To ensure their team of over 1,500 employees can best support their communities, ECFRS has invested in assistive technology to advance their inclusion journey. As a Disability Confident Employer, their mission aligns with Everway's goal to empower employees, unlock potential, and build neuroinclusive workplaces.
Ryan Gibson, Digital Skills Officer, and Scarlett Perrin, Learning and Development Advisor, both co-chair their Service Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Group and are passionate about finding new ways to help their employees succeed. The Service decided to provide our Eveway for Work's Read&Write software to all employees, bringing Everway as their neuroinclusion partner.
Neuroinclusion with assistive technology
Ryan explains ECFRS’s original journey, which required employees to request additional learning support to access neuroinclusive technology. They decided to rethink this element of their Digital & Data Strategy, and opted for a full adoption of the software to all of their workforce. This removed the need for disclosure, allowing every individual to explore the support. Describing it as an investment for their organization, Ryan says:
We upgraded to an enterprise licence which helped us to provide further accessibility options for our staff and their families, and encouraged us to push further in the digital accessibility space."
"It breaks down barriers and makes it easier for people to get involved with things that were previously not accessible. By challenging the idea of 'that’s what we’ve always done' and considering what can be done, we explore options that make people’s work lives a bit easier and unlock their potential using such tools."
“We want everyone in our service to feel confident when using technology, so that we all move forward together. Reducing digital exclusion and promoting digital accessibility is an important objective for us. By ensuring everyone has support to access the right tools, enables confidence, ability and equal opportunity in the digital workspace.”
Nikki Hudson highlights the broader impact and how it supports wider business goals. She describes it as a key tool that strengthens accessibility simply by being available on every machine.
Empowering neurodiverse and multilingual teams
ECFRS highlights how neuroinclusive technology can assist all employees but serves as a particularly supportive tool for neurodivergent and multilingual team members. Ryan and Scarlett emphasise the importance of enabling employees to 'bring their whole selves to work,' and how this strategy helps provide a sense of empowerment and belonging in the workplace.
They state: “We work at many different locations across the county, using various devices, with people who have varying strengths, needs, and knowledge."
Having options that break down barriers for people in their day-to-day lives and support them in accessing information in a way that works for them is vital to bring out the best in people."
"Embracing our differences enhances our ability to serve our communities better. Whether it's our multilingual firefighters comforting people in their first language, our Prevention team effectively communicating intervention messages, or our Control Room staff working as a team to receive and process emergency information clearly.
“Our staff have a large amount of responsibility, trust, and influence, and the more we promote inclusion, raise awareness, and share knowledge, the better we can do our jobs."
Nikki also explained that employees are not required to prove their neurodivergence in order to access support, helping to remove barriers. She added that creating a workplace where employees’ children could thrive has had a particularly powerful impact.
Employee feedback
ECFRS have received an incredible response from their workforce regarding Everway for Work's tools with positive feedback from both neurodivergent and neurotypical employees.
Shaun Drynan, Crew Manager at Basildon Fire Station shares his personal experience:
"I have worked for ECFRS for 19 years, and before we got Everway's software, my life was a lot more difficult. I now use this every single day, and it has really changed my life. "
ECFRS’s tips for success with neuroinclusive technologyy
- Provide access to all to remove barriers: “I would strongly recommend providing it to all employees from the start as we have found this to be a huge success. We discovered that a large number of users don't necessarily identify neurodiverse requirements but still use the software for other beneficial reasons.”
- Promotion of Free for Family: “We all agreed how fantastic it is that our employees can share the gift of neuroinclusion with their families. We try to promote it as much as possible via our internal outlets and in digital training sessions.”
- Drive awareness and technology training: “Continue to increase awareness of neuroinclusion every opportunity through communication and training. Providing either online, group or 1-2-1 training gives the perfect opportunity to promote and demonstrate the software.”
- Emphasise how it can support everyone: “Don’t just advertise it just as an accessibility tool but as a tool to help everyone. Each person will benefit in a different way and an enterprise licence provides support for all colleagues without limit.”
- Internal communication is key: “We promote it through our Digital Accessibility and Inclusion page on our intranet service, as well as through our Digital Skills Officer. Managers are also encouraged to use these tools so they can better support their teams. When we onboard new employees, our ICT service desk ensures they are fully equipped and informed on the support available.”
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