Originally published here.

Coming to terms with being disabled has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. After many years I am now incredibly happy to discuss the ins and outs of the disabilities that I have, and the obstacles that I face every day.

I have written about my experience as a disabled person trying to access basic personal finance products before in a Weekend Essay. I am deaf, I have hypermobility syndrome, general anxiety disorder and myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, also referred to as chronic fatigue syndrome [CFS]).

In case you are not well versed in the ins and outs of disability, it is not just being strangely bendy and tired; my conditions make daily life difficult as I live in near-constant pain and discomfort, and basic life tasks can be immensely difficult.

But I am certainly not the only disabled person in the financial services industry. Here we hear two members of the industry talk about their disabilities and how they affect their daily working lives.

‘I MADE MY DISABILITY MY JOB’

Zoe PortlockZoe Portlock

Accessibility experience designer, Hargreaves Lansdown

I am disabled and neurodiverse. Here’s a summary: autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, Irlen syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder, chronic migraine, ME/CFS, fibromyaglia, and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

These can affect me differently day to day and I navigate a few of these symptoms at any time throughout my workday. They often interact, overlap and trigger each other.

When working, I use many tools to help assist me.

I focus on maturing and embedding accessibility into our products at scale

I work four days a week, with Wednesdays off every week so I can have a rest day and only work two days in a row at most without a break.

Assistive technology, such as text-to-speech software and voice recognition, helps me read and write, as well as helps with fatigue. I also have screen-tinting software and tinted glasses for my Irlen syndrome, and for reducing visual stress to delay migraines — I struggle using devices without a purple screen tint.

Learning to cope

I have coping strategies coaching, meaning I work with a specialist (via an Access to Work grant) who understands the difficulty of navigating various conditions in the workplace, with tailored support and strategies. I have been in financial services for four years, and I have always wanted to specialise in accessibility and an opportunity came up at Hargreaves Lansdown (HL).

Within my role I was given the space to kick-start the presence of digital accessibility within HL. I did awareness training, consultations and interactive events. As the presence increased, I was promoted to be an accessibility specialist.

I formed a community of practice for accessibility, organised a multi-discipline working group and later a digital-wide accessibility ambassador programme, providing specialist training, audits and mentoring to enable colleagues across various disciplines and squads to introduce accessibility on the ground.

There is a lack of inclusive culture in the industry, with no consideration of accessibility in venues

I recently moved to our user-centred design department, where my role is as HL’s first accessibility experience designer. I spend my time focused on maturing and embedding accessibility into our products at scale. My focus is on leadership, strategy and ensuring accessibility in our upcoming design system.

This also leads to a movement in accessibility for our internal colleagues, changing our e-learning supplier to one that commits to meeting globally recognised web content accessibility guidelines in their work, and an internal colleague support network for chronic conditions and disability.

My working life has had its challenges. Technologies have been vetoed as not deemed secure enough by IT, and some have taken months to install.

Inclusive and accessible

There is a lack of inclusive culture in the industry, with no consideration of accessibility in venues (at one job the Christmas party was on the fifth floor with no lift), no captions on internal communications videos, and a misuse of disabled facilities such as disabled toilets.

I also face the challenge of constantly asserting the importance of accessibility into work. I disclose details of my own needs to provide visibility and build empathy, showing that disabled people are all around you and not a tiny percentage of the population who remain out of sight. Showing vulnerability frequently can be emotionally exhausting, and any push-back or resistance to provide basic accessibility in our work for clients can also sometimes feel quite personal at times.

I struggle using devices without a purple screen tint

However, it has not all been negative. I have been given the agency to turn my life experience into a career, advocating for our clients with access needs and embedding accessibility across the business.

I have generally had compassionate managers who are open to adjusting how they approach accommodating my needs, especially in the best way to communicate with me.

‘REMOTE WORKING HAS BEEN A HELP’

Matt LeveringtonMatt Leverington

Regional account manager, Aegon UK

I have a rare genetic condition called Leber hereditary optic neuropathy.

I started to lose my vision nine years ago. The condition causes loss of central vision, but peripheral vision typically remains intact. It affects around 2,500 people in the UK and there is currently no treatment or cure available.

When I first lost my sight, I was unaware of anyone else who was blind or partially sighted, and my first thought was that my career and life as I knew it were over.

I now know how fortunate I was to be in a job with a supportive employer

At the time of my diagnosis, I was working as an account manager for Cofunds. My employer was very supportive at the time both in terms of emotional and financial support to ensure that I was able to return to the workplace in the same capacity.

I now know how fortunate I was to be in a job with a supportive employer at the time of diagnosis as this isn’t always the case. Aegon has continued to be very supportive and has a big focus on inclusion and diversity within the workplace.

We live in a very visual world and having a visual impairment can make life challenging. With the right technology there should be no reason why an employer cannot take on someone who is blind or partially sighted. They have a lot to offer as they will bring a different perspective and think about overcoming challenges in different ways, as they are used to overcoming different obstacles daily.

The transformation towards digital in financial services has been accelerated. This is a huge benefit for anyone with a visual impairment

The biggest challenges in my role have been in large meetings or events. So much of communication is visual and this is very difficult when you can’t see someone’s face or body language. While I appreciate that the pandemic has been extremely isolating for some, for me it has been a leveller as I have been able to see all my colleagues and clients on Teams using magnification software.

Digital positive

An element of office working and face-to-face contact will still be important in future, but if there is one positive that I can take from the past 18 months it is that the transformation towards digital in financial services has been accelerated. This is a huge benefit for anyone with a visual impairment.

With the right technology there should be no reason why an employer cannot take on someone who is blind or partially sighted

When I started in financial services in 2008, we were still using faxes and there were a lot of paper processes. The industry has improved a lot but the pandemic has accelerated this transition and has made remote meetings more commonplace.

You can read the complete article here.