IT business firm develops workspace for PWDs

MANILA, Philippines — Multinational information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) giant Accenture has launched a space or work suite for their employees who are persons with disabilities (PWDs), using the latest accessibility technologies to maximize potential and productivity.

Accenture Philippines launched last month their “Suite of Accessibility Solutions” at Robinsons Cybergate Plaza in Mandaluyong City, the first ever workspace for PWD employees that carries the latest assistive technologies and equipment.

Lito Tayag, country managing director of Accenture, said the development of the suite was an approach at leveraging technology to help their employees with disabilities realize their potential and attain higher productivity.

“ As you know, as a company, we help corporations, our main clients, through an innovation led approach in their digital transformation for them to unlock values and actually be successful in the digital age,”  Tayag said during the launch last July 18. “We actually help global companies become high performance businesses.

“If we are helping global companies through technology, we should also be able to… help our own employees in the way they work and live, particularly the persons with disabilities,”  Tayag pointed out. 

The Suite of Accessibility Solutions helps those with impairment on their sense of hearing, sight and mobility.

For those with hearing impairment, the suite has tools such as Dhvani (Hindi word for “sound”), an Accenture-developed software that creates real-time subtitles for videos and can translate voice responses into typed text and vice versa during video and conference calls, allowing for more meaningful interaction among employees; specialty and noise-cancellation headset and speaker models, and noise-level meters.

For those with sight impairment, the suite has tools that include color contrast and Braille-stickered keyboards, electronic magnifier and non-visual desktop access, voice control technologies, blind stick, Braille blocks and panels.

For those with mobility impairment, the suite has tools including smart lights, sliding doors, and manual and automated wheelchairs.

Accenture in the Philippines, Tayag said, was committed to be the most inclusive and diverse employer in the IT-BPM industry, providing equal opportunities for Filipino talent regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, religion or sexual orientation. 

Rudy Guiao, Accenture IT lead for ASEAN and Greater China, stressed that the suite was just a “test-bed” workspace that will still be improved upon by the company.