Death to Disclosure in 2026: Universal Accessibility is Key to Success for Modern Business (Part 1)
We call it accessibility, but most of us are still putting the labour and risk on individuals while core systems stay the same (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025). The better default—reflected in current standards and legal analysis—is to build accessibility into how work is organized, like policies, tools, roles, and time (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025; De Falco, 2025). This approach improves real outcomes, reduces risk, and aligns with where regulation is heading in Canada and abroad (Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba, 2025; De Falco, 2025).
Why prioritize accessibility in 2026?
When employees feel their accessibility needs are met, there is less discrepancy in job satisfaction and organizational commitment for workers experiencing disability versus workers who are not (Emidy et al., 2024). Canadian standards are pushing toward visible plans, accountable owners, and timely responses because relying on individuals (versus baked-in systems) has produced uneven experiences and weak follow-through (Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba, 2025). Legal analysis in the EU context also argues that accessibility must extend from buildings and websites to the organization of work and systems used in hiring and evaluation (De Falco, 2025). Put plainly, system-first accessibility is both a performance choice and a compliance alignment move for modern workplaces (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025).
Why isn’t disclosure-based accessibility working?
Disclosure-first approaches push risk and administration onto individuals, delay obvious fixes, and leave many people silent, opting out, and even quitting their job when routes are unclear (Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba, 2025; Statistics Canada, 2025). Large-scale evidence shows the biggest shifts in motivation come from whether accessibility needs are met in practice, not from representation (Emidy et al., 2024). Qualitative studies describe how unclear roles and informal co-ordination circles create drop-offs even when services exist on paper (Roodbeen et al., 2025). In return-to-work contexts, visible coordination and three-party planning translate intent into the actual workload and schedule changes people need to sustain work, which reduces relapses or exit decisions (Lork et al., 2024).
Is modern accessibility performative?
A paragraph at the end of a job ad or buried policy shifts effort and risk to the individual without removing common barriers in the environment, tools, processes, and systems at large (Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba, 2025). National data show barriers remain widespread on the job—especially lighting and sound, communication, transportation, and technology—and many people hesitate to speak up when the path is unclear or feels risky (Statistics Canada, 2025). Representation without real accessibility doesn’t change day-to-day experiences; the difference shows up when accessibility needs are actually met in practice (Emidy et al., 2024).
What is accessibility, really?
Genuine accessibility means the default conditions of work allow most people to do the job without extra hurdles (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025). In practice, it shows up in five places: environment with light and sound that do not create unnecessary load, tools and documents with accessible features enabled and materials readable by default, time and rhythms with protected time to complete necessary tasks, roles and coordination with visible ownership so requests don’t leak between teams, and hiring/HR tech/AI layer with accessible, bias-checked systems before decisions are made (Statistics Canada, 2025; Zervas & Stiakakis, 2025; Roodbeen et al., 2025; De Falco, 2025). Canada’s revised Employment Standard encodes this system view by requiring organizations to publish an accessibility plan with goals, assign owners, resource the work, report annually, and refresh on a schedule (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025).
What are the benefits of real accessibility?
People. Meeting accessibility needs is linked to higher satisfaction, stronger commitment, and greater involvement for employees experiencing disability; supportive supervisors plus clear job design further lift day-to-day experience (Emidy et al., 2024; Hersugondo et al., 2025).
Performance. HR practices that reduce the intra-organizational digital divide—equal access to tools, time to practice, and confidence-building—improve digital performance and inclusion during technology rollouts (Zervas & Stiakakis, 2025).
Compliance and risk. The national standard moves from statements to accountable delivery—published plans, named owners, budgets, and regular reporting—while EU legal analysis frames employment-related AI as high-risk and calls for accessibility and bias governance by design (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025; De Falco, 2025). Provincial reviews echo the need for visible processes, manager capability, timely responses, and less paperwork burden for employees (Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba, 2025).
How is accessibility different than accommodation?
Accommodations are tailored adjustments for specific cases and remain essential, but strong baseline accessibility reduces the number and complexity of those cases because many common barriers are removed up front, and it improves the experience of remaining cases by making the path visible and timely; this aligns with prevention logic in current standards and with outcome evidence showing that “needs met” is what predicts better experience (Accessibility Standards Canada, 2025; Emidy et al., 2024).
Up next in the accessibility series:
Article 2 — How managers make it real.
Article 3 — Micro-audit and benchmarks for leaders.
References
Accessibility Advisory Council of Manitoba. (2025, January 17). Five-year review of the Accessible Employment Standard Regulation: Report for the Minister Responsible for Accessibility. Manitoba Accessibility Office. https://accessibilitymb.ca/resources/em-standard/review/2025/employment-review-report-2025.pdf
Accessibility Standards Canada. (2025, June 23). CAN/ASC-1.1:2024 (REV-2025) – Employment Standard (Summary page). https://accessible.canada.ca/creating-accessibility-standards/canasc-112024-employment
Accessibility Standards Canada. (2025, May 29). Accessibility Standards Canada publishes revised standard on accessible employment [News release]. CAN/ASC-1.1:2024 (REV-2025) – Employment. (Date modified: 2025-06-10). https://accessible.canada.ca/news/accessibility-standards-canada-publishes-revised-standard-accessible-employment
De Falco, M. (2025). The accessibility of workplaces: New challenges for equal opportunities in the AI era. Italian Labour Law e-Journal, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/21368
Emidy, M. B., Lewis, G. B., & Pizarro-Bore, X. (2024). U.S. Federal employees with disabilities: How perceptions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility affect differences in job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement. Public Personnel Management, 53(4), 649–679. https://doi.org/10.1177/00910260241253577
Lork, K., Danielsson, L., Larsson, M. E. H., & Holmgren, K. (2024). Experiences of rehabilitation coordination among people on sick leave with mental health problems. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 42(4), 560–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2024.2361242
Roodbeen, R. T. J., Bruinsma, J., Rozema, A. D., Crutzen, R., & Stutterheim, S. E. (2025). Accessibility, clarity, and organizational opportunities to enhance interprofessional collaboration in alcohol interventions: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 25, 1384. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-13552-5
Statistics Canada. (2025, February 10). Accessibility barriers related to employment among persons with disabilities or long-term conditions, 2024. (Date modified: 2025-02-18). Survey Series on Accessibility – Experiences with Accessibility and Employment (SSA-EAE). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250210/dq250210c-eng.htm
Zervas, I., & Stiakakis, E. (2025). HRM strategies for bridging the digital divide: Enhancing digital skills, employee performance, and inclusion in evolving workplaces. Administrative Sciences, 15(7), 267. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci15070267
