This advent calendar presents 24 practical suggestions on how to learn from candidate behavior to improve your HR marketing, based on early results from Potentialpark's upcoming 2024 Talent Comm study.
This could be the shortest blog post in history if I just answered the title question with:
A career website is accessible if it offers everyone equal access to information and jobs.
But that's not very helpful. There are so many ways in which a career website can be not accessible that the devil is in the details, and it's really a matter of "how accessible" and "to whom".
What the candidates say
On the one hand, this is a lopsided issue for candidates: most don't think about this at all because they don't have the problem, while for a few it means everything.
Still, would you have guessed the following number? For me it's much higher than expected.
But going one step further - as with every issue of equity, candidates prefer working for inclusive employers even if they are not personally affected themselves. It's a message. So in the end being accesible, as being inclusive, is more than a marginal topic.
And candidates care about more than a statement. Great if you manage walk the talk, bad if you can't hold your promise.
Also in a tight job market, reaching talent that your competitors exclude can be an advantage worth the extra effort. So the 11% above might start to look a little more enticing if you see them as unrealized hiring potential.
What employers do
The first thing companies typically do in such a situation is to look at the laws. We know the European Union introduced new legislation to make all websites accessible from 2025. In the US, it's the ADA that regulates this and many websites have a legal disclaimer already. I would expect a global tendency for stricter lawas in the future.
Example of an accessibility statement in the US
However, like with "diversity", a statement "we are diverse" is not the same as showing real action. The same with accessibility. True commitment goes beyond the legal minimum in offering a competitive user experience.
And like with many topics in this Advent Calendar, I expect this topic to grow in importance in the near future. Already today we see some innovative efforts that go up and beyond, as documented by Potentialpark's research. So let's look at two examples.
And it might not be a coincedence that both are health companies.
1. GSK
GSK offers visitors of their career website a little accessibility button that opens a menu of adjustments, depending on your personal needs. Just the scale of options gives you an idea if what is possible here.
2. MSD
On the MSD career website, talents can install an integrated digital accessibility platform called “Level Access” to improve the user experience of people with special needs.
Imagine
This is only the beginning.
Now my dream would be: a job list that you can filter by needs and disabilities. For example, dear company, only show me positions suitable for people in a wheelchair. Or with those who are heard of hearing.
Not coming any time soon, I know, but in the endeavor to make the world more accessible, this would be more than a statement, that's for sure. Maybe a worthy wish for Advent.
BONUS: Would you like to receive the results of the new Talent Comm study when it comes out? Sign up on the Potentialpark website to secure a free research expert talk (no strings attached) and tickets to Potentialpark's events to meet peer HR marketers.
Come back tomorrow for the next Door of this Advent Calendar.
Oh and if you don't want to miss anything on here, sign up to this blog at the bottom of the page.