment environment, adaptive potential, and employment sustainability. These studies considered the perspectives of people living with vision impairment, rehabilitation practice, and employers. Identified gaps include transition strategies, workplace participation, the perception of colleagues, and work evolution. Conclusion: The primary focus of studies was on the individual factors that impact workplace integration; work environment impact was not explored in depth. The need to examine the readiness of the work environment is also importance because environmental factors can be modified according to the functional needs of people with vision impairment.
... The ubiquitous use of computing applications in professional settings coupled with the advancement of assistive technologies have significantly improved the employment prospects for people with visual disabilities [4,42]. Many such employment opportunities require expertise in desktop productivity tools such as the Office suite [7]. ...
... With Microsoft Word as a representative productivity tool, given its importance and high popularity [2,35], we asked the participants to do the following tasks, which were similar to the ones in the preliminary study: ...
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Many people with low vision rely on screen-magnifier assistive technology to interact with productivity applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software. Despite the importance of these applications, little is known about their usability with respect to low-vision screen-magnifier users. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a usability study with 10 low-vision participants having different eye conditions. In this study, we observed that most usability issues were predominantly due to high spatial separation between main edit area and command ribbons on the screen, as well as the wide span grid-layout of command ribbons; these two GUI aspects did not gel with the screen-magnifier interface due to lack of instantaneous WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feedback after applying commands, given that the participants could only view a portion of the screen at any time. Informed by the study findings, we developed MagPro, an augmentation to productivity applications, which significantly improves usability by not only bringing application commands as close as possible to the user's current viewport focus, but also enabling easy and straightforward exploration of these commands using simple mouse actions. A user study with nine participants revealed that MagPro significantly reduced the time and workload to do routine command-access tasks, compared to using the state-of-the-art screen magnifier.
... In this regard, we selected word processing applications as the vehicle for our investigation, as they exemplify the typical GUIs of computer applications that consist of a main work area with several auxiliary commands and features spatially distributed around this work area. Furthermore, the word processing applications are commonly used in everyday lives of blind users, and proficiency with the applications has been recognized as an important skill for the employment of blind individuals [4], [5]. ...
Conference Paper
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Visual 'point-and-click' interaction artifacts such as mouse and touchpad are tangible input modalities, which are essential for sighted users to conveniently interact with computer applications. In contrast, blind users are unable to leverage these visual input modalities and are thus limited while interacting with computers using a sequentially narrating screen-reader assistive technology that is coupled to keyboards. As a consequence, blind users generally require significantly more time and effort to do even simple application tasks (e.g., applying a style to text in a word processor) using only keyboard, compared to their sighted peers who can effortlessly accomplish the same tasks using a point-and-click mouse. This paper explores the idea of repurposing visual input modalities for non-visual interaction so that blind users too can draw the benefits of simple and efficient access from these modalities. Specifically, with word processing applications as the representative case study, we designed and developed NVMouse as a concrete manifestation of this repurposing idea, in which the spatially distributed word-processor controls are mapped to a virtual hierarchical 'Feature Menu' that is easily traversable non-visually using simple scroll and click input actions. Furthermore, NVMouse enhances the efficiency of accessing frequently-used application commands by leveraging a data-driven prediction model that can determine what commands the user will most likely access next, given the current 'local' screen-reader context in the document. A user study with 14 blind participants comparing keyboard-based screen readers with NVMouse, showed that the latter significantly reduced both the task-completion times and user effort (i.e., number of user actions) for different word-processing activities.
... While speech assistants are known to significantly improve usability for blind users, they have to be custom-designed for each application. Proficiency with word processing applications has been recognized as an important skill for employment of blind individuals [8,22]. Despite the importance of these applications and in contrast to the large body of work on the accessibility of the Web and mobile devices as noted above, there is a dearth of studies on usability of desktop applications, in particular the Office suite [1,17]. ...
Chapter
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Most computer applications manifest visually rich and dense graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that are primarily tailored for an easy-and-efficient sighted interaction using a combination of two default input modalities, namely the keyboard and the mouse/touchpad. However, blind screen-reader users predominantly rely only on keyboard, and therefore struggle to interact with these applications, since it is both arduous and tedious to perform the visual ‘point-and-click’ tasks such as accessing the various application commands/features using just keyboard shortcuts supported by screen readers.
... It does not depend on Mean or HbA1c levels (in Type 1 Diabetes present high variety) like other measures (SD) and at the same time it is highly correlated with the risk of hypoglycemic events [3,9,11]. The disadvantage of % CV is that it cannot be visually displayed [3,12]. ...
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An experiment assessed the impact of disability–job fit stereotypes and reward interdependence on personnel judgments about persons with disabilities. Students (N = 87) evaluated 3 confederates. The experiment varied disability of the target confederate (dyslexia vs. nondisabled), task, and dependence of rater rewards on partner performance. Two disability–task combinations represented stereotypical poor fit and good fit. Dependent variables were performance evaluations, performance expectations, and ranking of target as a partner. There was negative bias against the confederate with dyslexia in poor-fit conditions. In the interdependent reward condition, there was a negative main effect for disability, regardless of fit. No effects for disability were found on performance ratings or expectations. Results indicate the need to consider disability–job fit stereotypes and consequences to raters when assessing the impact of disability on personnel judgments.
