Diverse Workforce in Masses with Online Accessible Trainings

People with 100% vision impairment generally use a software called screen reader. NVDA (Free), JAWS (Licensed) are such software. Some people even with partial vision impairment can also use screen reader.
Most of the educated VI will have decent communication hence oral interview with them can be done normally without any assistance.
For any online assessments via online platforms like HackerRank, TestGorilla etc., these should be accessible (Screen reader should be able to read out).

They are generally independent to travel to come for in-person interview but it’s preferred to do all rounds online and call in-person for final round.
If you plan to call in-person for technical rounds and they should be solving the problems, please understand that they will not be able to use whiteboard but only on computers which has screen reader enabled.
While onboarding, it’s not advisable to ask to fill a hard copy of the form but digital.
Please hand-off a soft copy of the offer letter with a word or PDF format which screen readers can read. They will not be able to read hard copies.
While in office, it’s best to assign a buddy for few initial days to help them navigate in office. These could be conference rooms, washrooms, escalator etc.
While providing knowledge transition sessions and any other discussions, it’s best to provide any pre-read and documents in advance to them. Images can be used but these should have good alt-text as well which explains the context as well.

First let’s understand more about them:

People with 100% speech & hearing impairment generally use sign language to communicate within themselves and others who know the same language.
Someone who does not know sign language communicates with them via chat messages, it could be WhatsApp or Telegram like app. There are some other apps available which converts sign language to English & vice versa which can be used as well.
Education of people with speech and hearing impairment could be in sign language or in English or in their native language. There are very less schools and colleges specially in India which provide regular education and skills in Sign Language.
It’s best if the core education of people with speech and hearing impairment has happened in English because it helps them to interact more in English with other people and they can better and faster adjust in a corporate environment.
If the core language of a person with speech and hearing impairment is sign language then their written communication might not be very good as Sign Language does not use grammar.

Few Apps Which Converts Sign Language to English & Vice Versa:

For quick conversations you should be able to use these apps. GnoSys is one of such app.

Now Let’s Understand Best Practices for Interviews & Onboarding:

For initial screening, it’s best to send these over mail and request them to provide all details with complete clarity. Based on their answers, you can decide to proceed. You can also check if their written English communication is good.
They should be able to do any online assessments using any platforms independently. That should be the preferred medium to do basic to advanced technical assessment.
For detailed technical interview, you must hire a Sign Language Interpreter.
For detailed onboarding, knowledge transition sessions, you must hire a sign language interpreter.
It’s good to provide basic Sign Language Training to the team members and managers for quick conversations with the employee which boost the morale of the candidate and increases collaboration.
Most of the meetings with the people with speech and hearing impairment should be done online using platforms which have caption enabled. Speakers should try to speak at a decent pace for captions to be fairly accurate.