Purpose: This paper examines the prevalence of long COVID across different demographic groups in the U.S. and the extent to which workers with impairments associated with long COVID have engaged in pandemic-related remote work. Methods: We use the U.S. Household Pulse Survey to evaluate the proportion of all adults who self-reported to (1) have had long COVID, and (2) have activity limitations due to long COVID. We also use data from the U.S. Current Population Survey to estimate linear probability regressions for the likelihood of pandemic-related remote work among workers with and without disabilities. Results: Findings indicate that women, Hispanic people, sexual and gender minorities, individuals without four-year college degrees, and people with preexisting disabilities are more likely to have long COVID and to have activity limitations from long COVID. Remote work is a reasonable arrangement for people with such activity limitations and may be an unintentional accommodation for some people who have undisclosed disabilities. However, this study shows that people with disabilities were less likely than people without disabilities to perform pandemic-related remote work. Conclusion: The data suggest this disparity persists because people with disabilities are clustered in jobs that are not amenable to remote work. Employers need to consider other accommodations, especially shorter workdays and flexible scheduling, to hire and retain employees who are struggling with the impacts of long COVID.
Background State-Federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) services are available for eligible individuals with disabilities (IWD) who are interested in pursuing, obtaining, and maintaining gainful employment. Despite availability of VR services, employment outcomes of IWD compared to those without disabilities continue to be limited. Objective To examine effects of receipt of VR services on the employment outcomes of individuals with cognitive impairments (CI) compared to people with other impairments (i.e., physical and sensory impairments) while accounting for individual characteristics and patterns of VR service use. Methods Secondary data analysis using Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) 911 data covering cases in 2019. Hypothesized covariates and predictors of employment outcomes were divided into four groups: demographic variables, environmental/social variables, disability related variables, and receipt of VR services. The target outcome variables from the RSA 911 database were competitive integrated employment (CIE) employment outcome, hourly wage at case closure, and hours worked in a week at case closure. A hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed using CIE as the criterion. Results Findings suggest that (a) the group including CI individuals was at a disadvantage in terms of CIE outcomes; (b) from the logistic regression, gender, education level, significance of disability, and receipt of some VR services were significantly associated with CIE outcomes (yes/no); and (c) when we examined the percentages of individuals receiving VR services, higher percentages of individuals with CI received varieties of VR services, but less assistive technology services. Conclusions Individuals with disabilities continue to experience disparate employment outcomes. The receipt of varieties of VR services facilitates IWDs to successfully obtain CIE. Receipt of VR services alone may not be the only factor that supports IWD in obtaining successful CIE. A critical investigation of the quality and type of these VR services, difference by impairment, and the economic impact of societal/environmental trends is warranted.
Oleksandr Kuznetsov, Michele Melchiori, Emanuele Frontoni
et al.
Employment inclusion of people with disabilities remains critically low in Italy, with only 3.5% employed nationally despite mandatory hiring quotas. Traditional manual matching processes require 30-60 minutes per candidate, creating bottlenecks that limit service capacity. Our goal is to develop and validate a production-ready machine learning system for disability employment matching that integrates social responsibility requirements while maintaining human oversight in decision-making. We employed participatory requirements engineering with Centro per l'Impiego di Villafranca di Verona professionals. The system implements a seven-model ensemble with parallel hyperparameter optimization using Optuna. Multi-dimensional scoring combines semantic compatibility, geographic distance, and employment readiness assessment. The system achieves 90.1% F1-score and sub-100ms response times while processing 500,000 candidate-company combinations in under 10 minutes. Expert validation confirms 60-100% capacity increases for employment centers. The LightGBM ensemble shows optimal performance with 94.6-second training time. Thus, advanced AI systems can successfully integrate social responsibility requirements without compromising technical performance. The participatory design methodology provides a replicable framework for developing ethical AI applications in sensitive social domains. The complete system, including source code, documentation, and deployment guides, is openly available to facilitate replication and adaptation by other regions and countries facing similar challenges.
