Effective Communication

Introduction

The ADA requires that employers, state and local governments, and businesses and nonprofit organizations that serve the public communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities. The goal is to ensure that communication with people with these disabilities is equally effective as communication with people without disabilities. The following publications provide information regarding effective communication:

Effective Communication
Tips for Communicating by Telephone with Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Effective Accommodation Practices (EAP) Series: Disability Etiquette Tips for Speaking Engagements
Effective Accommodation Practices (EAP) Series: Communication Tips for Working with Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities

Situations and Solutions:

A municipality recently hired a code inspector who is deaf.

The city decided to provide an interpreter for training and a cell phone with texting to use when working in the field. The inspector was able to inspect buildings and enforce the building codes with these accommodations.

A customer service representative with progressive vision loss needed to access information on his computer screen while talking with customers on the phone.

Her employer provided screen reading software and a dual input headset.

A sales person with dyslexia was having difficulty reading new product literature.

Her employer provided a reader.

A receptionist who was recovering from vocal surgery had difficulty speaking loudly enough for customers to hear her when she greeted them.

She also experienced vocal fatigue when speaking on the phone. Her employer purchased a voice amplifier for face to face use and one designed for telephone use as well, so that she did not have to strain her voice to speak more loudly.