Taken for Granted: Ableist Norms Embedded in the Design of Online Recruitment Practices

Abstract

This chapter shows that the move towards the use of online recruitment by employers can lead to further social exclusion of people with disabilities from the labour market. Grounded on a qualitative UK-based study, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with disabled jobseekers and employment advisors from two disabled people’s organizations, plus mainly private sector employers, who have tried to implement inclusive recruitment practices. Findings challenge assumptions that recruitment is per se a ‘neutral’ or ‘objective’ practice adopted to find the ‘best person for the job’, by indicating that organizations inevitably ignoring the ableist norms deeply embedded within recruitment design. These established norms are the following: a worker is productive and able-bodied, the Internet is easy to access and available to everyone in accessible public spaces, and by using the medium for recruitment barriers to access potential employees are removed. These unnoticed ableist norms can have a considerable, albeit often unintentional, impact on the design of recruitment practices.