Irene L. Y. Beck, Belle C. Hopmans, Bram Haanen
et al.
Robotic rehabilitation can deliver high-dose gait therapy and improve motor function after a stroke. However, for many devices, high costs and lengthy setup times limit clinical adoption. Thus, we designed, built, and evaluated the Passive Mechanical Add-on for Treadmill Exercise (P-MATE), a low-cost passive end-effector add-on for treadmills that couples the movement of the paretic and non-paretic legs via a reciprocating system of elastic cables and pulleys. Two human-device mechanical interfaces were designed to attach the elastic cables to the user. The P-MATE and two interface prototypes were tested with a physical therapist and eight unimpaired participants. Biomechanical data, including kinematics and interaction forces, were collected alongside standardized questionnaires to assess usability and user experience. Both interfaces were quick and easy to attach, though user experience differed, highlighting the need for personalization. We also identified areas for future improvement, including pretension adjustments, tendon derailing prevention, and understanding long-term impacts on user gait. Our preliminary findings underline the potential of the P-MATE to provide effective, accessible, and sustainable stroke gait rehabilitation.
Kexin Zhang, Edward Glenn Scott Spencer, Abijith Manikandan
et al.
Avatar is a critical medium for identity representation in social virtual reality (VR). However, options for disability expression are highly limited on current avatar interfaces. Improperly designed disability features may even perpetuate misconceptions about people with disabilities (PWD). As more PWD use social VR, there is an emerging need for comprehensive design standards that guide developers and designers to create inclusive avatars. Our work aim to advance the avatar design practices by delivering a set of centralized, comprehensive, and validated design guidelines that are easy to adopt, disseminate, and update. Through a systematic literature review and interview with 60 participants with various disabilities, we derived 20 initial design guidelines that cover diverse disability expression methods through five aspects, including avatar appearance, body dynamics, assistive technology design, peripherals around avatars, and customization control. We further evaluated the guidelines via a heuristic evaluation study with 10 VR practitioners, validating the guideline coverage, applicability, and actionability. Our evaluation resulted in a final set of 17 design guidelines with recommendation levels.
Thayssa Rocha, Luciano Teran, Marcelle Mota
et al.
The increasing adoption of remote and hybrid work modalities in the technology sector has brought new opportunities and challenges for the inclusion of people with disabilities (PWD) in software development teams (SDT). This study investigates how remote work affects PWDs' experience in mixed-ability SDT, focusing on the unique challenges and strategies that emerge in remote environments. We conducted an online survey with \totalSurveyResponses valid responses, encompassing PWD, their leaders, and teammates, to capture sociotechnical aspects of their experiences with remote collaboration. To deepen our understanding, we carried out 14 structured interviews with software developers who self-identified as having disabilities (six autistic individuals, six with physical disabilities, and two who are d/Deaf). Our analysis combines quantitative data with qualitative coding of open-ended survey responses and interview transcripts. The results reveal that, despite the barriers faced by team members with disabilities, their teammates and leaders have a limited perception of the daily challenges involved in sustaining collaborative remote work. These findings highlight opportunities for improvement in accessibility tools, communication strategies, and adaptive management approaches.
Sanika Moharana, Cynthia L. Bennett, Erin Buehler
et al.
The rapid emergence of generative AI has changed the way that technology is designed, constructed, maintained, and evaluated. Decisions made when creating AI-powered systems may impact some users disproportionately, such as people with disabilities. In this paper, we report on an interview study with 25 AI practitioners across multiple roles (engineering, research, UX, and responsible AI) about how their work processes and artifacts may impact end users with disabilities. We found that practitioners experienced friction when triaging problems at the intersection of responsible AI and accessibility practices, navigated contradictions between accessibility and responsible AI guidelines, identified gaps in data about users with disabilities, and gathered support for addressing the needs of disabled stakeholders by leveraging informal volunteer and community groups within their company. Based on these findings, we offer suggestions for new resources and process changes to better support people with disabilities as end users of AI.
