Carry out an analysis of the socio-employment situation and the profile of people with disabilities in nine Latin American countries to assess whether ICT training and telework are an alternative for their employment inclusion.
Specific Objectives
- Generate quantitative information about ICT training and the employment situation of people with disabilities. Estimate the number of potential teleworkers.
- Generate qualitative information through observation and real case studies of teleworking by people with disabilities to identify the use of ICTs applied to work and detect how laws and regulations proposed in each country for the employment integration of people with disabilities are being implemented.
- Disseminate concepts, progress, and results related to this research and propose recommendations based on the analysis of specific objectives one and two to different stakeholders: people with disabilities, trainers, employers, governments, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
Methodology
Data Collection: Macro and microsocial approaches
Firstly, the list of participating countries is detailed:
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- El Salvador
- Mexico
- Peru
- Dominican Republic
- Uruguay
To determine if cultural, social, political, and technological conditions are suitable for implementing telework for people with disabilities in these Latin American countries, two approaches will be used: macro-social or quantitative and microsocial or qualitative.
The macro-social approach will allow us to establish theoretical statements of a certain level of generality that will show the quantitative aspects of the research related to specific objective one.
The microsocial approach, on the other hand, emphasizes the relative nature of its conclusions, as the interpretation of experiences, opinions, and their meanings, which only make sense within a specific and limited situational context, is crucial. It will refer to specific cases that will demonstrate qualitative aspects.
This division will facilitate the analysis of information and allow for the correlation of both perspectives. Considering only one approach could lead to a fragmented view since both constitute an indivisible reality.
The collection of qualitative data will be carried out using software that the team will determine, such as Atlas.ti.
Expected Results
The research results will be documented according to the following details:
Specific Objective One
- Report on the scope of concepts and measurement instruments used in the population with disabilities.
- Report on the legal situation, highlighting aspects that hinder and/or favor telework in each country and legislative initiatives that may be under consideration.
- Report on identified initiatives to promote telework for people with disabilities.
- List of detected organizations that offer ICT training for people with disabilities, including the general characteristics of their programs.
- Report on detected national developments of assistive technologies and the facilities for their acquisition.
- Numeric report on the demographic and employment profile of people with disabilities.
- Situational report on work and disability.
- Trend report relating variables that allow estimating the number of individuals considered potential teleworkers in each country.
Specific Objective Two
- Report on the study of teleworking case studies of people with disabilities.
- Work report on how actions and policies are implemented by our interviewees.
- Report on current training and its comparison with the profile of teleworkers. Report on training required for teleworking.
- Report on experiences detected in the public sector.
- Report on the demand for teleworkers and estimates of future opportunities based on the identified receptiveness.
- Written presentation of the collected opinions in each country.
Specific Objective Three
- An accessible website with information on telework and disability will be created based on the identified information needs. It will also include:
- Information on accessible design
- A glossary of terms related to telework, disability, and universal design.
- Integration of an accessible platform for remote collaborative work.
- Links to accessible websites on telework and disability.
- Book: “Telecapacitados”
- Video: “Telecapacitados”
- Recommendations will be proposed to facilitate the employment inclusion of people with disabilities through telework.
- A future vision of the inclusion of people with disabilities through telework will be developed based on the gathered information.