The European Disability Forum (EDF)  is seeking the support of national experts for research on Digital Skills, Reasonable Accommodation and Technological Assistance for Employment. The call is open both for individual researchers as well as members of independent civil society, research companies, and universities of the following countries: Greece, Luxembourg, Slovenia.

Activities and deliverables

Each expert will be responsible for researching the situation in the EU Member State they have the best knowledge of. The research will include:

• Outlining the national legal basis for the provision of reasonable accommodation in the workplace, particularly regarding the use of accessible and assistive technologies in employment;
• Shedding light on the national context of digital and technological skills capacities of persons with disabilities, outlining the major issues and skills gaps observed, and highlighting any good practices and opportunities for persons with disabilities;
• Collecting empirical evidence from national stakeholders (companies and NGOs) based in the expert’s country, by conducting interviews and distributing a questionnaire produced by the research coordinators at the European Disability Forum

Specific tasks

Questionnaire and contents for companies

20 companies per country.

•  HR company policy on hiring persons with disabilities
• Use of accessible and assistive technologies by employees with disabilities.;
•  Existence of reasonable accommodation as an HR procedure;
•  Implementation of solutions for the acquisition of digital skills by employees with disabilities.

Interview

•  3 main OPDs per country.

Secondary data research contents:

• National data on educational and training levels of persons with disabilities on digital skills, and national research (if available) on barriers for persons with disabilities related to digital skills;
• National programmes and initiatives on lifelong learning opportunities and digital skills;
• National legal support framework and secondary data (if available) on the use of accessible and assistive technologies in employment;
• Available national research on the covering of reasonable accommodation as an HR procedure by employers;
• Available national research on trends in the use of accessible and assistive technologies in the workplace;
• Open information on good practices and effective solutions for the acquisition of digital skills for employment;
• National legal-policy contexts on reasonable accommodation reimbursement possibilities by the state, types of technologies reimbursed, the proportion of costs reimbursed, availability of technologies as reasonable accommodation and support in the use of that technology.

Note:

The consultant can also be put in touch with EDF members to gather more information using surveys and interviews.

Requested profile

• Have in-depth knowledge about disability/employment for persons with disabilities;
•  Have relevant contacts and networks to draw upon for the empirical research;
• Demonstrated analytical, communication and report-writing skills;
• Ability to draft research outcomes in English.

Timeline

To be defined with the selected consultant. (May – July 2023).

Budget

6.200 EUR (excluded tax). If you are interested contact Roberta Lulli at roberta.lulli@edf-feph.org.

Deadline

15th May 2023 – Extended to 15th June.

About EDF

The European Disability Forum (EDF) is a non-governmental European umbrella organisation set up to represent organisations of persons with disabilities at the EU level. EDF promotes the rights of 100 million Europeans with disabilities. EDF is a unique platform which brings together representative organisations of persons with disabilities from across Europe. EDF is run by persons with disabilities and their families. We are a front-runner for disability rights. We are a strong, united voice of persons with disabilities in Europe.