DEI & A and Student Work Placements

Being an inclusive and accessible organisation

Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI & A) in the workplace is essential to creating an environment where all individuals feel safe, valued, and included. When organisations adopt a culture that celebrates all team members and encourages equal opportunities, employees are empowered to reach their highest potential. This not only enhances individual performance, it also drives innovation and collaboration within the organisation. A strong commitment to DEI & A helps build a workplace where everyone can thrive and contribute their unique perspectives, lived experiences and talents.  

At Dolphin, we are proud to promote and provide DEI & A in our workforce. As an assistive technology company and a Disability Confident Employer we are aware of the unique problem-solving abilities and resourcefulness that a diverse range of individuals from all walks of life can bring.  

The Colleges Dolphin works with

Every year we work with New College Worcester (NCW) and Royal National College for the Blind (RNC), which is based in Hereford, to provide valuable work experience and workplace opportunities for students and graduates with vision impairments.  

These colleges help create a positive community for the students and allow them to gain qualifications and life skills by providing opportunities for the students. By empowering the individuals and promoting inclusion these colleges are important for students with visual impairments. 

RNC is the UK’s leading specialist residential college of further education for people with visual impairment.  If you would like to learn more about RNC and its careers and work placement  student opportunities, please visit www.rnc.ac.uk

NCW is a national residential school and college for young people aged 11 to 19 who are blind or vision impaired. To set up a supported internship with students from this college, we recommend you visit www.ncw.co.uk  for information.  

Recent student work placements

This summer, we were delighted to be joined by Zak Myers and Sam Smith from RNC, who chose to do their work experience at the Dolphin HQ.

In their time with the Marketing Team, they wrote blogs about accessibility, created a list of awareness days, reviewed our website for accessibility and shared informative comments on ways they and their classmates use screen readers in their education and personal lives.   

The students also worked with our Testing Team to help refine our accessibility products, providing valuable insights into how they use assistive technology products to complete college assignments.  

“I have done accessibility testing in the past and I can be fairly quick as it is a topic I am very fond of doing.”

Zak Myers 

Both Zak and Sam were a pleasure to work with and we're happy that they had a true working experience in a variety of areas. Additionally, at Dolphin, we learnt a lot from Zak and Sam, and we're grateful for their professionalism and valuable contribution to team discussions.

“As an Inclusive Worcestershire Leader, it is our ongoing mission to be a fully inclusive employer, in particular for people with sight loss.  

We are committed to the Disability Confident Scheme which promotes providing inclusive work experience, internships and apprenticeships as an important way for students to gain insight into the working world. ”

Rachel Willetts, Chief Operating Officer at Dolphin

Working with Zak and Sam enabled the teams in Dolphin to access the range of talents and unique insights these young people brought to the workplace. It also gave Dolphin employees a valuable opportunity to supervise and mentor young people, which helps to further develop leadership skills.

Building an Inclusive Recruitment Process  

If your organisation wants to build an inclusive recruitment process, the following information can help you get started: 

Establish precise role expectations 

• Ensure role requirements are detailed, specific, and behaviour-oriented.  

• Remove biased language from job listings.  

• Avoid requiring cultural fit and making diversity statements mandatory.  

Create detailed job descriptions 

• Offer flexible work options as a standard.  

• List fixed salaries in job advertisements.  

• Clearly state the available benefits and policies.  

Engage with underrepresented communities 

• Post job ads in places where marginalized groups will see them.  

Develop an inclusive experience for candidates 

• Communicate clear expectations, timelines, and updates to candidates.  

• Proactively ask candidates if they need any reasonable adjustments.  

Minimise bias in the screening process 

• Implement measures to minimize bias in the screening process.  

• Avoid using social media to evaluate candidates.  

Facilitate accessible interviews and assessments 

• Make interview scheduling straightforward, accessible, and flexible.  

• Use structured interviews and conduct skill-based assessments.  

Assess candidates equitably 

• Utilize calibrated decision-making processes for hiring.  

• Do not require diverse interview panels.  

Provide post-offer follow-up 

• Collect and share feedback from all candidates.  

• Proactively offer reasonable adjustments to new hires.  

• Encourage unsuccessful candidates to reapply.  

Visit https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/diversity-factsheet/ for more information.

 Other Dolphin Blogs for more information on accessible recruitment 

DEI: Keys to hiring the best talent Part 1  

DEI: Keys to hiring the best talent Part 2  

DEI: Accessibility in the Workplace