The article is devoted to the issues of vocational education and employment of persons with disabilities in Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan. The relevance of the study is determined by the features of the modern labor market, which is characterized by a shortage of personnel, and the need to attract labor reserves to the labor market. The article analyzes statistical data on the number of disabled people of working age, the number of disabled students enrolled in secondary and higher vocational education programs, the employment rate of disabled people, and the results of vocational training through employment services. The article examines the factors that influence professional rehabilitation, such as the availability of secondary and higher vocational education, the availability of special training facilities, and the demand for certain professions in the labor market. Special attention is paid to the role of education in ensuring financial independence and increasing the competitiveness of disabled people in the labor market. The importance of state regulation and support in creating conditions for high-quality training and integration of disabled people into the labor market is emphasized. The key task of the state is to provide disabled people with maximum opportunities to find employment in jobs that match their education and pay a decent salary. The state employment service plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. The article presents the experience of the Republic of Bashkortostan in providing vocational education and further employment opportunities for people with disabilities who have applied to the employment service for job search. It was concluded that only comprehensive and systematic work in this area can bring visible results, namely, an increase in the level of professional education and employment for people with disabilities.
Lauren Avellone, Rachael Rounds, Peter Temple
et al.
Background Individuals with disabilities are still legally allowed to be paid below the U.S. federal minimum wage through the use of 14(c) certificates. This practice overwhelmingly impacts individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and very few ever transition from subminimum wage work to competitive integrated employment. Efforts to reduce and eliminate subminimum wage practices continue at the state and federal levels to differing degrees of success. Objective The purpose of the article is to review the current state of 14(c) subminimum wage practices in the United States and identify steps to helping agencies providing subminimum wage work transform to fully integrated service models. Methods An interview panel of representatives from agencies that successfully transitioned from 14(c) certificates to competitive integrated services share insight into what is necessary to transition away from subminimum wage practices. Results The interview panel identifies important topics related to transformation efforts including how to address safety concerns, transportation barriers, and the decision to change. Conclusion Implications for how to successfully eliminate 14(c) certificates and help agencies transform into competitive integrated employment service models are discussed.
Background People with disabilities are underemployed. This improved recently. Under federal law, employers with 14(c) certificates can pay people with disabilities far below minimum wage, typically in segregated settings (sheltered workshops). Almost everyone in 14(c) employment has an intellectual/developmental disability. Some states have eliminated sheltered workshops, but phase-out is controversial. Objective To examine pre- and post-pandemic trends in employment rates and subminimum wage prevalence among people with disabilities, especially cognitive disabilities, differences among states, and what national and state-by-state data reveal about associations between employment rate and subminimum wage. Method I analyzed 2010–2023 U.S. Census American Community Survey data on employment rate by presence of disability and presence of cognitive disability, 2010–2024 Department of Labor (DOL) data on subminimum wage certificates in Community Rehabilitation Programs (CRPs), and 2015–2024 DOL data on number of CRP workers paid subminimum wage. I assessed trends in employment and subminimum wage prevalence graphically. With linear regressions, I assessed state-by-state patterns in employment of people with cognitive disabilities and subminimum wage prevalence. Results Disability employment gap narrowed long-term, especially post-pandemic—moreso for people with cognitive disabilities. Long-term, every state's employment gap for people with cognitive disabilities narrowed while 14(c) enrollment decreased. States with higher subminimum wage prevalence showed much larger drops in such prevalence, but the association between employment rate and subminimum wage prevalence was modest. Conclusion Employment improvements parallel nationwide initiatives. Research informing public policy and hiring and retention practices should take advantage of the further post-pandemic improvement, and marketing investments should promote these practices.
BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence that employment, or the lack thereof, affects an individual’s health. Consequently, employment provides people with physical disabilities (PWPD) with financial independence, enhances their well-being and self-worth, and facilitates a sense of purpose. People with physical disabilities often retain job skills and motivation to return to work after acquiring a disability. Their vocational rehabilitation and job accommodation needs likely differ from people with disabilities resulting from developmental, sensory, cognitive, and mental health conditions. To better target the needs of PWPD and improve vocational rehabilitation services, it is crucial to identify the modifiable factors that influence their employment outcomes. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to examine systematically the client-, employer-, and context-related facilitators and barriers to employment experienced by PWPD. METHODS: We recruited to this cross-sectional study, PWPD from the Midwestern United States who returned to work after injury or illness. An online survey collected data on demographic characteristics and educational history; disability and functional status; supports, facilitators and barriers to employment; and job information and accommodations. RESULTS: 347 working-age PWPD completed the survey; at the time of survey completion, 270 were working and 77 were not. People with physical disabilities who reported social support and encouragement at work were more likely to be working than respondents who did not. Negative attitudes of supervisors and colleagues, inaccessible work environments, and inflexible work schedules were barriers to employment. Important reasons for working included financial needs, a sense of purpose, and self-worth. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide insights into the importance of social supports in the work environment. Novel approaches are needed to develop supportive relationships with supervisors and coworkers.
Silvia Ramis Guarinos, Cristina Manresa Yee, Jose Maria Buades Rubio
et al.
Facial expression recognition plays an important role in human behaviour, communication, and interaction. Recent neural networks have demonstrated to perform well at its automatic recognition, with different explainability techniques available to make them more transparent. In this work, we propose a facial expression recognition study for people with intellectual disabilities that would be integrated into a social robot. We train two well-known neural networks with five databases of facial expressions and test them with two databases containing people with and without intellectual disabilities. Finally, we study in which regions the models focus to perceive a particular expression using two different explainability techniques: LIME and RISE, assessing the differences when used on images containing disabled and non-disabled people.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of internet access across various aspects of life, from remote work and online education to healthcare services and social connections. As we transition to a post-pandemic era, a pressing need arises to update our understanding of the multifaceted nature of internet access. This study is one of the first attempts to do so. Using survey data from New Zealand adult internet users (n=960), it compares internet connection types, frequency of internet use at home, social media use, and concerns about online risk between people with and without disabilities. Results show people with disabilities have restricted fibre access and higher wireless broadband (a much slower connection type). People with disabilities use social media platforms less and are more concerned about certain online risks. The findings highlight persistent disparities in internet access for people with disabilities in the post-pandemic era. Implications of the study are discussed.
Timo Brogle, Andrej Vladimirovic Ermoshkin, Konstantin Vakhutinskiy
et al.
Disabled people experience many barriers in daily life, but non-disabled people rarely pause to reflect and engage in joint action to advocate for access. In this demo, we explore the potential of Virtual Reality (VR) to sensitize non-disabled people to barriers in the built environment. We contribute a VR simulation of a major traffic hub in Karlsruhe, Germany, and we employ visual embellishments and animations to showcase barriers and potential removal strategies. Through our work, we seek to engage users in conversation on what kind of environment is accessible to whom, and what equitable participation in society requires. Additionally, we aim to expand the understanding of how VR technology can promote reflection through interactive exploration.
With the increasing adoption of social virtual reality (VR), it is critical to design inclusive avatars. While researchers have investigated how and why blind and d/Deaf people wish to disclose their disabilities in VR, little is known about the preferences of many others with invisible disabilities (e.g., ADHD, dyslexia, chronic conditions). We filled this gap by interviewing 15 participants, each with one to three invisible disabilities, who represented 22 different invisible disabilities in total. We found that invisibly disabled people approached avatar-based disclosure through contextualized considerations informed by their prior experiences. For example, some wished to use VR's embodied affordances, such as facial expressions and body language, to dynamically represent their energy level or willingness to engage with others, while others preferred not to disclose their disability identity in any context. We define a binary framework for embodied invisible disability expression (public and private) and discuss three disclosure patterns (Activists, Non-Disclosers, and Situational Disclosers) to inform the design of future inclusive VR experiences.
