International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Since "The International Year for Diabled Persons" in 1981 December 3rd of each year is observed by the United Nations as "International Day of Persons with Disabilities".

Persons with disabilities are one group of diverse Canadians whom TalentOyster serves and whom progressive employers are looking to reach. To some degree the progress that various organizations and individuals mean that persons with disabilities are often the "forgotten" diversity group. It's pretty telling when just this week it was reported that a blind woman had to sue the federal government to make government sites accessible to the vision disabled. You could almost call them the "hidden" pool of "Canada's Hidden Talent Pool". Correcting this is one of the things this day is about.

Nobody deserves to have just one day and then be forgotten, but it is important to sometimes to have a day to remind us all that we should be doing more to incorporate all diverse groups, and especially on this day persons with disabilities into our organizations, our companies, our groups and our lives. Increasing the accessibility of our places and services means we add so much valuable knowledge and experience of this often overlooked group to our lives and work.

So what exactly should you be doing on this day?

Well, as stated use this day as a reminder to include persons with disabilities in everything you do. Practically for the day there are various local events commemorating the day like one in Toronto and we would encourage everyone who can to attend the event in your area.

For our part we have previously worked hard at making the TalentOyster site accessible and in the coming weeks we will be testing, reviewing and assessing our efforts to see where we can improve our site experience and accessibility for all Canadians including Persons with Disabilities.