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A model of factors thought to affect the treatment of disabled individuals in organizations is presented. Specifically, the model suggests that person characteristics (e.g., attributes of the disabled person, attributes of the observer), environmental factors (i.e., legislation), and organizational characteristics (e.g., norms, values, policies, the nature of jobs, reward systems) combine to affect the way disabled individuals are treated in organizations. Furthermore, the model indicates that the relationships just noted are mediated by observers' cognitions (i.e., categorization, stereotyping, expectancies) and affective states. Finally, the model predicts that the disabled person's responses feed back to modify observers' expectancies and organizational characteristics. Implications for conducting research on disability issues and facilitating the inclusion of disabled individuals in organizational settings are discussed.
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A model of factors thought to affect the treatment of disabled individuals in organizations is presented. Specifically, the model suggests that person characteristics (e.g., attributes of the disabled person, attributes of the observer), environmental factors (i.e., legislation), and organizational characteristics (e.g., norms, values, policies, the nature of jobs, reward systems) combine to affect the way disabled individuals are treated in organizations. Furthermore, the model indicates that the relationships just noted are mediated by observers' cognitions (i.e., categorization, stereotyping, expectancies) and affective states. Finally, the model predicts that the disabled person's responses feed back to modify observers' expectancies and organizational characteristics. Implications for conducting research on disability issues and facilitating the inclusion of disabled individuals in organizational settings are discussed. Disabled individuals often experience numerous problems in their attempts to gain and maintain employment. For example, a recent U.S. Census Bureau report indicates that only 34.6% of working age persons with disabilities are employed, compared to 79.8% of those without disabilities (U.S. Bureau of Census, 1993). In addition, individuals with disabilities have been primarily employed in part-time, low-status jobs that offer little chance for advancement (Braddock & Bachelder, 1994). Furthermore, the income level of working people with disabilities is often up to 35% less than their nondisabled counterparts (Bowe, 1992). These employment problems suggest that many disabled individuals do not have the opportunity to experience a satisfying career or achieve their full potential in organizational settings. Moreover, it has become increasingly evident that employers have not fully utilized the valuable talents and skills that people with disabilities bring to the workforce (cf. Braddock & Bachelder, 1994).
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The implications of the shifting standards model for understanding behavior toward stereotyped groups were examined in two studies on gender and athleticism. Participants played the role of co-ed softball team managers, who made team selections, position assignments, and judgments about a series of male and female players. The data supported three hypotheses: (a) Stereotypes of male superiority as athletes lead to the use of shifting standards to judge athletic performance; (b) zero-sum behaviors (allocation of limited resources) show evidence of pro-male bias, whereas non-zero-sum behaviors (verbal and nonverbal reactions) show evidence of pro-female bias; and (c) objective judgments are somewhat better predictors of zero-sum behaviors, whereas subjective judgments are better predictors of non-zerosum behaviors.
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In two studies, the attribution-affect-help judgment model proposed by B. Weiner (1995) was tested in the context of stigmas. A sample of Canadian college students read brief scenarios of 9 stigmas, such as cancer, blindness, and AIDS, each ascribed to either a controllable (e.g., behavioral problem) or an uncontrollable (e.g., genetic defect) factor. The participants rated the controllability of each stigma, their anger, their pity, and their willingness to assist the affected person. Structural equation modeling generally supported Weiner's model: Higher controllability was linked to greater anger and less pity; greater pity, in turn, was predictive of greater willingness to help. Those effects were found across all 9 stigmas. In both studies, however, anger did not predict help judgments for the majority of the stigmas.
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Objective: To examine the effects of applicant disability, gender, and job level on ratings of job applicants. Design and Participants: Full-time workers (n = 88) and undergraduates (n = 98) provided ratings of hypothetical job applicants who differed on the 3 factors of interest. Measures: Job applicants were evaluated on the basis of competence, overall recommendation, potency, activity, and starting salary. Results: Applicants with disabilities were generally rated significantly higher in activity and potency than the applicant without a disability. Additional analyses revealed a significant Gender X Job Level interaction for applicants with a disability. Conclusions: Consistent with D. T. Wegener and R. E. Petty's (1997) flexible correction model, the results of this study suggest that evaluations of job applicants with disabilities may depend on the amount of cognitive resources raters have available at the time the evaluations are made.
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This study investigated the relation of the "Big Five" personality di- mensions (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Consci- entiousness, and Openness to Experience) to three job performance criteria (job proficiency, training proficiency, and personnel data) for five occupational groups (professionals, police, managers, sales, and skilled/semi-skilled). Results indicated that one dimension of person- ality. Conscientiousness, showed consistent relations with all job per- formance criteria for all occupational groups. For the remaining per- sonality dimensions, the estimated true score correlations varied by occupational group and criterion type. Extraversion was a valid pre- dictor for two occupations involving social interaction, managers and sales (across criterion types). Also, both Openness to Experience and Extraversion were valid predictors of the training proficiency criterion (across occupations). Other personality dimensions were also found to be valid predictors for some occupations and some criterion types, but the magnitude of the estimated true score correlations was small (p < .10). Overall, the results illustrate the benefits of using the 5- factor model of personality to accumulate and communicate empirical findings. The findings have numerous implications for research and practice in personnel psychology, especially in the subfields of person- nel selection, training and development, and performance appraisal.
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In an attempt to demonstrate that handicapped individuals tend to receive inaccurate feedback, a situation was created in which able-bodied subjects were asked to administer performance feedback to a confederate, presented either as handicapped or able-bodied. The confederate's performance followed a predetermined script intended to be perceived as a below-average performance. Analysis of the data showed that feedback to the able-bodied confederate was significantly different from that administered to handicapped confederates. An internal analysis of the data revealed that the difference in feedback was not because subjects expected the handicapped confederate to perform less well than the able-bodied. It was concluded that the "norm-to-be-kind" hypothesis was supported by the data.