Beatrice Lee, Veronica Y Estala-Gutierrez, E. Umucu
Hispanics represented 18.1% of the United States population in 2017. Several factors, such as language and cultural barriers, lack of access to preventative care, and limited health resources, can impact health among Hispanics (U.S. Department of Human and Health Services Office of Minority Health, 2019). Although employment is central to physical and psychological health and well-being, unemployment rates among people with disabilities still remain lower compared to the general population (Chan et al., 2016; O’Neill et al., 2017). Regarding the unemployment rate among people with disabilities across various racial/ethnic groups, Hispanics had an unemployment rate of 8.6% compared to Blacks (11.8%), Asians (6.7%), and Whites (6.6%) in 2019 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). Hispanics with disabilities may face challenges in employment and VR associated with their dual-minority status. This scoping review addresses this population to gain a deeper insight into Hispanics with disabilities’ VR experiences to guide vocational rehabilitation practitioners in improving outreach efforts and enhancing VR service provision and quality, to better serve the Hispanic disability community.
Data has transformative potential to empower people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). However, conventional data visualizations often rely on complex cognitive processes, and existing approaches for day-to-day analysis scenarios fail to consider neurodivergent capabilities, creating barriers for people with IDD to access data and leading to even further marginalization. We argue that visualizations could be an equalizer for people with IDD to participate in data-driven conversations. Drawing on preliminary research findings and our experiences working with people with IDD and their data, we introduce and expand on the concept of cognitively accessible visualizations, unpack its meaning and roles in increasing IDD individuals' access to data, and discuss two immediate research objectives. Specifically, we argue that cognitively accessible visualizations should support people with IDD in personal data storytelling for effective self-advocacy and self-expression, and balance novelty and familiarity in data design to accommodate cognitive diversity and promote inclusivity.
Janey Alex, Jason Stillerman, Noah Fritzhand
et al.
Collective behavior of people in large groups and emergent crowd dynamics can have dangerous and disastrous results when panic is introduced. These events can be caused by emergency situations such as fires in a large building or a stampeding effect when people are rushing in a densely packed area. In this paper, we will use an agent-based modeling approach to simulate different evacuation events in an attempt to understand what is the most efficient scenario. Specifically, we will focus on how people with disabilities are impacted by chosen parameters during an emergency evacuation. We chose an ABM to simulate this because we want to specify specific roles for different "agents" in our model. Specifically, we will focus on the influence of people with disabilities on crowd dynamics and the optimal exits. Does the placement of seating for people with disabilities affect the time it takes for the last person to exit the building? What effect does poor signage have on the time it takes for able-bodied and people with disabilities to exit safely? What happens if some people do not know about alternative exits in their panicked state? Using our agent-based model, we will investigate these questions while also adjusting other outside effects such as the density of the crowd, the speed at which people exit, and the location of people at the start of the simulation.
Takashi Kanetsuna, Kazuaki Takeuchi, Hiroaki Kato
et al.
Telework "avatar work," in which people with disabilities can engage in physical work such as customer service, is being implemented in society. In order to enable avatar work in a variety of occupations, we propose a mobile sales system using a mobile frozen drink machine and an avatar robot "OriHime", focusing on mobile customer service like peddling. The effect of the peddling by the system on the customers are examined based on the results of video annotation.
Nadine Vigouroux, Frédéric Vella, Gaëlle Lepage
et al.
This paper presents a comparative usability study on tactile and vocal interaction modes for home automation control of equipment at home for different profiles of disabled people. The study is related to the HIP HOPE project concerning the construction of 19 inclusive housing in the Toulouse metropolitan area in France. The experimentation took place in a living lab with 7 different disabled people who realize realistic use cases. The USE and UEQ questionnaires were selected as usability tools. The first results show that both interfaces are easy to learn but that usefulness and ease of use dimensions need to be improved. This study shows that there is real need for multimodality between touch and voice interaction to control the smart home. This study also shows that there is need to adapt the interface and the environment to the person's disability.