ZoomText Screen Magnification Software Provides Access for RBC Financial Group Employee with Visual Impairment

In 1974, Mumtaz Lakhani was a young woman from East Africa who had moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in search of a better future. She had graduated from college with a degree in business administration and accounting but shrank from pursuing jobs in her field because of a severe visual impairment. Employer after employer turned her away because she couldn't use their computer systems. "You can't imagine the problems I had finding a job," she recalls. What she needed was assistive technology. But, at the time, little was available.

Dream of Professional Career Seemed Out of Touch

Lakhani sought help from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). After a series of unsatisfying jobs—far from her dreams for a professional career—CNIB steered her to RBC Financial Group, an employer that, even 25 years ago, was proactive in giving qualified people with disabilities equal opportunities for employment. At that point, Lakhani began her first day of work using a handheld magnifying glass.

Assistive Technology Provides Needed Access

Over the next 25 years Lakhani watched the company progress light-years beyond its early, awkward attempts to help her as a young employee with a visual impairment. Today, she uses a standard PC running Microsoft Windows and equipped with ZoomText Xtra screen magnification software from Ai Squared. The solution gives her the same access to materials her colleagues have.

Windows XP Features Unlocked with ZoomText 7.1

With the advanced ZoomText 7.1, users can access and enjoy all of the benefits of Windows XP using ZoomText's sophisticated magnification and screen reading features. ZoomText 7.1 also includes IBM's ViaVoice speech synthesizer, a command interface for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, and support for Java applications.

Pioneering Efforts Pay Off

Lakhani's pioneering efforts have paid off for others at RBC Financial Group. Eric Chiu, a customer service representative in the company's Card Services Division, was a baby when Lakhani began her workplace odyssey. Totally blind, Chiu joined the bank in 1998. As a sign of the progress made in 25 year, when Chiu arrived on the job the technology he would need to do his job had already been identified, tested and approved before he arrived. And, was provided and paid for by his employer.

Providing a Barrier-Free Workplace is "Good Business"

RBC Financial Group Vice President of Information Security Diana Burke says that removing barriers is good business. "When the bank is in growth mode, we need to tap all available talent, and people with disabilities are the least tapped segment in the population," she says.

Removing Barriers Gives Access to Best Talent Available

Being able to hire the best talent is one benefit of removing barriers for people with disabilities. Another benefit is retaining valued employees who acquire disabilities over time. "The population is aging," says Burke, "and people are losing hearing, vision, and mobility as the years progress. This affects employees and customers. We have to keep up with their declining abilities, or we'll find ourselves in the position of not being able to serve our customers or leverage employees' talents."

Accessible Technology Benefits All

Accessible and assistive technologies help to prevent or delay disabilities such as deteriorating vision or carpal tunnel syndrome. "Everyone wants the ability to tailor their work environment to their greatest comfort, and accessible technologies let you do that," Burke says. "All employees can leverage features built into the Windows operating system and Microsoft applications to resize fonts on screen, turn off graphics on Web sites, alter colors, modify mouse and keyboard settings, and so forth.

RBC Financial Group Integrates Accessible Technology into Tech Plan

This universal design makes things simpler and boosts productivity for all." One of the important steps RBC Financial Group has taken to help integrate accessible technology into the company's mainstream technology plan is to develop a new position called Accessible Technology Consultant. This individual is responsible for educating IT staff about the business case for accessibility, being familiar with accessible technology standards, advocating for employee customer needs, and establishing policies and procedures for accessibility within IT.

Full Integration of Accessible Technology is Company Goal

"Our goal is to make accessible technology just another technology—like the operating system or keyboard—that everyone fits into everyday business," Burke says.